Customer Reviews

Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 2: Endgame

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Harrington and Robertie have surely done it again -- even more powerfully than in their first volume. They have presented the authoritative text about how to think about and how to play a final table in a no limit hold em tournament. And in so doing they have redefined the game.
Harrington and Robertie introduce a whole new lexicon (at least it was new to me) about no limit poker: inflection points, red zones, dead zones, green zones, probe bets, continuation bets. Some of these phrases I had heard -- maybe even dropped to impress people from time to time. But they explain them clearly and tie them all together in a vivid strategic picture of the game.
But even if you were familiar with all of these terms and phrases that help clarify the many otherwise intuitive concepts of no limit tournament play, you've never read a simpler, clearer or more powerful explanation of them -- and all of the different stages players enter as their stack size grows and diminishes at the final table in a tournament. Similarly so with other vital concepts to no limit play like continuation and probe bets and final table play. Harrington and Robertie take the ideas that excellent players have intuitively known but until now have not fully expressed and put them into clear, simple language that any moderately experienced player can readily grasp and absorb. The hand examples, which the authors think us through further drive home the key points of this masterwork.
To say that this is a must read for every serious hold em player doesn't do it justice. It is a book that has set a new standard for poker literature. Even if you are a very experienced winning no limit tournament player, this book will help you think and play. And I don't think that it is overstating it to say that it will significantly change the way players talk and write about the game in the future.
Bravo Harrington and Robertie. Your two volumes are by far the best I have ever read -- and I've read just about everything that's out there.

This book and its companion Volume II are like my bibles. I have only being playing online poker tournaments and sit-and-go games
for three months and am already consistently winning money and getting to the final table in tournaments of 150 players or so, and have won a couple too.

When I started I bought a number of books that were well reviewed on Amazon, but frankly the rest of them are not worth a hill of beans, whereas this one is worth its weight in gold. I will not go into a description of the contents, because so many reviews have already done so, but if you want to master tournament poker, or you want a great gift for your family poker player, then look no further.

I should also say that the book is extemely well written, which is not always the case with poker books. The authorial voice is sometimes witty, and always a great friend and companion.

This book is the definitive work on the subject of no limit hold'em tournament play. I just hope my opponents don't read it.

There is an old adage that says sequels are never as good as the original. For the most part this saying holds true but then there is the exception. Back in 1974 a sequel came out that broke the mold of how a second movie was expected to turn out. There will be endless discussions regarding which of the 2 films was superior, but there was no denying that when the second film was made, it not only was a success, but one of the greatest movies ever made.

That film was The Godfather, Part II

With 'Harrington on Hold'em Volume II: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Endgame', Action Dan has managed to make the impossible possible. He (along with Bill Roberte) have written a sequel so good that it is hard to distinguish the two books and easily point to a reason why the first book is better than the sequel.

With the focus being how to play the middle to end stages of a tournament, Harrington has written a book that even the most experienced of players will be able to profit from. My favorite 2 points made in this book are as follows:

1. The concept of M and why it is so important to always know where your stack is in relation to the antes and blinds.

2. When heads up, nearly any 2 cards are worth playing and you are never that far behind.

I really hope that Dan Harrington doesn't sell a lot of these books, because anyone that reads, learns, and follows the advice within is going to become a much better poker player. Employing a writing style that makes even the most difficult concepts easy to understand and follow, the end result is incredible.

I said it when I reviewed the first book, these are the most important poker books written since Doyle Brunson's Super/System which came out in the 1970s, and it is REQUIRED reading for ALL Hold 'Em players.

Wonderful, wonderful poker book by one of the best players in the world.

***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

Everyone else has pretty much summed this book up, for players with a solid game that want to take that next step, these books are the bibles of poker, specifically tournament poker.

As was already mentioned, Harrington has a reputation of being a tight, conservative player but his advice on playing when short stacked is far from conservative. He explains why it is so necessary to avoid being blinded down to the point where at least the big blind has pot odds to call with virtually any two cards.

The chapter on calculating the ratio of your chip stack to the size of the pot at the start of the hand (defined as your "M") is the single most important chapter of a poker book I have ever read. He explains why hands that are playable with a big stack are unplayable with a small one, and just as importantly how hands that are playable with a small stack are not with a bigger stack!

I consider myself a pretty good hold 'em player, but as another reviewer also said, I would so often make the money but without many chips to advance to where the real money is. Since reading this three book trilogy and Volume II in particular, my play late in tourneys when the bubble is approaching has improved immensely. The way Harrington explains things just makes so much sense. My natural style is to play fairly tight so Harrington's style is one I try to emulate. I was stunned reading the sections on short stack play, to see how many "weak" hands he recommended playing, but the way he explains why just makes sense.

And unlike so many pros that have authored books (particularly Phil Hellmuth), there is little mention of reading opponents based on physical tells, but more along the lines of being able to determine an opponent's holding based on what style they play. The truly great pros rely a lot on reading their opponents based on mannerisms along with betting patterns, but for the rest of us, smart analytical play is the best way for us to be successful.

In addition, the book has several problem hands taken from online play rather than from live tournaments. In far too many poker instruction books, the author assumes that your opponents are always excellent players. Online however, there are many players that are average or worse and Harrington shows how those players can be exploited.

He also explains the big difference in strategy as the bubble is near in tournaments and sit-and-go one table online games, one of the few poker books I have ever seen to do this.

If you are a primarily a tournament player, whether online, live or both, you simply must read these books. Volume I is more of a book that covers the basics, Volume II is really simply the rest of Volume I and covers end game play and includes an extensive section on heads-up play.

I have paid for these books many, many times over, I cannot recommend these books too highly!

I've been playing poker for about three years now casually but for the last year I've put in more hours into improving my game. I currently consider myself a decent tournament player with 50% of my tournament results ending in the money and the other 50% on the bubble.

The problem was, once I made the money, I rarely had chips to play and usually get blinded out. This is where Harrington on Hold'em comes into effect. As soon as I bought Volume 1 I finished it in less than 24 hours. It is that good. Volume 1 gives you a good core on how to approach tournaments and teaches you how to play with discipline. For me, I already knew most of the concepts but reading the book help clean up my game and patch loose ends.

Volume 2 is where it gets exciting. I've recently started Volume 2 and am already impressed. Volume 2 discusses the end game of tournaments which includes making moves, bluffs, and playing short handed; all of which I needed a lot of help on. While Volume 1 is good I think Volume 2 is what separates the men from the boys. Being able to pull off well timed bluffs is a valuable skill in hold'em because it is always more rewarding to win a huge put with a bluff than a monster hand.

I'd like to think of the set in this sense. Volume 1 is like the good girl you want to marry and bring home to mom. She'll wash your clothes, cook you meals, do the dishes, but over time you'll get tired of her because she is just too predictable and boring.
Volume 2 is that sexy bad girl you constantly fantasize about. She is seductive, exciting, and a pure freak. As much as you enjoy the hot steamy romps, there really is no future for the both of you because she is too unstable. Adding both of these books to your arsenal is like finding the perfect woman.

I hear Volume 3 is coming out in May and I can't wait. If you really want to improve your tournament game, you have to get the entire set.

The real surprise about this book is not how good it is. The true wonder is that it or something like it has not already been written!

Super/System by Doyle Brunson is considered by many to be the poker player's "Bible." While Super/System is an excellent cash game book, and a great introduction a wide variety of poker games, it has little to say about tournament play. If you've played in both tournaments and cash games, you know that the strategic difference between the two is enormous!

The poker "boom" has caused greater involvement in all forms of poker, yes, but the game on everyone's mind is the No-Limit Texas Hold 'em Tournament. It's what you see the pros playing on TV, and it's where the largest prize pools can be won. I've been wondering since Moneymaker's victory at the 2003 World Series--WHY hasn't a definitive straegy volume on tournament No-Limit Texas Hold 'em been published?

There were a few places to turn before Harrington on Hold 'em. David Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players is not bad, although it's my belief that it contains a good ammount of misinformation (besides, what tournaments have you seen Sklansky win? Have you ever seen him at a final table, even?) I believe that Cloutier and McEvoy have a few tournament books as well, but I haven't heard good things about them.

Harrington on Hold 'em is, at long last, a book which reveals everything one might ever need to know to play tournament No-Limit Texas Hold 'em. Harrington meticulously describes not only bluffing and slow-playing, but every different type of bluffing and slow-playing, when to use them and when not to. Harrington claims that his section on inflection points is the most important, and he's right. Inflection points are the absoulte essence of no-limit, and if you aren't aware of them on a least a subconcious level, you will fail at tournament poker.

Even if you think you are a great player, I still cannot stress how much you should read this book. You have no idea how much better you can get! At the very least, reading this book will validate plays you have already been making, justifying them as "correct" in a professional's knowing mind and giving you the confidence to use them again in the future.

In short, if you play tournament No-Limit Texas Hold 'em, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!

I had been anxiously awaiting this book since reading Harrington's "Volume One Strategic Play." Well, I wasn't disapointed. There are many things revealed that have never been revealed before in poker books. The section on heads up is especially educational and eye-opening. This book is not for beginners and you should definitely read volume one before cracking this one. Both books are well worth the investment believe me. They are by far the best!

I find myself continually re-reading Volume 1 of "Harrington on Hold 'em," so was ecstatic when Volume 2 was released. The most important benefit of Harrington's books is the depth with which he analyzes situational play. If you've ever found yourself feeling lost and pushed around in the latter stages of a NL Hold 'em tournament, this book is essential. This book really helped me understand just how dynamic the tournament environment is and how necessary it is to adapt your style of play. His Zone System is a brilliant way of tracking just what kind of shape you're in as the blinds continue to increase and the tables shorten. Implementing his Red Zone strategy has salvaged several tournaments for me. His chapter on heads-up play will give you a fighting chance to win it all if you've played successfully enough to get that point. Overall, Harrington's books just bring an amazing amount of clarity to a complex game. If you buy Harrington's books, don't just read them once. They bear re-reading many, many times because of the situational concepts they illustrate. These are truly masterful works that teach you how to think deeply about the game, not just play it mechanically. I can't wait for Volume 3, which is supposed to be a large collection of situations and problems in sort of a quiz format.

WOW! I have read many books of poker but nothing like this, this book is far the best book ever written even the best sellers like Doyle Brunson's Super System or Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players do not have the information that this book has. Good concepts, good problems, and brillant part of head-ups.

Volume 1 was a brilliant introductory book on NLHE. VOLUME 2 is quite simply the most important book ever written on the subject of NLHE tournamant play.
Period.