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Overview
Grinding the small NLHE stakes online? Then you’re the target audience for this excellent e-book. The 170-or-so pages are crammed with advice, analysis and examples that will benefit anyone who is currently stuck at .10/.25 – 1/2 NLHE online.

Davis’ approach is simple: he spends the first quarter of the book laying out a basic mathematical and logical foundation for understanding NLHE as a game. The middle of the book maps strategy street-by-street strategy, spending a fairly balanced amount of time on pre and post-flop play. The final chapters handle a few miscellaneous topics and offer readers additional resources, along with some meta-advice regarding poker as a pursuit.

Pros
This is one of the best poker books I’ve read in a long time. The writing is precise, concise but still fluid and (relative to your typical poker book) entertaining. There’s almost no fat to the text, which is impressive when you consider that it clocks in at over 150 pages.

The analysis, logic and supporting material are by and large fantastic. Readers get a deluge of real-world examples that clearly illustrate the principal at hand without feeling forced or contrived. The breakdowns are deep and articulate, but not so dense and jargony as to cause the reader’s eyes to glaze over.

There’s also an excellent intangible quality to this book that only a few other books I’ve read posses (Harrington on Hold’em comes to mind) – namely, that reading the book made me excited about playing poker again.

Finally, it’s affordably priced at $37, especially when compared to competing titles for this market.

Cons
I really don’t have much here. The one suggestion I’d make is to break up the flow of the book a bit and insert some of the psychological / miscellaneous content as interstitial material. While the flurry of analysis and examples is instructive and useful, it starts to all bleed together a bit after dozens of consecutive pages.

Conclusion
If you play small stakes NL online, you are losing money by not reading this book.

Focus: 10/10
No filler.

Quality of advice: 9/10
Would be a 10 except so much of the advice is core and a bit familiar to many players.

Examples: 10/10
Fantastic here.

Readability: 8/10
Wears you down a bit, but overall a serious improvement over your typical poker book.

Overall (not an average): 10/10
For SS NLHE players, this book is required reading.

VERDICT: Dollar-for-dollar, this is the best poker e-book available, and can safely be called an instant classic for small stakes NLHE players.

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Overview
Small and midstakes NL makes up the fat majority of online poker cash games, so it’s no surprise that a variety of training aides are focused on that market. LTBR is a focused course on how to beat a limit range that roughly spans 1/2 to 5/10.

The book is only available as an eBook (DRM protected) and is about 80 pages long.

Pros
Cole South is one of the more respected instructors at CardRunners, and his presence on the writing team allows average players access to some proven insights about no limit specifically and poker in general. Nguyen is also a proven player with a history of articulating tricky concepts in concise, understandable terms. The result: an effective author pairing that blends the esoteric and the execution to good effect.

The content is generally presented with a very tight focus, so even though the book is a bit short by most standards, it still measures up quite well against your typical poker book in terms of quantity of ideas. As far as content quality goes, LTBR outshines most of its peers by investigating the modern no limit cash game from some intriguing, yet ultimately pragmatic angles that yield applicable conclusions.

The book does a good job of presenting a mix of logical, empirical and ancedontal support for the author’s take on the game. The book really shines in the parts where South and Nguyen don’t only offer you a strategy, but also articulate the internal struggles you’ll likely face when attempting to implement the strategy and how to combat those as well. That’s a multi-tiered approach that owns up to the fact that there’s a real gap between book-based strategy and actual application, a fact most texts simply ignore (at the reader’s expense).

Cons
The price of this book simply puts it out of reach for a good chunk of its intended audience. Some midstakes players are no doubt ballers, but a good amount will flinch at the $947 price tag.

You can also buy the book in two parts, with Part 1 costing $297 and Part 2 coming in at $697.

Value is a tough thing to judge since it’s pretty relative to what the individual can afford. What we can say is that you’re certainly paying more dollars per idea for this book than for competing titles.

Another complaint: The book is littered with hand examples, which is a good thing. However, their dry layout – while possibly appealing to forum readers used to a converted HH format – often renders them awkwardly separate from the accompanying text, and misses an opportunity to engage the reader.

Conclusion
The ideas and advice in this book are bound to improve the game of anyone who reads it. Whether that’s worth the price is up to each individual.

Focus: 8/10
The book is tight in each individual chapter, but sometimes jumps from idea to idea inbetween chapters without a clear motivation.

Quality of advice: 10/10
Some interesting insights backed up with an arsenal of varied support.

Examples: 7/10
Sufficient, but not always integrated well into the text.

Readability: 7/10
It’s picky, but there are a number of small grammatical issues with this book that interrupt the flow for the reader.

Overall (not an average): 9/10
Cost issues aside, this is an excellent book.

VERDICT: If you’re a break-even player or small winner at 1/2 to 5/10, this book will improve your game. If you have the money to spare, consider a purchase.

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Overview
Poker book titles are awesome, insomuch that they generally tell you exactly what the exact focus of the book is. Nguyen’s is no exception – his core aim is to provide a text that will assist players making the transition from no limit holdem to pot limit omaha. The book can also just be read as a cold introduction to PLO, but the phrasing and examples in the book often provide readers with supplemental NLHE – PLO translations of certain concepts and ranges.

The book is only available as an eBook (DRM protected) and is about 80 pages long. Nguyen may be most familiar to some readers as the co-author, with Cole (CTS) South, of ‘Let There Be Range’, another eBook that focuses on mid-stakes NL online games.

Pros
A core advantage of this book is that it clearly fills a need in the market. You simply won’t find more than a handful of books on PLO strategy, and even fewer that are current. Of those, a few provide insights on short-handed play, one or two accommodate experienced no limit players, and none are aimed at modern online games.

Filling this need would be an irrelevant edge if Nguyen didn’t follow through with a well-executed text. From the point of view of a player who fits Nguyen’s intended audience (I’m currently in the early stages of making a partial transition from NLHE to PLO), I can confidently say he has. The book is a no-frills, information-packed primer for experienced poker players who are somewhat new to PLO. Concepts are explained in a tight, logical order, building upon and expanding previously introduced ideas. Nguyen does a good job of digging into the math behind PLO in a fairly accessible manner and provides quick analysis of real-world hand examples to illustrate and summarize core concepts.

The translations of PLO concepts and ranges for NLHE are especially helpful. There are some issues that NLHE players are uniquely likely to have when making the switch to PLO, and also some shortcuts that NLHE are uniquely equipped to employ. Nguyen does NLHE players a valuable service by repeatedly highlighting such points in clear, precise terms.

What about the scope of the content? That’s likely a concern for some potential readers, given the somewhat abbreviated length of the book at 80 pages. Again, Nguyen comes through with a table of contents that provides a comprehensive overview of PLO play on all streets (the river is abbreviated, but that’s not unusual for a PLO text, as river decisions are heavily player-dependent and not as complex as NLHE river decisions). While he certainly doesn’t (and realistically can’t be expected to) cover every possible line in every possible scenario, Nguyen excels at a smarter approach – digging into concepts that give readers the building blocks to analyze the game and construct responses to uncovered scenarios on their own.

Cons
Price: $367. You can also purchase just the first half of the book (covering core concepts and preflop play) for $47 and then purchase the second half for a little over the remainder of the price. The total number may put this text out of reach for a recreational or low-stakes player.

The text would certainly benefit from a quick pass by an editor and another pass by someone with layout experience. Minor grammatical errors and odd phrasing sometimes interrupts the flow for the reader. On the layout side: the blunt manner in which graphs and charts are inserted, along with a very spartan approach to headers and a lack of embedded quotes, results in a reading experience that’s a bit dry, even for a poker book.

Conclusion
If you’re in the target audience for this book – a NLHE player with limited PLO experience looking to transition to SSPLO – you’re unlikely to find a resource to rival it. Buy it now, or at the very least preview the first half on the cheap and make your mind up from there.

Focus: 9/10
Spartan, almost to a fault.

Quality of advice: 9/10
Feels dead on. Only missed a 10/10 because it’s not earth-shattering so much as a quality collection of rock-solid fundamental advice.

Examples: 7/10
They’re always appropriate, but there’s not always enough of them. Nguyen does a great job at cutting to the quick when reviewing hand examples, so it’s odd that there aren’t more included.

Readability: 7/10
Small errors are distracting, and the layout isn’t as inviting as it could be.

Overall (not an average): 9/10
We generally give our overall rating on the quality of the book for it’s intended audience, and by that metric this book excels.

VERDICT: Moving to SSPLO from NLHE? Buy the book. Want to learn PLO from scratch? Start with a cheaper book designed for that and graduate to this when you’re ready to move on and move up.

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Overview
Miller & co have a very specific purpose with this book – to outline a winning strategy for modern online $1/$2 6 max no limit holdem games. That probably seems like a narrow focus to most, but Miller’s basic thesis is that the fundamentals necessary for beating those games translate into a solid skill set for beating no limit games of nearly any stripe, and it’s hard to argue the point.

The book spans a bit over 300 pages. At the current time, there are no plans for the book to be released in paperback form.

This is the second effort from this trio – read our review of Professional No Limit Holdem here.

Book Structure
A solid logic drives the organization. The book is divided into four basic sections; Part One details Miller’s basic theory on the game and provides a core framework for understanding the rest of the text. Part Two tackles the specific challenges inherent to 1/2 6 max no limit online. Part Three then diverts the discussion to more meta-game concerns, and Part Four takes a step beyond the scope of the text to cover advanced tactics and concerns players will have as they move beyond 1/2 games.

Pros
Miller & co are established authors with a strong sense of how to communicate both beginner and advanced ideas, and those skills are on display in this book. There aren’t many wasted words or sections, which is saying something for a book of 300+ pages.

The e-book nature of the text means there’s a good deal less of a gap between writing and publication, which is a critical asset in our eyes. Online games are constantly shifting and evolving, so the closer you can get your advice to the context of the current game, the better your book will be. Another potential advantage: the authors suggest that they’ll be updating the book at various points which, if the follow through, would be an excellent reason to recommend this book, as there’s tons of value in a book that can change as the game does.

The book also does an excellent job of summarizing key concepts frequently, which is a useful aid, especially for the lazier reader. You’ll see tons of paragraph breaks where a key concept is restated in simpler terms and in larger text – an obvious device, but also an effective one.

At the end of they day, any poker book is made or broken by the quality of its advice, and there’s no fault to be found with this one. There’s clear logic and reasoning behind all suggestions, strategies and tactics.

Cons
One word will sum up the cons for most people: price. At $99.95, the book clocks in at 3-4x the cost of a traditional poker book. If updates are built into the price, and if updates occur, that certainly mitigates the cost somewhat, but it’s impossible to factor that in without a firm update schedule (there isn’t one).

This also isn’t a book for beginners. That’s obviously not a universal con (it’s a pro for many readers), but it’s something that readers who have enjoyed Miller’s past work (which generally focused on more fundamental advice) should be aware of before purchasing the book.

Conclusion
A unique text with solid advice that should be read by anyone looking to beat (or keep beating) 1/2

Focus: 9/10
Solid. No filler.

Quality of advice: 8/10
These are winning strategies – they’re not always the easiest to execute, but Miller & Co hold up their end of the deal by explaining and articulating everything well.

Examples: 7/10
The examples of concepts with hands are solid, but keeping the examples in text instead of providing some break or graphic is a little annoying.

Readability: 8/10
The book moves fine. Relative to other poker books, the writing is clear, precise and fairly engaging.

Overall (not an average): 9/10
This book fills a critical gap – providing recreational to intermediate players with the tools they need to be competitive in modern online no limit games. It’s a bit short of being a Harrington on Holdem, but not by much.

VERDICT: If your bankroll allows, buy it. If it doesn’t, consider setting aside a bit each week until you can afford it. At any reasonable stakes, this book should pay for itself in short order.

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Book Structure
If you’ve seen other 2+2 strategy books, you won’t find any surprises here. Sections are focused on explaining and then illustrating individual concepts with a mix of real-world and hypothetical examples. Individual sections generally build toward larger concepts, although a few sections of the book are standalone.

Pros
Moshman writes well, and the book fills a lack in the current market. Heads up play is a critical component of many popular forms of poker, and while other books may address the concept in part, this is the first one to put heads-up play front and center.

The book does a good job of introducing and explaining the math behinds several aspects of heads up play without dragging down the typical reader.

Moshman also does a good job of balancing the book in terms of theory versus application. You’ll find a healthy mix of practical moves you can integrate into your very next session and general principles that will require additional time to fully work into your game.

Cons
When all is said and done, this is really a book about heads up sit and go play. While it addresses cash games and MTT play, the focus of the book and the majority of illustrations draw from heads up matches specifically. This isn’t really a fault, per se’, but it does make the title a bit misleading.

A good deal of the book is taken up by examples. That’s fine, except that a good amount of the examples are taken from live play in the Heads Up Championship Event and feel at points like filler material, either illustrating a point already covered by another example or taking a page or two to illustrate what a paragraph would have accomplished just fine.

The book also suffers from a noticeable lack of coverage regarding the psychology of heads up play. While that’s a tricky topic to cover, it’s still such a fundamental part of heads up play that it’s really disappointing to see it get the short shrift. Any discussion of heads up play that doesn’t at least attempt to dissect some common game flow scenarios has, in our opinion, stopped a bit short of the minimum needed for an excellent heads up text.

Conclusion
A solid primer on HU play for newer players.

Focus: 7/10
Not on par with other 2+2 texts. The examples are windy and some sections feel tacked on.

Quality of advice: 8/10
Solid, but workmanlike. There’s nothing wrong in here, but it lacks the insight of Moshman’s other effort.

Examples: 7/10
Would be better off with far less HUPC examples.

Readability: 7/10
Typical 2+2. it’s not a page turner, but few poker books are.

Overall (not an average): 7/10
Nothing great, but not bad either.

VERDICT: If you subscribe to the theory that books can pay for themselves with just a pot or two won that might have been lost otherwise, pick this up. If you’re on a budget and are looking for a game-changing text, your money might be better spent on a subscription to Cardrunners, etc.

Overview
——–
The Rules of Poker may be the Super System’s Anti-Christ as the back cover announces “here is the poker bible that will let you concentrate on what’s really important – winning.” The book covers a lot of the nuances of poker, the rules, which chips to use, when you can and can not play ‘overs.’ I get the feeling this book wants to be Hoyle’s List of Winning Hands (you know, that little card that lists what hand beats what) – sitting within reach of every poker game to settle an argument of procedure or ethic.

Book Structure
————-
Even though it’s 276 pages, it’s very compact and looks like a yellow version of the bartenders guide to drinks. The book is broken down into five parts, each with chapters, and those chapters are broken down into sections. For example, Part Two: Structures of Play, Chapter 4 The Deck and Cards, 4.2 Hands Begin with Shuffle, p 96. Not completely intuitive but very easy to navigate once you’ve flipped through it a few times. It also reminds me of the AP Style Book for journalists.

Unique Advantages
—————-
A completely different book for poker players of all skill levels. This book says it aims to let you concentrate on what important – winning, but what it really accomplishes is an end-all to an argument. It won’t teach you how to win but how to play right, according to the standards. Whether you win or lose is up to your skill level ; ) I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a casino heard one ruling then walked across the street (literally, Bellagio to Caesars) and heard something completely different. This book would have been handy then IF the floor would agree to accept its credibility.

Disadvantages
————–
A rule book is great if people agree to abide by it. I can’t imagine a dealer calling the floor in the middle of a dispute and the floor saying ‘hold on, let me get the rule book.’ It’d be nice, but there’s a joke that goes ‘know the difference between God and the Floor? God doesn’t think he’s the Floor.’

Conclusion
———-
A great reference for your house game or your backpack if you sport one on your trips to the casino. Man I wish this thing was industry standard so we could have an industry standard.

Focus: 10/10
It should say a lot that a former sports writer is comparing this to the AP Style Book.

Quality of advice: 10/10
I hope this book isn’t taken merely as advice but rather a gold standard.

Examples: 10/10
Pretty damn good. The story about ‘closest to the button’ is extremely vivid and I think I’ve seen that happen almost exactly as he describes. Well not exactly as, but you know.

Readability: 10/10
No flowers, no big words. This book is straight forward. It aims to be clearly understood and is.

Overall (not an average): 9.9/10
As a resource, amazing, and I won’t grade it on any other basis. However, what about wildcards Krieger? And low Chicago?

VERDICT: Yeah, you need it, especially if you try to play serious poker at your house game.

Book Structure
————-
Small Stakes Holde’m is more than 360 pages long and in the classic Sklansky layout style. It is broken down in to seven parts and each part has main topics and subtopics. It progesses from theory, to preflop play, post flop play and river decisions with another section devoted to random topics, like when to build a pot. Of course, what would a Sklansky book be without a quiz.

Unique Advantages
—————-
When you get three guys like this, it’s like a Sklansky book on crack – more thorough than you would ever expect. There’s a lot to say about weak players. Of course it is very straight forward and there’s no room for ambiguity. If you read it and can follow the logic, you will understand their point completely. It’s also specifically focused on one game (holdem) and one level (small stakes).

Disadvantages
————–
Here’s my standard Sklansky slight: If you hated calculus or symbolic logic class get ready for a painful education. Also, this book REALLY assumes you’ll be in a loose game. And by loose I mean LOOSE. Even at the 2-4 games in my local casino I don’t see 6 to 8 players playing a flop every hand. If you play the style they prescribe at a slightly tighter low stakes game you’re done for. This book also talks to you like an adult, assuming you understand. There’s no dumbing down ever.

Conclusion
———-
A tough read but worth the price if you regularly play in games like this.

Focus: 10/10
Hold’em? Check. Small stakes? Check. Ever get away from that? Nope.

Quality of advice: 8/10
I’m not sure games like this exist that often and you’d need a large roll comparatively to play this style.

Examples: 10/10
For pete’s sake, there’s a quiz section that refreshes a lot of the advice.

Readability: 3/10
Sklansky’s name is on it. You know what that means.

Appropriateness: 7/10
Still not sure you can find opponent’s this dumb in today’s poker climate.

Overall (not an average): 8/10
You’ll definitely get your money’s worth.

VERDICT: As painful of a read as it can be, you’re best reading everything Sklansky writes even if it’s a Tahitian cook book.

Overview
——–
”Engrossing, Captivating, Riveting . . .” That’s how Brunson’s anthology of big hands is positioned. With red spot color to make the cards stand out and even more colorful nicknames of opponents, it’s like you’re sweating one of the greatest poker players.

Book Structure
————-
Doyle’s book is 160 pages or so with 50 chapters (one for each hand) and an introduction. The set up is like this – Doyle sets the scene, introduces his opponent and what they hold, plays the hand, summarizes and adds a bit to wrap up the story. There’s no conclusion, just the 50th hand.

Unique Advantages
—————-
Strange to say but I love the red spot color. This book also serves as a history of poker, a small glimpse in to how the legend of Texas Dolly was built. It’s also very easy to pick up, read a bit and then put down.

Disadvantages
————–
Like most Brunson books, there’s not a lot of theory or depth but that’s OK. This book doesn’t pretend to be an end all. It’s simply a book of memories. Doyle does include some hands from games the reader may be unfamiliar with.

Conclusion
———-
Great book. Not for someone wanting to learn the game but it’s actually entertaining and very digestible.

Focus: 10/10
The book is his 50 memorable hands, pure and simple.

Quality of advice: X/10
There’s really not much direct advice here. You could infer a few things but this book is entertainment not educational.

Examples: 10/10
Every hand has a story, a big pot or a crazy twist.

Readability: 10/10
My common critique: “Doyle does write like he’s talking with you.” The red ink for some reason makes the book pop. When you look at the illustration of the cards, it feels a bit more real.

Appropriateness: 10/10
In all honesty, Doyle’s on his way out. I think this book will sell more after his death.

Overall (not an average): 8/10
It’s great reading for a trip or the bathroom and that’s not a knock on it. Each hand can be read in 3 minutes or less.

VERDICT: Great light reading for a trip and will make a great stocking stuffer for the poker player in your life. My guess is that most players haven’t read this and wouldn’t buy it but would really enjoy the stories.

Overview
——–
James A. McKenna, Ph.D, attempts to dig deeper in to the poker psyche and sharpen the reader’s perception and increase their perspective on card room opponents. His shovel, so to speak, is his bag of professions – a psychotherapist and a poker columnist.

Book Structure
————-
In about 250 pages McKenna uses tightly organized sections, charts, graphs, photos and some fun examples to educate the reader. The book contains 11 chapters and each is broken down in to sections that are further broken down in to subsections.

Unique Advantages
—————-
I really have not seen a book come at poker from this direction and that’s a breath of fresh air. McKenna’s simplistic grouping of players in to three categories – winners, losers and non winners, rings true with poker players. He further identifies a handful of personality types that are easy to remember and not comical personifications of animals (as one author poorly attempted in a different book). It’s clear that McKenna did a lot of work on this subject and his advice is not his opinion, it is more or less scientific analysis. And this book is generally more affordable than most poker books of this caliber.

Disadvantages
————–
The charts help the reader visualize the point McKenna’s making but are useless away from the book. The photo illustrations are of poor quality and reminiscent of Caro’s Book of Tells (ugh!). This is NOT a beginner’s book.

Conclusion
———-
My review up to this point has not done the book justice. Read below for my true reaction.

Focus: 10/10
McKenna does an amazing job blending a lot of psychology theory with poker application in a way that any player can understand (you don’t need to be Freud to get it!).

Quality of advice: 10/10
I can’t tell you how important it is to read the section on the things certain players say that reveal their style. It is eye-opening.

Examples: 10/10
Even with crappy photos, something in the bulk of supporting materials will click with you.

Readability: 10/10
Surprisingly easy to read considering it was coming from someone with a Ph.D. McKenna’s journalistic experience comes through.

Overall (not an average): 10/10
There’s no other book I’ve read about poker that is so fresh, intelligent and unique as this one. It won’t be a rehash of anything else you’ve read.

VERDICT: A must must must buy, but don’t get this as your first poker book or even second or third. This book is best suited for players who have some serious poker education under their belt. I suggest reading it twice.

Overview
——–
Positioned as “a strategy guide to the hottest new poker game,” Cappelletti certainly provides a guide for Omaha 8.

Book Structure
————-
Count them with me. 1, 2, 3 . . . 70 sections! The book has about 230 pages with 11 chapters and each of the 70 sections is only a few pages long. Cappelletti devotes about 30 pages to each betting round and provides a sufficient amount of charts to drive his points home.

Unique Advantages
—————-
It’s not Cappelletti’s first book on Omaha and it shows. He digs deep in to the ether of O8 and pulls out some convincing support for O8 game selection and starting hand theory.

Disadvantages
————–
Some of the math is VERY confusing and I think lost on the reader. Cappelletti offers a lot of math but does not offer a universal way of calculating probably of hitting a high, low, or scooping against a random hand. This may be difficult or even impossible to do in book form but as a Hold’em player I know if I have 8 outs once I’m going to make my hand about 17% of the time. I’d like that comfort when playing O8.

Conclusion
———-
Yes, this is an above-average guide for O8. My problem is that this does nothing to convince you that O8 is the ‘hottest’ or even ‘newest’ poker game. If you doubt this assertion, walk in to an American casino on a Monday night and start a list for O8. I’m not sure you’ll use these skills often enough to make the time/money investment in this book worthwhile.

Focus: 7/10
Cappelletti loses me on occasion when he gets in to computer simulations. And the 30 pages he devotes to personal exploits detract from the learning process a bit (although this section is dotted with little nuggets of useful info like stats).

Quality of advice: 8/10
He’s Card Player’s O8 guy, that’s quality.

Examples: 6/10
Confusing. He does provide a good point system but it WILL take time to understand.

Readability: 4/10
At times, he’s all over the place referring to multiple examples in the same sentence.

Appropriateness: 3/10
If I see a O8 game in my regular casino, if the guys at my house game ever want to play it, if if if . . .

Overall (not an average): 6/10
A bit confusing and a perhaps inappropriate for today’s poker environment.

VERDICT: SURPRISE! Buy it and take the time to understand it and learn it. IF IF IF O8 ever takes off, you’ll be WAY ahead of the curve.