Customer Reviews

Play Poker Like the Pros

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(28)
2 star:		(28)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

Phil Hellmuth has created quite a readable book with some interesting insights into pre-flop card values and exceptionally aggressive play pre-flop. However, there are some scary gotchas in the book that I wouldn't want a novice player to read as the gospel truth. All in all, he has come up with a book that is most useful to the intermediate-level hold'em player that is able to sniff out what will and will not work at the skill level of his local game.

In the 90's, a great deal of statistical analysis was done on the relative value of pocket cards. As a result, a whole group of books were published that ranked pocket cards into tiers of value. Based on what tier your cards fell into, you were supposed to bet in different ways. Hellmuth still uses the tier system, but he has re-arranged what cards go into what tiers. His perspective is that while certain hands are statistically more likely to be winners, some hands are more likely to pull down big pots, making them of greater value than a statistically superior hand. In particular, Hellmuth values pocket pairs very highly. His point is that you don't often flop your set, but when you do, look out- here comes a very profitable hand. After playing with his system for a while, I must say that I agree with the inflated values of pocket pairs, given one simple rule. If you don't flop your set or have top pair, fold. It's pretty simple, but really tough to make yourself throw away your pair when you just raised pre-flop. Have some discipline and this system will work.

The other main benefit that Hellmuth's aggressive pre-flop play brings to the table is the ability to buy a hand with a single bet after the flop, especially from early position. If you come in raising pre-flop from an early position, you are pretty much representing either a high pair or a suited ace or ace/king. If the flop comes without a high card, you will be shocked at how often you can just buy the pot with one bet after the cards come out.

Finally, your aggressive pre-flop play may allow you to isolate yourself against the maniac at the table. By pushing up the pre-flop bets, you can often drive out marginal hands, but a maniac will almost always call you down. If you know you are up against this type of player, your odds of taking down the pot are good if you are heads-up.

The trouble with Hellmuth's system is when you are up against tight players. Lots of tight players will just allow you to build up the pots and simply call you down with the best of hands. It becomes difficult to read other players when they simply call you down all the way. You have to have the discipline to throw away a hand that might be a winner. Hellmuth says that in order to win at poker, you have to be willing to fold some winners. How true.

The same warnings are true for games that are very loose. If you can't scare anyone out of the pot, and you get called down on every hand, your best strategy is just to tighten up and raise the nuts and call the nut draw when pot odds allow. Not too complicated, but if you are lucky enough to find a game that loose, than you don't need this book.

Lastly, Hellmuth's system is very dependant on your table image. You have to really vary your play depending on how the others at the table think you play. If you come in raising and get called down with a looser, don't expect to drive out players post-flop. So, you had better tighten up. That way, you'll get more action on excellent hands. On the other hand, if you have some nice hands early, get even more aggressive as you will be able to buy many a pot.

So much is dependant on what your table image is that it takes out much of the true mechanics of typical systems. While this can make the game much more fun, and if you're good at it make you more money, it can crush you if you do it wrong. Hellmuth warns that while you should take down more money in the long-run, your swings will be much greater. I'll vouch for that, especially if you are not aware of your table-image.

I was disappointed with Hellmuth's chapters on tournament play and Omaha and Stud. You'll do better elsewhere.

All in all, I recommend this book to someone that is experienced in the sound fundamentals of Hold'Em play, and is capable of varying their playing style based on table image. If you're not to this point yet, try Winning at Low Stakes Hold'Em by Lee Jones and the "Theory" books by David Sklansky.

Four Stars,
HawkeyeGK

My comments relate to the Limit Hold'em content of the book, although I suspect it is fairly consistent with the book in its entirety.

I make no pretences about the fact that I am an average Hold'em player. I play limit anywhere from 3/6 to 10/20 and make a nice profit over time, but I am definately not the kind of player that walks from a table to a round of applause :)

Phil on the other hand needs no introduction. His reputation (great at cards, shocking at manners!) is known to anyone who takes an interest in the game.

Like many players though, I rushed out and bought his book when it hit the shelves, and like most I was hugely disappointed... It's a story of "I'm Phil Hellmuth, I'm great, and I'm gonna keep telling you I'm great, and now I have your money for a book full of rubbish!" I threw it the corner with the same feeling you get when another player draws to an inside straight and hits - bad beat!

Let's face it. What seperates Mr Hellmuth and other big name players from the rest of us is an instinctive ability to accurately read a player, to the extent that they can almost read the suit of your cards, let alone the value. From there they pressure you when you're weak and back off when you're strong.

For us mere mortals we need to rely more on the technical aspects of poker that make the foundation of any good player's game. Play Poker like the Pros is extremely light-on here. In fact more information can be found for free in an hour searching a few online forums.

If you want to actually improve your game, any books by Sklansky, Malmuth or "Middle Limit Holdem" by Ciaffone & Brier and the like are the way to go. If your new to the game and need a solid introduction, you can't go past "Winning Low-Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones. Just don't waste your money with Hellmuth.

So how am I making a killing?

Well, there seems to now be a wave of new players, "Phil Hellmuth's Pheasants" I call them - the sixth animal not discussed in his book - and they're just waiting to be plucked.

Invariably there seems to be at least 1 at every table. You'll see them three betting pocket 5's pre-flop and raising on the flop with second and middle pair "to see where their at". These players are the ones that were never good enough to begin with, hence they actually believe the diatribe, and have not improved with their latest book purchase.

Once identified these muppets can be targeted so easily, because they become so predictable pre and post flop and almost all of them have zero talent on the turn and river play. (Interestingly, areas that are hardly touched by Phil's book.)

In the 12 months prior to the release of "Play Poker like the Pro's" I averaged a profit of $57 per hour. Like I said at the start, fairly average for the stakes I play. Since his book and the adjustments to my game to target the Pheasants that average has risen to $74ph.

All I can say is "Hurry up and release your next book Phil, so we can both get rich!"

This book was definitely an interesting read. However, the tone is for beginners (although more experienced players will probably pick up a thing or two). Unfortunately for newbies who read this, the playing strategies outlined within will get them killed. Read on...

I really enjoyed the stories about him aggressively raising with weak hands, and pulling down pots. Unfortunately, many of these stories were in the "Beginner" sections. The type of aggression he advocates DOES NOT WORK in a low-level game which has either clueless opponents, or even a couple of better-than-average players. For example, reraising pre-flop in hold 'em with a pair of 7's, and then betting into a scary flop in a multiway pot will absolutely get you killed! Phil is a masterful tournament player, but he would get crushed in the $-$ games that I play in if he followed his own advice.

Throughout the Hold Em and Razz sections especially, he advises players to get a lot of money into the pot early, giving them a reason to stay in the hand later, even if their cards don't improve (specific examples were Ace-King in Hold 'Em and solid low-draws in Razz). What kind of thinking is that? In the Pot Limit Omaha section, he gives the advice, "Look for a reason to fold." Guess what, Phil? That is how any beginning player should think for ALL games.

My last main beef is that the "Advanced" sections preach a change in playing style, but it all revolves around his ability to read other players. Easy for him to say since that ability is what makes him a world-class player! But there's no in-depth discussion about how I can get better at reading players.

As I said above, it is an interesting book, and I'll probably read it again and catch some things I missed the first time. Still, newer players should start elsewhere with books by authors like Lee Jones, Mason Malmuth, and Mike Caro.

Before I give my review I want to make something clear. I have nothing against Phil Hellmuth he is a very talented tournament player, and is probably one of the top 5 in the world. Now with that said I'll begin my review. Phil's advice is very straight forward play only his top 10 hands and you're going to win more times then you will loose. This is probably the worse advice you can give for a ring game, where being unpredictable and aggressive is the most important factor. He advices players to be tight and aggressive, but he offers no advice on how to actually achieve that. He doesn't go into great detail post flop, and almost completely neglects the play on Fourth Street and the River. Another nuance with this book is his constant bragging of how great he is, players didn't purchase the book to hear how great you are Phil! They bought it to try to improve their game. Now the only upside to this book is the chapter on no limit play, there are some good ideas presented here which is why it earned those two stars. However, that's not enough to make this book a buy. Overall, I wouldn't waste my time on this book.

I can definitely see the motivation for Phil Hellmuth to write this book: There's a growing number of poker players out there and this could be a moment to make some fast money with yet another poker book. (Not that Phil's hurting for the cash, but who couldn't use some more?) The problem with that is that this book is just that -- just another poker book.

For 400+ pages, you would think that Phil would tell us something really new and original. He is a world-class player after all and, despite some accounts, a pretty nice guy. (I had the chance to meet him at a tournament in Minneapolis once.) He has brought intimidation and image to a completely new level and although he has made great attempts to control or modify his outbursts in the past, that's not the Phil that everyone has either come to love or hate.

Is this is a good starting place for beginning poker players? Maybe, but there are far better books for beginners that here. Again, for as long as the book is, you would really think that you would get more out of it. As an interesting experiment, lay this book down flat on its back cover and then stack up next to it Sklansky/Malmuth's first Hold 'Em book, Lee Jone's Low Limit book and T.J. Cloutier's Limit Hold 'Em book. Hellmuth's book alone is about as thick as those other three books, but covers about half the material as the other three combined. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

The good news is at least it's cheap. If the person reading this book is someone that's really young (but not too young, this is gambling, after all), someone easily distracted and likely to not be playing poker in a few months or someone that's not ever really going to play but wants to sound like someone that plays, this is a cheap entrance to the game. But if the person buying this book REALLY wants to become a great player, there's better starting points than this.

On a personal note, I'm a huge Hellmuth fan. He could have done all of us and himself a greater service to write a book compiling his "Hand of the Week" columns or about his major tournament hands like T.J. and Tom did. I've recommended a lot of poker books to a lot of people, but I really don't think I've ever recommended this one to anyone.

This is a review of Play Poker like the Pros by Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (The first paragraph below introduces the game and the author, so you can skip that if you are already familiar with them.)

Poker has always been a popular game, but there has recently been an explosion of interest in it (especially No Limit Texas Hold'em poker), since channels like ESPN and The Travel Channel started broadcasting the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Phil Hellmuth (pronounced HELL-myooth) emerged as the "enfant terrible" of No Limit Hold'em when, in 1989, he became the youngest WSOP World Champion ever. Known as "the poker brat" for his abrasive personality (during play -- he seems nicer away from the table), Hellmuth has won a total of nine WSOP championship bracelets. (Only Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunsen have ten.) He is currently the expert commentator on Bravo's entertaining Celebrity Poker Showdown. No Limit Texas Hold'em is often called the "Cadillac of poker games." It's like chess in that you can learn the basic rules in a half hour, yet never exhaust the nuances of the game no matter of long or how often you play. I was intrigued after watching the game on TV, but I had never read a book about it before. There are several books out by Hellmuth, but two appear to be largely reprints of this book, while a third (Bad Beats and Lucky Draws) is more like a poker-hand autobiography.

Play Poker like the Pros is an introduction to Texas Hold'em poker (in its Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit versions), Omaha Poker and Seven-Card Stud. There's a very good Foreward by poker writer Andrew Glazer on how to get the most out of reading the book. (I'm a teacher, and Glazer's advice is good advice for reading books in general -- read thoughtfully, read slowly, re-read and apply what you read.) In Chapter 1, Hellmuth explains why skill is often more important in professional poker than in "kitchen table" poker. (With small amounts or pretend money, people call almost all the time. Try bluffing when $10,000 is on the line for real!) Chapter 2 is an explanation of the basic rules of Texas Hold'em. If you are completely clueless about poker, Hellmuth probably goes too fast. But if you have played poker of any kind, and have watched a few hands of Texas Hold'em on TV, you will find Chapter 2 clear and informative. Chapters 3-5 are beginner, intermediate and advanced strategy for "Limit Hold'em," the version in which the amounts of the bets are strictly controlled. If, like me, you're more interested in No Limit, you may be tempted to skip to Chapter 6, the one on No Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em strategy. Don't! Much of what Hellmuth teaches in the Limit chapters is important in No Limit as well. (But I really wish Hellmuth had made it clearer when the examples from Chapters 3-5 do or do not apply in No Limit cases.)

It looks to me like the basic, beginner's strategy of No Limit can be summed up in a paragraph. Before the flop: If your hole cards are AA, KK, QQ or AK, then raise, re-raise and re-re-raise. Even with these great hands, Hellmuth recommends that you not try to "trap" someone (by checking or calling to get them to bet more later), because you might lose the hand on the flop. If your hole cards are JJ, 10-10 or 9-9, then raise and re-raise, but if someone puts in a raise over your re-raise, fold (as painful as that may be to do). If your hole cards are AQ, 8-8 or any lower pair down to 2-2, either call a small raise or make a raise the size of the pot.

What you do on the flop depends on whether you "hit it" or not. If no one else has bet since the flop, you may "bet out" (bet first) to "represent" (bluff) that you hit the flop. (How's that for lingo?) But you should be ready to fold if someone raises your bluff. There are lots of complicated situations that can arise, of course. Here are two examples Hellmuth gives in the Beginner's LIMIT Strategy chapter. Suppose you have J-J, the flop is A-K-4, and the two players before you bet out and then raise. Since there are two "overcards" (cards higher than yours) on the board, and it is unlikely that both of your opponents are bluffing, you should probably fold. On the other hand, if you have J-J and the flop is 10-7-4 (with mixed suits, so there's no chance someone has a good "flush draw"), you should raise or re-raise, to scare off anyone who may be holding an A or K (and might hit it if they get to see the "turn" card).

Hellmuth uses the cutesy device of "animal" types to describe playing styles you'll encounter. Jackals bet and raise on anything. They may win a lot in the short run, but will lose to solid play in the long run. A jackal is difficult to bluff. You should not be intimidated by the Jackal's raises, but take advantage of it when they simply call or don't raise. A mouse folds any but the strongest hands, so when he bets, watch out! A lion is someone you have to really worry about, because she bets sensibly, but sometimes bluffs to keep you from just reading her hand from her bets. The book describes how to adapt your playing style to these types.

Because of my own interests, I just skimmed the chapters on Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. I've never played Omaha or seen it played. The description of it makes it seem very complex, but Hellmuth claims that it's actually fairly simple once you play a few hands. He also observes that most people think they know how to play Stud, but they don't. After reading his description, I know this is true of me! It turns out that I didn't even understand the basic rules of Seven-Card Stud.

The book offers several general pieces of advice. "Tight is right": fold or check all bad hands (except for the occasional bluff). You have to be patient enough to wait for the good hands, and disciplined enough to fold a good hand when you think your opponent has a better hand. Be aggressive, though, when you think you have the "nuts" (best hand). Hellmuth is generally against going all-in, or trapping. But don't just play the cards, also play the people. As Hellmuth puts it in the book's best line: "No matter how much you may want to think of Hold'em as a card game played by people, in many respects it is even more valid to think of it as a game about people that happens to be played with cards" (32).

For the most part, this book is a quick and lively read. The book could have been better organized in some ways. (Again, my main complaint is that I wanted more clarity about whether the examples in the Limit chapters applied in No Limit games.) And I would have liked a clear discussion of betting strategy. (He mentions in passing that it is generally a good idea to "bet the pot," i.e. call and then raise the total of your call and the previous pot. But this just scratches the surface of betting strategy, which is a major point, especially in No Limit.) Overall, if you're an "advanced beginner" at No Limit Hold'em (like me), you will probably learn a fair amount from this book. But if you're an intermediate or advanced player, I doubt you'll find it very useful.

It seems many of the reviewers are having trouble separating their disdain for Phil's antics and ego from the way his book teaches poker. I'm a fairly beginner poker player who is pretty good at reading other people and players. After reading this book, I have not left a low-limit table down money once, which is the entire point behind his theory on beginner strategy (I'm speaking entirely of hold-em, haven't focused on other games). Is his thinking entirely correct? In some cases, no. But he openly acknowledges that poker is a game of feel, and to write a "playbook" on what to do in every scenario would be foolish and impossible. That being said, I found his "animal" characterizations of player types, though a little silly and simplistic, very helpful in giving me a context or mental ladder for me to easily sort players at the table. Within 10 minutes of playing tight and aggressive, while observing other players play, I've found that I'm usually able to peg the under cards of 6-7 of the 8 players at the table. How many of those players I'd be able to peg without reading the book, who knows, but I do think about the player types in similar terms to how Phil analyzes player moves.

The other benefit of his "tight and aggressive" beginner strategy is that, even as a rookie, I've found that it enables me to develop a table presence that I might not have otherwise. This is the key: if I only played top ten hands literally to Phil's beginner strategy, you might be right, I'd become predictable. But if you're a least a little better than the average Rounders-inspired schmo, you can use the table presence you've established to bluff off weaker players and semi-bluff your way to big pots. Pretty simple in low-limit, lesser sophisticated games. I can't say I'm qualified to review the book relative to the merits of its application to higher money games.

Lastly, I also like the way he provides numerous options for each scenario in a very concise and understandable format. Very quick to read and understand. Again, if you're looking for a playbook, this isn't it. If you're looking for some solid principles that you can combine with your other learning and your natural ability, this is a good read. Just accept the fact that Hellmuth has a massive ego and don't let it distract you from what he's trying to say. Although it is heavy on self-adoration, I did not find that it distracted from the lessons in the book. And heck, if I won as many tournaments as he had, I'd probably be positioning myself this way also. You have to realize that while much of his perceived hubris might be real, a good portion of it is simply solid marketing. Dennis Rodman's fame didn't come from simply being a good defensive sub. Like it or not, he's made money off of being a pain in the arse. Same with Phil.

While this book is a decent read, it will not improve your play. I find it hard to recommend this to a player of any level, as his advices are dangerous and often plain wrong for beginners and useless for other players. This book barely touches math side of poker at all, offers nothing new and all the information is available in other books in bigger amounts and better presentation. There are far better books out there that i could actually recommend to people.
Bottom line : by books by Sklansky instead.

I can't imagine any pro, let alone Hellmuth playing this way! This book is of marginal benefit to the complete neophyte, and useless to anyone above the beginner level. By stressing an extremely tight style of play, Hellmuth will keep you at the table while you learn the game. You will NOT earn any money, but you will not lose much either. There are many better books out there.

His "animal types" are a bit silly, but help to explain playing styles to the new player. Al Schoonmaker's "Psychology of Poker" is a much better text for this topic.

Read Jones' "Winning Low-Limit Holdem" if you've never played poker before, or Miller's "Small Stakes Holdem" if you have played before and want to take your game to the next level.

One of the best poker players of all time but one of the worst poker books of all time. Written for player that are new to poker and it has no real depth of substance in its poker theory. Reading this book will help a novice to better understand the game but will leave you a long way from "playing like a pro".

This is the way Phil wants you to play poker, so he beats you....