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Review of Phil Gordon’s ‘Little Green Book’

There are poker players you admire, poker players you despise but respect, and then poker players that you’d really like to just have a beer and hang out with. For me at least, Phil Gordon definitely falls into the last category.

Not that I don’t admire Phil – he’s the only reason that Celebrity Poker is watchable for more than 20 seconds – but I’d never really had a handle on how strong his poker acumen really was until I picked up his latest offering: Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book [LGB].

Overview
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Finally – a book devoted primarily to No Limit cash games! Phil’s Little Green Book is both – it’s got a green jacket and is pint-sized – but don’t let that fool you. The cliche that good things come in small packages was coined for this book, a powerhouse of advice for and insight into winning strategies for No Limit ring games

Book Structure
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Basic and precise. The book moves logically through each stage of play and offers inserted hand examples and charts to illustrate and support concepts. Occasionally there will be a slightly random aside or a pause for adapting advice to tournament play, but otherwise, this book moves just like a well-dealt hand.

Unique Advantages
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First and foremost, this is the clearest, most practical advice for beating No Limit cash games that I’ve found. Gordon offers a good mix of general insight and specific tactics, all with a tone that feels measured, flexible and authoritative at the same time. Gordon’s approach is to raise an idea, support it, deconstruct it and then leave you to draw a conclusion for yourself – a great method that forces you to actively participate in the reading of the book. Some authors try to recreate a classroom in a book, and I think Gordon actually succeeds in doing so.

Second, the writing is clean, clear and to the point, and almost completely unburdened by self-glorifying anecdotes and name-dropping. It feels personal without sacrificing credibility, and it suffers none of the Sklansky-style ‘all readers are idiots’ condescension common to a lot of modern poker books.

Finally, it’s small and travels well.

Disadvantages
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This book doesn’t give you answers. It gives you questions. If you don’t prefer that method of learning, you might want to pass ont this book.

There are spots where you wish Gordon would give just a little more depth and analysis, and the last few chapters feel a bit added on. Shorthanded play is severely under covered.

Conclusion
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A must-have for no limit cash games players.

Focus: 8/10
Mostly NL ring with a few sidesteps into tournament.

Quality of advice: 9/10
Simply outstanding.

Examples: 7/10
Not as many as some books, but the hand example doesn’t quite mesh with Gordon’s approach to teaching, so it’s forgivable..

Readability: 9/10
Clear, clean and concise.

Appropriateness: 8/10
Not for the first-timer, but everyone else can get something out of this book.

Overall (not an average): 9/10
If you want to improve your NL cash game, I think you need to own this book.

VERDICT: Buy it as a second option or request it as a gift.

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