Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3753 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 381 pages

Synopsis
Provides poker strategies for every phase of tournament play, covering the early phase where the stakes are small to later tactics such as bluffing, flops, scare cards, playing shorthanded, loose games, and endgame play.

Customer Reviews

Worth more than it's weight in Gold
Having read all the hype about how good this book was, I decided to buy it and form my own opinion of it. First of all, I no longer see this as a purchase, but instaed an 'investment'. Invest £15 in this book, and you will see a fantastic return within a few weeks.

Harrington on Hold 'Em (HOH), if you study it and inwardly digest, will give you a significant edge over your less widely read opponents at the table.

To be honest, my first impression was that the first third of the book was rather slow- Harrington explains the different playing styles that a player can adopt, and describes the type of tournaments that you may play in. A key point to make here is that HOH is applicable for both online and live play, which differ in terms of the stragegy a player should adopt.

The real meat of the book begins when Harrington outlines and details his pre-flop recommendations. This advice was the first of Harrington's that I incorporated into my game. Some may say it's too tight and conservative, but I would counter that by saying that it is profitable- which is all that matters at the end of the day.

The rest of the book details betting after the flop, on the turn and the river. I've often found betting immediately after the flop one of the most difficult skills to grasp, but Harrington's methodical approach makes it clearer and easier. The concepts of continuation and probe bets, whilst not being brand new concepts, are given their most thorough treatment yet in a poker text.

However, I haven't yet mentioned the most important parts of this book- the problem sections. After each chapter, Harrington presents 10 to 20 real examples of hands that he has played or taken part in. The hands are specifically chosen to illustrate the points he has made during the chapter. These are the most instructive sections of the book, and give you confidence that what Harrington is teaching is sensible.

In colclusion: A brilliant book, well written. It must be noted that it is co-written with Bill Robertie, the great backgammon player/author. This was a wise move, because the book reads far better than many of the other 2+2 texts. Buy this now, or find yourself consistently losing no-limit hold 'em games.

For Tournaments - Simply the Best!
Without doubt, this book, and the two further volumes represent the best available advice on No Limit Tournament play currently available. It is superbly written, with a great mix of advice and tips - all supported by very enlightening examples/quizzes. By starting with the basics, looking at pre-flop on full tables, right through to short-handed tables and rising blinds (in Vol 2) you've got all you need as a foundation upon which you build on yourself via experience. If you're going to give NL tournaments a go, investing in these three books will be money well spent. Some of the fundamentals covered even hold up well in cash games or at lower limits.

My only word of caution would be that it is obviously based on Dan's experience in higher stakes tournaments where raises are largely respected. If you're more likely to play on-line freerolls or very cheap qualifiers with thousands of players, the books remain valid, but be aware that calls are more frequent, raising has less effect, a looser starting hand selection is possible and you'll meet more all-in maniacs earlier on too. Dan actually highlights this himself, but just be aware that some of the more subtle aspects and bet sizes won't always translate till you begin approaching the final tables.

Forget Brunson's SuperSystem. Harrington's books are the new tournament must-have books!

Turns Losers into winners!
I'll keep it short. From knowing very little this book was very addictive to read. The best way to use it is to play some play chip tourneys then read what you did wrong because you will have done everything wrong trust me!

This book is logically laid out and easy to digest. It will take you from beginner to intermediate with ease. Use this book as reference and keep going back to it when you come across an incident you are not sure you played right.

His philosophy ref gameplay is superb and easy to adopt. I would however, combine this book with a couple of others to broaden your outlook on how other professionals approach the game. Knowledge is power! And money!