REVIEW
As
anyone who has played low limit Texas
Hold'em in one of the many California
card rooms can attest, the game is played...
differently here. The variety is often
referred to as "No Fold'em Hold'em", where
folks believe the poor Hold'em player's
lament, "Any two cards can win!" Lee Jones,
who has written several articles that
have appeared in Card Player magazine
and often contributes to the rec.gambling
newsgroups, attempts to provide elementary
strategies for the novice to intermediate
Hold'em player that will allow them to
consistently beat these games.
The book starts with some introductory
remarks and then moves onto describing
the fundamentals of the game, including
the necessary, but very elementary math
knowledge on how to compute one's odds.
This section culminates with a quiz on
the material it covers. Overall, this
is one of the best introductory treatments
of this material I've read.
The
next section covers the playing of hands.
Consideration is given to each round of
betting, position, deception, how to play
various hands, the check-raise, free cards,
and other important topics. Jones manages
to cover a lot of topics in a fairly short
span, and he does so accurately and clearly.
At
the end, the author fills in some of the
gaps. Jones covers bluffing, spread limit
(although this topic needs much more consideration
than given here), jackpot games, bankroll
considerations, tips on casino comportment,
a useful glossary, and good recommendations
of where to continue study of the game.
Most everything that needs to be covered
is, and very clearly.
Of
special note is Jones' treatment of a
concept he calls "Implicit Collusion",
the concept that a bet into a large field
has less value under many circumstances
than it would against a single opponent.
Other authors have discussed this concept,
most notably David Sklansky, but this
a new and interesting viewpoint on the
topic.
I
feel there are a few small defects with
this book, however. First, although one
can certainly be a long term winner in
California style low limit poker, I don't
think these games are quite as profitable
as the author seems to suggest. It's true
that many players play very badly, but
with so many people playing bad hands,
it often becomes mathematically correct
for them to make what otherwise would
be tragically bad decisions. This has
been discussed by many great poker authors,
but it bears repeating, especially in
an introductory work.
Also,
although the author warns against the
wild bankroll fluctuations that one will
encounter in these games, I don't believe
the warnings are strong enough. It is
my opinion that most folks who start to
play regularly for the first time after
reading this book will be stunned by the
magnitude of these swings. It can take
months or years to have played enough
hands to determine whether one even has
a positive expectation at these tables,
much less to know what that expectation
might be.
Finally,
while these tactics are reasonable strategies
to use against the unsophisticated players
one finds at low limit tables, if you
try to take these strategies to a 30-60
game without alteration, you're liable
to get your clock cleaned.
At
the time this was written, the only good
Hold'em books focused on higher limit
play, and most of the good ones were more
advanced works; not very suitable for
beginners. Winning Low Limit Hold'em fills
this gap, providing a good explanation
of winning strategies at Low Limit Texas
Hold'em games accessible to the novice
and intermediate player. In addition,
several concepts, including the treatment
of "Implicit Collusion" is strong enough
that advanced students are likely to benefit
from it as well. However, after the principles
in this book are mastered, the reader
is strongly urged to begin studying Sklansky
and Malmuth's Hold'em Poker for Advanced
players, as it is still the definitive
work on this game.
Capsule:
This
book is as good an introduction to winning
play at low limit Texas Hold'em as I've
seen. Even though the book is not without
flaws, there are many thousands of players
in card clubs all over the world that
could save a great deal of money each
year by reading this book. In addition,
Lee Jones covers enough material in new
ways to make this book worth while to
more advanced players. Winning Low Limit
Hold'em does not replace Hold'em Poker
for Advanced Players, but it does serve
as a reasonable and accessible introduction
to it.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
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