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 enlarge | Authors: Phil Gordon, Jonathan Grotenstein
Creator: Jon Favreau
Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $2.93
You Save: $17.02 (85%)
New (61) Used (71) Collectible (5) from $0.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 73581
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0689875908
Dewey Decimal Number: 795.412
EAN: 9780689875908
ASIN: 0689875908
Publication Date: September 21, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great Beginners' read November 5, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Basic concepts are well-explained and the book introduces you nicely into the world of poker
Do you want to jump start your knowledge of poker ? May 28, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the first poker book I have read and have improved my game in no-limit. This book offers history on the game, hand ranking and how to calculate the different odds that you need to understand in order to win playing hold'em. This is a good book to read and to keep around as a reference book. Good luck.
 Gotta Give It Five March 8, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This one had to get five stars because the formula of the book is unbeatable. This is THE best introductory text for learning the game because in one volume you get a short history, techniques, charts, casinos to play, info about on-line and home games, plus advice for the casinos and real tournaments. Also, the book constantly extracts from or refers you to other titles of interest and the authors provide quite a few tips and techniques to immediately improve a beginner's game. And the format is cool. I like this book. If you are looking for a first poker book, I defy anyone to find something with as much readable and useful info under one cover.
Poker: The Real Deal August 24, 2005
Excellent poker resource book that tells it like it is. A humorous look at the history of poker, real life experiences, easy to understand explanations, and challenging tests at the end of chapter make this a very enjoyable book.
An enjoyable read and a good book for beginners August 12, 2005
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
This is not a highly technical guide for advanced players. If you think that's what the statement "Insider Tips" on the cover means you'll be disappointed. I can count the number of good advanced poker books on my fingers, and most of them are by David Sklansky or Doyle Brunson.
As far as good novice books are concerned this is among the best. I've seen beginner books that just plain give bad advice, and this isn't one of them. As far as semi-amateurish books by pro players are concerned, this book and Barry Greenstein's book are both good reads. Greenstein's book is more advanced but also mostly deals with meta-game aspects. Gordon's book is a good amateur book and also a fun read. It's certainly better than Phil Helmuth's book which tells you to only play the 10 best hands (AA-77, AK & AQ suited or unsuited) and then spends the rest of the book mindlessly promoting Hellmuth and his online site UltimateBet.
I find Dennis Littrell's "leader of the Tiltboys" review rather arrogant and ... well ... wrong. If you're going to point out "slips" in the book, make sure you're right.
First, I've never seen any solid explanation for why Q-7 offsuit is the Computer Hand, but it's not because it's the "median" hand. At least Gordon's explanation is plausible. Some people say that in a flawed simulation Q-7 was dealt more than any other hand. Some say it was incorrectly listed as the median hand in a flawed simulation. If you list the 169 starting Hold'em hands by heads-up strength vs. a random hand, J-4 suited is the one in the middle. If you're looking for the hand that is closest to even money heads-up the answer is J-5 suited with 49.99% equity (Q-7 offsuit is 51.77%). The hand that wins closest to its share in a random 10-handed showdown is is 6-3 suited (Q-7 offsuit is near the bottom with 8.015% win share).
Gordon can't really be faulted for saying Chris Moneymaker hadn't set foot in a real cardroom before. Moneymaker has made a point of saying essentially that several times, and ESPN certainly tried to make him look like a guy who hadn't seen a deck of cards till he showed up at the WSOP. In truth, the 2003 WSOP was his first live tournament, but he had been in a cardroom before, and he was a long-time blackjack player and sports bettor.
Gordon's stories about crooked games in Vegas in the 70's, factual or not, are something that many people have talked about. Barry Greenstein talks about staying in California to play because the middle-stakes games in Vegas were so full of cheats.
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