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‘No-Limit Texas Hold’em: A Complete Course’ by Angel Largay Reviewed

Angel Largay is one of those people with a fine wit and a wonderful sense of understated humor. A poker professional who has turned into a noted teacher, he has taken the lessons that he developed for his classes and turned them into a book. His wit and humor come through along with the knowledge.

Overview:

This book is about one specific form of NL Hold’em; the small, capped buy-in games that he calls “low-limit no-limit” (LLNL). Intended for live action games up to the $5 big blind with a $500 max buy-in, the material translates well to similar games on the internet. This book is not for uncapped buy-ins or for tough games. The purpose of the book is to teach the skills needed to be successful at this form of the game, an area not sufficiently addressed in other current books. The material was developed through a process that included his student’s biggest problem areas and most frequent questions.

Book Structure:

This is a series of instructive lessons with examples followed by a quiz. The answers to the quizzes (11 quizzes in seven chapters) are in an appendix at the back of the book. The answers are complete with explanation. Along the way Angel interjects some appropriate and sometimes amusing stories or footnotes.

Plusses:

The material covered is surprisingly broad. Included is a significant amount of psychology, both as theory and as practical applications. No-limit is a people game, and Angel gives insights into and applications of the personalities of the players that populate LLNL. The significant concept of “Who is more likely to go broke?” is presented throughout the post flop chapter as an aide to understanding plays that maximize expected value rather than relying entirely on mathematical equations. My favorite single section of the book is a wonderful modification of a Sklansky article about “the eight mistakes in poker.” Angel takes it to “The 12 mistakes” for NL because of the ability to improperly size bets or raises. One additional plus that will help nearly all players is a section on practical note taking (primarily style and tendency) with an example from a session he played.

Minuses:

In a couple cases the presentation of math or logic was less complete than it should have been or otherwise less than straightforwardly explained, outside the mathematics chapter. In one specific explanation (Parlaying Decisions) the math and logic used to present an otherwise valid argument is unfortunate. In another case with a hand example, a footnote tells you that he would not play the hand this way but needed to do so for a later comparison (while justifying the play in the actual text). One would wonder why a clearer example or different approach to the explanation was not used.

Conclusion:

The last paragraph of the book contains the following sentence: “What you have in your hands is a primer on low-limit no-limit.” As a primer it does a good job. The flaws in the book are communicative in nature and should not be dangerous. All advice, good or bad, is subject to misinterpretation!

This is a valuable book for anyone who wants to convert to LLNL from limit, or improve their game if they already play LLNL and are not already killing the game. Experienced players need only pick up one new thing to recoup the price of the book. The quizzes should be completed in order to get the most value out of this text – even in areas the reader thinks they already understand.

Focus: 10/10

This book is low-limit no-limit.

Quality of advice: 6/10

Mixed strategy (mixed play) is only mentioned in passing. Hand charts are provided as an appendix with no explanations. Also has controversial advice in a couple areas, which he duly notes. I deducted for the “Parlaying Decisions” section. Still, there is quite a bit of very good advice.

Examples: 7/10

Mostly the examples were good. A couple led to some confusion.

Readability: 7/10

A generally easy read. The math and logic could flow better at times.

Appropriateness: 8/10

It is generally suited for those wanting to play LLNL who aren’t already killing the game. Readers are assumed to know the mechanics of the game.

Overall (not an average): 7/10

Verdict: Worth reading if LLNL play is where you’re at or want to be. This is a niche book.

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