Phil Gordon's Little Gold Book: Advanced Lessons for Mastering Poker 2.0 [Hardcover]

Phil Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 11, 2011

Since reigning poker expert Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book illuminated the strategies and philosophies necessary to win at No Limit Texas Hold’em, poker has changed quickly and dramatically. Today, Pot Limit Omaha is the game of choice at nose-bleed stakes. The players are aggressive, the games are volatile, the decisions are tough, and the pressure is relentless. This is Poker 2.0.

 

In his Little Gold Book, Phil Gordon reexamines the game from the ground up. The key to competing with today’s top players is finding the post-flop edge, but to really understand this new playing style, you need to get comfortable with the underlying math. Don’t be intimidated. Gordon makes this challenging material as approachable and simple as possible. Beginning with the foundations of Poker 2.0, he unpacks the modern poker player’s toolkit, rigorously examines the new lines of play in No Limit Hold’em, dissects the fast and furious strategies of Pot Limit Omaha, and explores the winning poker mindset that will take your game to an entirely different level.

 

The golden age of poker is upon us. Phil Gordon’s Little Gold Book will shorten your learning curve, and if you’re willing to put in the time and the work, big bankrolls await.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Phil Gordon is a world-class poker player and teacher with two World Poker Tour championships and seven final table appearances at the World Series of Poker. Since 2001 he has earned more than $3 million in tournament prize money. His bestselling previous works, Poker: The Real Deal, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, and Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book, alongside his teaching and commentary on forty-two episodes of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, make Phil the preeminent poker teacher and writer in the world. Phil currently resides in Newport, Washington with his wife and two young sons

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (October 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451641591
• ISBN-13: 978-1451641592
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Poker
  • #68 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Gambling

More About the Author

Phil Gordon is a world-class poker player and teacher with two World Poker Tour championships and five final table appearances at the World Series of Poker, and since 2001 he has earned more than $1.7 million in tournament prize money. His bestselling previous works, Poker: The Real Deal and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, alongside his teaching and commentary on forty-two episodes of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, make Phil the preeminent poker teacher and writer in the world. Phil currently resides in Las Vegas but spends much time in San Francisco and in third-world travels.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Phil Gordon is back, and in better shape than ever October 14, 2011

By Gabriel Torres

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In my opinion, Phil Gordon is the best poker writer out there. He writes in a straightforward, clear language, which is really easy to follow. I've read all his previous three books and also his DVD, and I was really afraid that he had given up writing, since his previous book was released five years ago. I am glad to say that Phil Gordon is back, and in better shape than ever.

In his private life, Gordon had gone through a quest of improving his own game, since poker players have evolved quite drastically in the past few years. And it is rare to see a poker expert publicly admitting that he had to step back and re-study the game. The Gold Book is the result of this quest.

The book starts with lots of math that will make the head of most readers to spin. But don't give up. Soon enough things will get clear as the author shows tools and techniques that will for sure improve your game. While some of them were already featured in the author's previous books (such as the "squeeze" play, a.k.a. "fish'n'chips"), this time he explains more in depth the math behind them.

This is a book that you will have to re-read several times to be able to get everything it has to offer, especially as your game improves. In the end, it will make you to completely re-think your game. And that is why this book is so good.

The only "negatives" I can see with this book is that this time the author didn't put a lot of jokes in the text. You see, the typical Gordon jokes inserted inside the book (e.g. "feeling like the time I had bad shellfish in an all-you-can-eat buffet in Kansas City") help me to memorize the concept he is explaining. Also, even though there is a chapter with some hand examples, I'd prefer to have some real examples after each concept is explained. He did that here and there, but I wanted to see more! I hope Phil Gordon writes a follow-up book only with real hand examples, just like he did with his Blue Book.

On a more serious subject, for a book released after "Black Friday" and the demise of Full Tilt Poker, I think the author should have re-vamped the parts he talks about online poker and Full Tilt in particular. For example, he mentions that Chris Ferguson was able to create a $126,000 bankroll starting from zero and that Phil Galfond also has accumulated an on-line bankroll of same magnitude, but didn't say anything about what happened to player's online bankroll after "Black Friday."

BTW, around 20% of the book is dedicated to PLO (Pot-Limit Omaha).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Phil's best and among The Best October 18, 2011

By B. Hayek

Format:Hardcover

My poker shelf has around 100 books on it,
but this one will be among the 3 or 4 that
get re-read, underlined, highlighted and
referred to over and over.

I think it's the best book Phil's written, and
I've considered all the "Little" books good.
Within the poker writing universe, Little Gold
Book goes into more depth than just about any other,
and likewise has a lot of breadth for one book.
And while I consider most poker books to be
targeted at the beginner turning intermediate
(including Phil's previous writing), this book
does a great job of covering the ground from
intermediate well into advanced.

As usual in Phil's writing, he speaks conversationally
and is easily understood, even when digging into
somewhat involved mathematics and advanced concepts.
Another aspect of his writing that I really appreciate
is his ability to look at a topic from several angles,
rather than covering the obvious points and moving on.
In Gold Book for example, he'll often make the
mathematical case for a given play, work out the logic
in great detail to prove his point, but then take it a
step further by reminding you of "meta considerations"
and opponent psychological factors that you can't overlook.
For me, I find this helps keep me out of the mode of
just "playing the numbers" and lets me visualize the other
factors while reading and while playing.

Perhaps Phil's strongest skill as a writer, and
one that Gold Book shows off more than any of
his prior books, is his ability to group and classify
information into easily remembered collections.
Going beyond the obvious groupings of hand types,
Phil further classifies things like board texture,
opponent style, tournament situations, etc.
This gives the reader a huge advantage when trying to
apply the material; it's much easier to remember and
learn and then apply it in real time at the table.

I consider myself a non-pro advanced player, and
I learned a ton from this book that was new to
me and I'm sure will be valuable. I'm glad Phil gets
satisfaction out of giving away (well, for 15 bucks
anyway) his hard earned lessons!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No More Folding To The Fourth Bet Without Aces October 12, 2011

By Sean Summers

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've been playing poker for about a year and have watched my game come a long way in that time while consistently doing everything I needed to improve it. I've read a lot of what is out there (Harrington on Hold'em, Super System, the Little Green Book, Every Hand Revealed and a lot more) but I never really bothered reviewing any of it because it didn't take me long to realize it wasn't relevant anymore. Gordon really gives comprehensive and thorough coverage over the fundamentals a lot of the good internet players use in their NLH game (calculating ranges, aggressive pre-flop play, understanding and making use of stats, etc) and even delves into some worthwhile PLO strategy that could help improve those who are struggling with it. This book is definitely the new required reading for players who have a solid grasp on intermediate poker concepts but feel they aren't up to par with some of the more advanced competition out there. Throughout 400+ pages of material the only minor complaints I have are the player interviews and the section on Chris Fergusson's bankroll management. The player interviews with Olbrestad, Cates and Galfond really didn't get too specific with what makes them successful, particularly Cates who didn't really seem to want to get into too many advanced heads up concepts, but some of the tips might be found useful. The section on Fergusson's `excellent' bankroll management is kind of laughable considering the state of Full Tilt Poker, but that being said even though it appears he didn't exactly practice what he preached he did have some good points about the importance of having a proper handle on your bankroll in poker and it's worth you're while to check out. All said I think this book is going to really surprise a lot of people, this isn't the Phil Gordon from 2005 telling you the fourth bet always means aces, this is a Phil Gordon who took the time to relearn the game and bring himself back to a competitive level for the aggressive game that's played today.