Caro's Most Profitable Hold'em Advice [Paperback]

Mike Caro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2007

When Mike Caro writes a book on winning, the poker world takes notice. And it should: Caro is the world's foremost authority on poker theory and psychology, and his work has influenced every professional player including Doyle Brunson, who relies on Caro for all his writing. Caro's powerful advice covers every aspect of poker with a special emphasis on winning money at hold'em. Packed with psychology, advice on reading opponents, advanced moves, professional techniques, and much more, this includes pecial sections on internet poker and tournaments.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Caro, the legendary "Mad Genius of Poker," is the world's foremost authority on poker strategy, psychology and statistics, and the author of many best-selling poker books including Caro's Book of Poker Tells. He is also a leading contributor to Doyle Brunson's Super System 1 and Super System 2.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: Cardoza (November 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580422098
• ISBN-13: 978-1580422093
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mike Caro (born May 16, 1944 in Joplin, MO) is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, and author of poker books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most comprehensive hold em book, January 30, 2008

By 

Kawakami - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caro's Most Profitable Hold'em Advice (Paperback)

I don't have time to write a full review right now, but I'll put in this quickie to negate some of the negative reviews on amazon.

PROS
This book has almost everything a semi-skilled player needs to take their game to the next level. Mike breaks down the play and analysis in order, by street to give the book a logical flow in the beginning. After that, he expands on general topics such as bankroll management, bluffing, treating poker like a business, etc.

The advice is very pragmatic and much more realistic than most other books. Let's face it. Most of the time you should fold. But in those special circumstances when you have the right player in the right position with the right sized pot, then you can do other moves. Mike says as much and gives solid advice on when to and when not to do certain moves.

Also, the section on treating poker like a business is pure gold. Let's face facts. Most of us play with too much ego from time to time. His advice is a wake up call for those of us play as though we need to prove how smart we are.

CONS
The book is very math light, so you won't find any modeling of hand distributions. I personally really enjoy hand distribution modeling, but it's yet to prove it's usefulness to me so I didn't miss it here. In fact, the shortcoming of modeling (for me) is that all of the math is only as valid as the assumptions (your read). So after reading "Killer Poker: By the Numbers", I felt that this book was a bit of a missing link between the modeling and reality.

The second short coming is that this book is really just a collection of all of his previous work. Is that so terrible? If you've managed to read just about ALL of his newspaper and magazine articles as well as his books and his section in Super System II; then you may feel like you've already read most of this book. Personally, I've ready A LOT of his writings, and I only recognized about 25% of it in this book.

REBUTTLES
For those who criticize his recommendation to create a wreckless table image (while actually playing solid), what do you think about Doyle Brunson's recommendation to create an aggressive table image by always betting and raising, or Johnny Chan's recommendation to the exact same thing? Or what about Daniel Negraneau's recommendation to appear to be a call station so you can't be read? Most players agree that it's good to appear more wreckless than you actually are. However, Mikes advice is in the minority that explains how to appear wreckless without actually being wreckless.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Great Book, January 18, 2008

By 

John J. Poillucci - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caro's Most Profitable Hold'em Advice (Paperback)

First of all this is a great poker book. I consider myself a stuent of the game and read ALOT of books on Hold em. Mike's advice is sound and works. He does advocate having a loose and playful image and it does illict more calls. How many times have you tightened up your play against a intimdating oponnet? I also find myself calling more than I should to friendly players with my marginal / semi strong hands. Mike's book put this whole psychology into a easily readable format. I noticed a distinct upswing in my profits after reading the book and implementing some of his techniques. Now this style of play is not or everyone. If you want to play like a rock and sneer at other players you will probally still make a profit, but you will be mising out on ALOT of extra money at the tables. Read the book and then reread it and all of his techinques fall into place. This book changed the way I play poker in so many ways.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Complex advice!, December 19, 2007

By 

luadhas (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caro's Most Profitable Hold'em Advice (Paperback)

It's rather difficult to clearly analyze Mike Caro's most recent book because some of the advice he gives is a bit controversial, and other parts can only be pulled off by experts.

First, let me state that there is a wealth of very valuable information in the book. Granted, much of it has been previously published in his earlier works, and magazine articles, but here, it's all available in one place. I especially liked the section about treating Hold'em as a business as well as the occasional piece that really made me think about my game.

However, Mr. Caro STRONGLY advocates creating a loose image in order to induce more calls, and increase profit. Several sections stress this, and advise the player how to do it. As I recall, he and another author, went round and round about this several years ago. To my mind, Mr. Caro has not proven that creating the loose image is the best path, especially for beginning players. Furthermore, and more importantly, it is very easy for a non-expert player to attempt this strategy and cost themselves some serious money. Newer players should be very careful in their attempts to be like Mike.

So, while I do recommend the book [all of Caro's material is worth reading]I strongly advise the players to be careful when implementing some of it's advise.