REVIEW
In
his book, Gary Carson states that his
focus is on Hold'em as a "game of money
and odds." While I don't believe his perspective
is as novel as he seems to claim, Carson
does have some interesting things to say
about the game, and although most of the
strategies and advice given in his book
have been documented elsewhere, he does
present some ideas that I believe are
certainly worth considering.
The
book begins with the obligatory introductory
section which describes the basics and
mechanics of the game. In my opinion,
the best part of this chapter is the information
on "Overrated Concepts", where Carson
briefly discusses some misconceptions
about winning poker that beginning players
are likely to have, and also discusses
several classes of mistakes that poor
players generally tend to make. There's
nothing here that hasn't been discussed
in the literature before, but the points
he makes are good ones.
The
bulk of the book lies in the second section,
titled "Advanced Concepts". Here is where
Carson details the strategies he uses
to win at Texas Hold'em poker. While much
of this information has appeared in other
books, there are new ideas here, and some
familiar notions are communicated from
a fresh viewpoint, which may be of benefit
to even the most well-read player. The
author writes in a very vigorous style.
Carson doesn't qualify his strategic ideas
with, "in my opinion", and he is often
a little relaxed about communicating under
what situations his ideas would be more
or less applicable. Many of these ideas
will be considered controversial by other
experienced poker players, and in my opinion,
they do not quite deserve the strength
of conviction they are given in this book.
This does not mean that these ideas are
bad ones by any means, but I fear that
evaluating their appropriateness in different
games and situations probably requires
skills that a less experienced player
does not yet possess, making some of these
ideas dangerous.
The
remaining brief sections cover topics
such as cheating, playing for a living,
poker information on the Internet, etc..
I think Carson might alarm readers about
cheating more than he probably intends,
but most of the information in this section
is well considered, although I would have
appreciated even more information on several
of these topics.
While
I think the book would have benefited
from another editing pass to smooth it
out, provide some additional balance between
sections, and present some of the overriding
themes more consistently throughout, The
Complete Book of Hold'em Poker effectively
communicates the author's ideas about
how to play a winning game, and at a refreshingly
reasonable price for a poker book of this
length. There are enough good concepts
in these pages that experienced players
should expect to encounter some interesting
ideas which under right circumstances
are likely to improve their game. I fear
that less experienced players who haven't
developed the tools to think critically
about poker strategies might not always
be able to easily adapt Carson's ideas
to their game.
Capsule:
While
Gary Carson's The Complete Book of Hold'em
Poker doesn't quite live up to its title,
there are enough good ideas and well communicated
strategic concepts in this reasonably
priced book to make it worth the money
and time it takes to read it. Carson's
writing style doesn't leave a lot of room
for disagreement, so there is some danger
that less experienced players may try
to adapt some of his ideas and strategies
to situations where they aren't applicable,
but critical readers will probably find
much of it interesting. I give The Complete
Book of Hold'em Poker a qualified recommendation,
although I wouldn't place it near the
top of my recommended reading list.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
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