Customer Reviews

Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book: More Lessons and Hand Analysis in No Limit Texas Hold'em

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the companion to Phil Gordon's Little Green Book. LGB focused on poker theory -- readable and concise, but theory nonetheless.

Here Phil Gordon explains, round by round, the hands he's played. Sometimes of the hands he has misplayed: like losing on the first hand of tournment because he paired an ace. (No, he wasn't playing pocket aces, just an A with a middling kicker.) It's good to have poker mistakes explained by a pro candid enough to admit them. I can't think of another poker instruction book that shows the author's mistakes. Usually, any of the losing hands we read about are bad beats.

Most of time, of course, Phil plays brilliantly. He finished 4th in the WSOP 2001 main event and his lifetime tournament earnings exceed $1 million. From the NL games he talks about here, his cash game profits may be much more than that.

Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book features the clear diagram style of its earlier green book companion. (You need never guess in what position he was playing; it's shown right there.) Gordon is fun to read -- his take on the players he sits down at table with is a hoot. Moreover, and your poker play will improve after reading PGLBB.

The last chaper cross-references this book with the first one for further reading. Really! Good selling, but still useful to the reader.

So relax, put down your dogeared copy of the latest by the redoubtable Mr. Harrington and relive a few hours at the table with Phil Gordon.

True. It's not as in depth as a David Sklansky book. But then again, it was a whole lot more fun to read and Phil Gordon does offer excellent key points after each example he gives. And, yes, "experts" may not find this book useful, but really, how many experts are buying poker books these days? If you play poker and want to see how one pro approaches situations, then this will be an enjoyable read for you. Phil Gordon is funny, he's easy to follow and a good teacher. I have read Harrington's Volume III and while I am a huge fan and follower of Harrington's books, I did not get as much out of that book as I hoped I would. Maybe it was because he was reviewing hands I had seen on ESPN or WPT that took away from some of the learning. Phil does the same on a few hands if you happen to have seen the particular WPT shows. Still, most of the hands were fresh and you as the reader will follow along through each round of betting. Harrington's Volume III had a scoring system which helped to point our what areas your poker needed improvement on, which Gordon's book does not have and would have been a plus if we had some way to grade our weak points. The price of the book is just too good and you won't be disappointed if you buy it.

I bought this book after having read Phil Gordons Green Book on poker. Do not waste your money. While the Green Book has valuable information that WILL improve your game, the Blue Book is a bad sequel and provides very little useful information as it is only a diary of previous hands played by Phil in numerous situations. You will learn more from watching Poker After Dark and visually watching how hands are played out by professionals.

What really upset me about this book, was a hand that is described starting on page 73 and runs for 8 pages only to be told if you want to know the outcome of the hand to go to Phil Gordons website. I payed $22.00 for information in this book, not to be told to go to a website for the rest of the story.

This book is a great follow up to Little Green Book. There are 74 hands from real life play that Phil explains in detail so that you can learn while the situation unfolds. I like how Phil reduces the hands to their basic fundamentals and reinforces those key lessons in each hand - I think taking the complexity out of certain situations is key to success in real play, especially when there are so many emotional and maybe physical stresses on a players concentration once they are in the live situation. I have found myself facing many of the same situations that are in this book, and it was insightful and sometimes reassuring to see how a real professional handles the same hand. Overall a great addition to my poker literature.

I am a little over half way through this book. I think it is similar to Harrington's (Harrington on Hold'em) style of writing about holdem in that it presents situations and takes you through the thought process of Gordon as he negotiates the hand. Campared to Harrington, Gordon's work is a little more to the point, a little less technical, and good pleasure reading. Each story has a little tip ("Key Analysis") at the end. I recommend it for anyone who loves the game and already has a lot of experience in playing and understands the fundamentals.

I'm giving this book five stars because it perfectly suits my current needs. I used to be a somewhat advanced player but work and life have kept me away from the tables. Now, when I squeeze in a game I find myself making advanced plays at the wrong time, getting frustrated, etc. This book was an excellent tune-up for my game. It brought me back to a sound basic and immediate level of thinking which are necessary bedrocks for advanced play. I think this book is perfect for beginners and immediate players who want to improve, and more experienced players who need a tune-up or who have drifted off course.

This book is great!

Phil is truly amazing teacher and I love his approach; his books and DVD are so much more useful than other resources. It's very clear that Phil's goal is to teach me how to analyze situations and make sound decisions.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I thought this DVD was extremely useful for an intermediate player (me.) It felt like the perfect complement to Little Green Book and was very useful in helping to crystallize some of the lessons I'd previously learned.

Since I began studying poker by reading Phil's books and watching his DVD, my bankroll is significantly positive. He deserves a commission from my winnings, but I'd rather buy him a drink if I ever see him in Vegas.

Wholeheartedly agree w/ the other reviewer who was amused by Phil's commentary. I found it refreshing to see this side of Phil since it seems that most other pros are so serious they don't even enjoy playing or teaching.

This book much like the Little greem book (LGB) is very good. This is one of my favorite books, Phil effectivly brings you into his world and shows you what he does in many different situations. If you have already gone through the LGB this is a very good add on to that book and it will illustrate very effectively how phil plays his game and makes god knows how much $$. You should read the LGB before reading this one you'll get something out of it if you just read this, but for the most part you'll be missing out if you skip the LGB

Gordon's recent Blue book may not be as instructive as his Green one but it is a great read. It is fun to review actual hands and see why they were played the way they were and what Phil might have done differently given hindsight. It is a perfect table or bathroom book. Each hand is about a 3/5 minute read so the book is easy to pick up and start new and read quickly and put down. Highly recommend.

I wont have to type very much because I completely agree with Jason gonso review. This book while not bad or giving wrong advice dont offer much if you are even intermediate player like me.

If your only poker book to date is the little green book then yeah definately pick up this one, it should help you understand more the ideas in hand context.

That said Harrington hands example book was much better imo and it also added a score and explained in much more details why so and so decision are correct/incorrect.

For the price though its not bad, so up to you guys. If you read a couples books already and didnt read NL theory and pratice then definately pick it up imo.

anyway id give it 7/10, I was expecting a bit more, maybe im too used to Harringtonesque quality.