Killer Poker Hold'em Handbook: A Workbook for Winners [Paperback]

John Vorhaus (Author), Annie Duke (Foreword)

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Lyle Stuart (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0818406410
• ISBN-13: 978-0818406416
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Vorhaus is now known to one and all as the man who brought Radar Hoverlander - con artist extraordinaire - to life in the "sunshine noir" mystery novel, THE CALIFORNIA ROLL, and its acclaimed sequel, THE ALBUQUERQUE TURKEY. His other novels include UNDER THE GUN and WORLD SERIES OF MURDER, the latter available exclusively through Kindle.

John is also well known as the author of THE COMIC TOOLBOX: HOW TO BE FUNNY EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT. This seminal book on writing comedy for television and film is now in its fifth printing, and continues to be a definitive source of information and inspiration for writers from Santa Monica to Scandinavia. Its companion volume, CREATIVITY RULES, is similarly a crucial book for writers at any stage of development.

Not content to rest on those laurels, Vorhaus is also the author of ten books on poker, including the KILLER POKER series and, with Annie Duke, the revolutionary DECIDE TO PLAY GREAT POKER. "As a poker player," confesses Vorhaus, "I'm a pretty good writer."

An international consultant in television and film script development, Vorhaus has worked for television networks, film schools, production companies and film funding bodies in 26 countries on four continents. He recently worked in Moscow, running the writing staff of the Russian version of Married... with Children, and in Tel Aviv, consulting on the Israeli version of The Golden Girls. He also travels regularly to Nicaragua, where he builds social-action comedy/dramas to provide positive role modeling for the poor, young and disenfranchised of that embattled country.

Vorhaus is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Writers Guild of America. He has consulted to Walt Disney Feature Animation and taught at such institutions as Northwestern University, the American Film Institute and the Writers Program of the UCLA Extension. He tweet @TrueFactBarFact and secretly controls the world from johnvorhaus.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wealth of OTHER poker knowledge, July 6, 2005

By 

K. Lansford (Littleton, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killer Poker Hold'em Handbook: A Workbook for Winners (Paperback)

If you are looking for an instructional book or a reference book that will show you "what-to-do with Ace-King in middle position"...this is not it. But, if you are looking to ADD to your intermediate level knowledge of the game and to catch some additional insight into personalities, situations, and perspectives...this will fit the bill very nicely. There is a wealth of information in Vorhaus' little book. It touches on personalities at the table, tips, hints, and perspective to provoke thought...not a tome of how-to-do-what-when. It is also a good read, very well written, witty, and hilarious on many occasions. It can also help you to look at your own play (and the holes therein)..and give knowledge, backed with experience, to help in your quest of refining your "craft". There are many books that can easily tell you what hands to play, how to bluff and when, and other essentials of the game. However, Vorhaus successfully steers clear of that cliche' and offers some insight that you can follow, or not follow...agree with, or not agree with. It is, again, a book to stimulate your thought deeper within the game..not tell you what hands to play or not to play. Except for his adamant advice not to slow play pocket Aces....of which I agree.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for beginner to immediate player!, December 2, 2004

By 

Real Poker Advice - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killer Poker Hold'em Handbook: A Workbook for Winners (Paperback)

This is a great book for the beginner and intermediate player looking to inspect their game. Rather than just give the usual strategy recommendations, this book takes an introspective approach teaching the player how to ask the RIGHT questions to improve his/her game. This is more a mini-lesson in poker improvement than it is a strategy guide. If you've put in a few hundred hours of poker and are ready to look at your game in a more serious and structured fashion, buy this book!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful guide to achieving a higher level of poker thought, January 15, 2005

By 

Matt Hetling "Matt" (Bethel, ME USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killer Poker Hold'em Handbook: A Workbook for Winners (Paperback)

Poker player and author John Vorhaus takes the reader through a series of discussions and exercises designed to jump-start their approach (or improvement) of the game of limit holdem, the most popular card game in the world today.
One of my good friends in college once told me that the purpose of undergraduate studies in any discipline is to get the student to learn how to think. By this measure, Vorhaus gives us a very good undergraduate education in poker. While he doesn't ignore the specific nuts and bolts strategy that we would expect, of much greater value are the lessons that he gives us throughout. They could be summed up briefly as "keep your head in the game", and "always think about what the other guy is thinking about;" of course, they run much deeper than that. To call this a workbook may be overstating the case; however, Vorhaus frequently invites us to take a break and generate our own ideas on the topic that he is currently instructing us on, with the goal of teaching us critical thinking skills that will translate into dollars at the poker table.
By the end of the book, we've been exposed to some amusing anecdotes, some common situations in poker, and a look into the minds of some of the opponents that we will face, with lots of admonitions against becoming one of the less desirable stereotypes of poker players.
The Good and the Bad:
The writing in this book is very strong; while it may not win any awards for literature, it is miles ahead of the pack of poker books in terms of reader accessibility. Despite a frequent return to a couple of major themes (Don't tilt! Don't tilt! Don't tilt!), the book manages to move through most topics with a fair amount of clarity and entertainment. Vorhaus is not afraid to present himself as the horse's ass in his anecdotes, as long as it is in the service of showing us how to play. The approach of teaching critical thinking skills is also very much appreciated.
On the down side, I wish that Vorhaus had spent a little more time on presenting situations that the player is likely to find him or herself in, and I would have liked a mention of how an online poker player might apply some of the lessons that he is teaching differently.
Another criticism has to do with the exercises. If Vorhaus expects us to do the exercises in the various sections, he should have put a little more into them (rather than just saying "when do you go on tilt"?). Also, the "diaries" of some of the players we're likely to meet (a clever approach to getting us inside the head of our opponents) are a little long; the space could have been better spent by giving us more practical advice on how to beat the player-types presented, or by giving us more player-types.