The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Texas Hold'em

This book showed me how to play serious hold'em -- I've still got a long way to go, but at least now I know what I don't know. Like most Idiot's guides, it's great at giving you the nuts and bolts basics on the topic. I'm sure more experienced players have the odds nailed and know what "outs" are, but I didn't before I read this book. It's also useful for learning where to play, whether on the Internet and even for types of players to look out for. I've already reread it twice, and I'm sure I'll refer back lots more times.

After watching hold'em on TV and holding my own in games with friends, I decided to give playing online a try. I found the games alot harder and was frustrated that I not only couldn't win, but I was actually losing. I picked up this book, thinking I wouldn't learn much and found out that I knew almost nothing about how to win -- and some of what I did know was wrong. From starting hands to odds, counting pots to understanding other players this book got me to break even within a week of finishing it. Since then (in about 4 months), I've won over $750 playing .50 - $1 and have just moved up to playing $1-2 online. Strongly recommended.

Before I read this I just tried to wait for good cards and hope for the best. The strategies in this book have finally made me a winning player -- and helped me understand exactly what it takes to make money in this game and move up from the low limits I currently play. As long as you aren't at my table, I recommend it!

Super book - better in some ways than the Lee Jones classic, because it's so much more up to date. You'll get the latest concepts in play - stuff you find elsewhere in books by Sklansky, Malmuth, Ed Miller, etc. - but adapted to the level of a newbie. Plus very clearly written. As for the nasty little review posted by the anonymous fellow who loves Ken Warren so much - two points. First, a friend of mine picked up the first edition a few months ago (he's the one who turned me on to the book, by the way), and yes, there were a few howling typos. However I picked up the second edition, and these have largely been corrected. Second, the Ken Warren books belonged to an earlier era of hold'em education - and not a very good one. Beginners like the Warren books because they seem easy to understand, but what they don't realize is the tremendous amount of misinformation they're being given. Mason Malmuth, in his review of "Ken Warren Teaches Hold'em," puts it this way: "Even though this is a big book that covers many topics, much of it is quite confused once you get past the filler material. In summary, for the new player, I'd recommend this book as number one, the Lee Jones book as number two. Once you get beyond beginner stage, try the Ed Miller book - absolute dynamite. An advantage to start with the "Pocket Idiot's Guide to Hold'em" is that many of the key concepts are the same as those further refined in the Miller book.

I've watched some hold'em and played some with friends. But never had a clue what would be a good strategy -- so when I saw there was an Idiot's Guide, I thought it would be perfect. The chapter about odds gave me the math without making my eyes glaze over (a major plus, since I'm not a math guy). I'm gearing up to use some of the strategies here on my friends the next time we play.