Phil Hellmuth's Texas Hold'em

Hellmuth has a good basic strategy that a beginner poker player can use. He communicates effectively. I recommend this book for someone that is just starting into the game, but doesn't want to read a lot. If you want the best of the best, read Doyle Brunson's Super System. Doyle knows what he is talking about and gets very in depth on a lot of theories. If you're just starting out and playing small limits, Hellmuth is fine to reduce your losses, but Doyle has a lot better information for you when you want to prepare to take a run at the mid to high stakes or if you want to sit at the $40 buy in table for 18 hours and walk away with $6000 like I do!

Yes, it's a pocket book--I nearly misplaced it several times cause it's so small. But there is a lot of useful information in the book, so I can recommend it. For the $4 I spent this was a pretty good deal.

Great book

I liked the book cuz for me it was fun to read the bad-boy's words. He actually is likable and even at times humble in the book. I only gave it 3 stars though because I would have liked to see more technical advice and more emphasis on no limit.

If you play Hold Em you should read this book-for no better reason than the possibility that your tablemates did!

Bought as a gift for my father who's a big poker player and he enjoyed it.

What is this, a book for ants? It has to be at least 3 times that size!It's so small.

I found this to be somewhat useful, poorly written however and the book measures about 6 inches tall by 4 inches wide. Very small print, very small package. You have to respect Phil, but you find your own poker opinions quickly at odds with that of the poker brat.

if you bought this book before play poker like the pros, then dont buy play poker like the pros, he does state that in the 1st chapter. its the same book except 1 extra chapter on tournament play.only bought this book 3 days ago.arnt even halfway through yet, more like a quarter, lots of pages.but out of my 25 books on poker, i would put this at number 1.but what i can gather from the first 3 chapters ive read, its more to do with tournament poker, than cash games.lots of info.why play tight,when you can play super tight?i recomend this book to anyone, whether just starting out or a seasoned player, theres always something new to learn.so why not learn from the best.anyone can play pool, but why is 1 pool player better than another?anyone can play chess, but why is 1 chess player better than another?anyone can play poker, but why is 1 poker player better than another?the answers inside this book.10/10 best book so far ive read.

If you are just getting into poker then I would recommend this book to you as it will instantly give you a half decent chance of success playing lower stakes games or for fun. It gives you a great insight into the mental aspect of poker which is as important as the luck element if not more so.to be honest though if you have been playing online poker or holdem for any length of time you will have worked out most of this already so the only benefit it will be to you is for fine tuning your own system and giving you one or two ideas for more advanced play.

Excellent read and insight into a great player and his methods

This is my first poker book I have purchased, and on finishing reading the book one time over I can conclude that it is a very concise, easy to follow book which contains many sensible, game changing tips and strategies. One thing should be noted before this book is taken for gospel: Firstly a vast majority of the book focuses on limit hold'em, as opposed to pot limit/no limit hold'em. This doesn't mean that the information is all null and void if you're a no-limit player as most of the information is fully transferable between the game variations. Also, to make up for the plentiful talk of limit hold'em there are full sections of the book which focus entirely on no-limit hold'em tournaments: An area which Phil is world-class in and therefore information given in these sections of the book should be taken into full consideration when deciding what arsenal of strategies you are taking to your next no-limit tournament. I think certain areas of the book are absolute gems, especially Phil's 'animal types', which describes five different types of players you often get sitting at your table by comparing them to animals of similar traits. I found the Elephant type to be particularly resonant with me as I am ALWAYS up against that style of player. One other thing I like is that Phil fully encourages playing poker so that you enjoy playing it. To back this up he encourages playing a mini game within poker of 'trying to guess your opponents exact two hole cards', which I thought was a brilliant suggestion as this makes all hands fun at the table, whether you are in them or if you have folded, and all the while doing this improves your reading abilities over time too. One thing that could put people off this book is the way that it is written: it is very dramatic, riddled with exclamation marks and very American-sounding phrases, which can at times prove distasteful.I hope this review is helpful to everyone, and if so good luck at the tables!

Good.