Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25411 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

Some value, but far from great.
I'm surprised how highly other people have rated this book, personally I found it slightly uneven and confusing. The author jumps from one bluff to another with little coherence or structure. He moves from limit to no limit to no limit tournaments and across the various forms of poker without recognising the differences between how these very dissimilar games should be approached and with little regard to how typical players play them.

The bluffs seem very results-oriented and some of the reasons for their success, such as the top card pairing on the river, aren't even mentioned. The author fails to understand that identifying situations where your expectation is positive is more important than having your opponent fold.

In a brief cameo interview tacked on at the end of the book, Chris Moneymaker counsels readers to bluff when a turn or river card is scary compared to the hand you think your opponent has. Basically if you want to bluff, first pick the right opponent then bet as though you have a superior hand, if you manage to pull this off regularly, don't waste your time reading this book.

People who read "How to Bluff" may come away with the idea that they can bluff their way out of any horrible situation they put themselves into. Lessinger focuses way too much on bluffs that simply will not work in real-world play, especially online. He even includes an example where a player folded pocket aces that flopped a set because the other guy in a three-handed game represented a straight that required him to have exactly JQ and to have made his hand with a gutshot draw on the turn. Would you fold a set of aces in this situation? I think not.

There are some positives. Counting your bluff outs, is a reasonable idea; knowing when your opponent is close to all-in is important, and knowing when to listen to your opponent. So some of the analysis is reasonably good. A good player who can recognise all the weaknesses may find some value.

Be a Bigger Better Bluffer and Bet like the Best
I've been looking for a book like this since I learned to play poker over a year ago. It teaches all the tricks of bluffing and how to watch for the best opportunities for maximum success. It starts by teaching the basic strategies and builds up to more complex bluffing situations. I've already paid for this book many times over by using its clear advice to win pots that weren't rightfully mine. I thoroughly recommend this book to any poker player who wants to improve his or her game.

A must read
I've been playing poker for about a year with alot of success so far but I thought bluffing was the weakest part of my game as I didn't really know exactly when and how I should be doing it. This book has changed everything! You learn to think about bluffing ALL THE TIME, every hand, whether you are in it or not and it totally changes your perspective on the game. It won't turn you into a crazy bluffing maniac but you will know when others are weak and you will learn possibly the most important rule in poker, it doesn't matter what cards you have, if you can reliably put your opponents on a specific hand, you will know when you can win the pot and when you shouldn't try.

Great book!