Harrington on Cash Games, Volume II: How to Play No-Limit Hold 'em Cash Games [Paperback]

Dan Harrington (Author), Bill Robertie (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dan Harrington began playing poker professionally in 1982. On the circuit he is known as Action Dan, an ironic reference to his solid but effective style. He has won several major no-limit hold em tournaments including the European Poker Championships (1995), the $2,500 No-Limit Hold em event at the 1995 World Series of Poker, and the Four Queens No-Limit Hold em Championship (1996).

Dan began his serious games-playing with chess, where he quickly became a master and one of the strongest players in the New England area. In 1972 he won the Massachusetts Chess Championship, ahead of most of the top players in the area. In 1976 he started playing backgammon, a game which he also quickly mastered. He was soon one of the top money players in the Boston area, and in 1981 he won the World Cup of backgammon in Washington D.C., ahead of a field that included most of the world s top players.

He first played in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold em Championship Event of the World Series of Poker in 1987. He has played in the championship a total of 15 times and has reached the final table in four of those tournaments, an amazing record. Besides winning the World Championship in 1995, he finished sixth in 1987, third in 2003, and fourth in 2004. In 2006 he finished second at the Doyle Brunson North American Championships at the Bellagio, while in 2007 he won the Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle Club. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest and most respected no-limit hold em players, as well as a feared opponent in both no-limit and limit hold em side games. He lives in Santa Monica where he is a partner in Anchor Loans, a real estate business.

Bill Robertie has spent his life playing and writing about chess, backgammon, and now poker. He began playing chess as a boy, inspired by Bobby Fischer s feats on the international chess scene. While attending Harvard as an undergraduate, he became a chess master and helped the Harvard chess team win several intercollegiate titles. After graduation, he won a number of chess tournaments, including the United States Championship at speed chess in 1970. He also established a reputation at blindfold chess, giving exhibitions on as many as eight boards simultaneously.

In 1976 he switched from chess to backgammon, becoming one of the top players in the world. His major titles include the World Championship in Monte Carlo in 1983 and 1987, the Black & White Championship in Boston in 1979, the Las Vegas tournaments in 1980 and 2001, the Bahamas Pro-Am in 1993, and the Istanbul World Open in 1994.

He has written several well-regarded backgammon books, the most noted of which are Advanced Backgammon (1991), a two-volume collection of 400 problems, and Modern Backgammon (2002), a new look at the underlying theory of the game. He has also written a set of three books for the beginning player: Backgammon for Winners (1994), Backgammon for Serious Players (1995), and 501 Essential Backgammon Problems (1997).

From 1991 to 1998 he edited the magazine Inside Backgammon with Kent Goulding. He owns a publishing company, the Gammon Press, and lives in Arlington, Massachusetts with his wife Patrice.

Product Details

• Paperback: 374 pages
• Publisher: Two Plus Two Publishing LLC (March 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880685434
• ISBN-13: 978-1880685433
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Poker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a cash game book!, August 8, 2008

By 

Eyal Soha (Tel Aviv, Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harrington on Cash Games, Volume II: How to Play No-Limit Hold 'em Cash Games (Paperback)

This book along with the first volume are the only books that I found to give in-depth coverage aimed specifically at NLHE Cash Games. The biggest thing going for the books is that they're thorough. Around 800 pages of strategy, quizzes, examples, and some light mathematical explanations. Thankfully, not a page wasted on teaching you how to play. Even the English is quite good! (Most poker books are near unreadable.) I reread this before every game to tighten up and remind me to be aggressive and I've certainly improved. I actually ENJOY reading it, too.

The only downside might be that the examples seem sometimes inconsistent, such as recommending a raise 80% of the time in one situation and 70% in another where it seems the recommendations should be reversed, though who am I to judge? Harrington's playing style is very tight and very loose players might find too few recommendations on how to act in situations with poor hands.

Neither of the above gripes is enough to knock these books down from a 5-star review. In short, you'll enjoy reading this book and play better afterward. Definitely get the first volume, too.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to read, July 8, 2008

By 

Mr. Michael Kagan "kagsau" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harrington on Cash Games, Volume II: How to Play No-Limit Hold 'em Cash Games (Paperback)

In my opinion the turn and River are the most difficult and misplayed parts in No-Limit Poker. This is why I got this book, to improve these areas of my game.
The things I love about this book are the hand examples and analysis. After playing no-limit Texas for a couple of years I have often either gone bust or not maximised my winnings on these streets because I'd reach a situation where I didn't know what to do.
Some hand examples tell you what you should do or not do after you've made your continuation bet, or called/raised one. This may vary on who your up against and any reads you might have on a particular opponent.
Other examples compose of some difficult situations you might face where you are holding medium strength hands and your stuck between checking, betting, raising etc.
Whilest others analyse how to get the maximum when you flop a set or a big hand.
The turn and river are the most profitable or expensive streets on poker. This is why this book is great value.
There is also some extra info in this book such as beating low-limit games, bankroll and tilt management.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for on-line play, May 30, 2008

By 

M. Sack - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Harrington on Cash Games, Volume II: How to Play No-Limit Hold 'em Cash Games (Paperback)

This volume completes the series. I play only on-line. The whole section on tells is about betting patterns. On-line thats all you have to go on. So this works great for me. Combine that with the board reading skills I picked up in the first volume and my NL cash game has improved a whole lot. I think anyone that has some basic skills in poker and is a break even or loosing player will improve to a winning player after a couple of reads.