Customer Reviews

Secrets of Short-Handed No Limit Hold'em: Winning Strategies for Short-Handed and Heads Up Play

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

 

 

Hi, I am the author. I am not a writer by profession but a poker player. In writing this book, my goal was to write everything I know about poker down. I did not spend any time on pedantic teaching tools. I did try to organize the book in a helpful manner and met with some success.

Some of the writing and explinations are sloppy. The publishing was quite poor (though that should be fixed for future printings). The book came out pretty close to a stream of conciousness which was not too far from my goal. But despite these problems I am happy with the book. I am pretty sure it has more information and depth than other poker books by far because mainly people who aren't good poker players are writing books. An exception, for example, is supersystem by brunson which is underrated and a classic.

Anyway, I believe the book has a lot of value based on the fact that I was a top player and I wrote down all of my thought processes. There are problems with the book I won't argue that. goodluck and study your poker.

D and B publishing again showed that they have a strong need for someone to run the ship. This book, just as "Secrets of Sit n go"s that they published, is FULL of typo's. It was enough this time to make me be positive on NEVER buying another book published by them. They make the Author look uneducated. How hard is it to correct spelling..eg:relise?? I soon threw up my hands in disgust (and tossed the book in the trash) when it took me having to re-read a sentence over and over again just to understand what the Author was trying to say---all due to the sentence not being punctuated correctly or the grammar usage sub-par. Mistakes/typo's are made...but so many is unexcuseable when you are paying $25 a pop for a book. I think D and B can afford a proof reader! Granted...its only a poker book-- not an English manual...but my thoughts are this: If I am PAYING for training, I expect to be able to follow along in an easy understandable manner. People are buying this kind of book to LEARN poker...its hard enough for some to understand "ICM and EV" let alone having to fight the wording of a book just so a sentence will make some sense. You can find the same and BETTER written information on short handed play in any number of books out there written by any pro.

This is in no way to reflect on the Author other than his bad choice of publishers. I am sure Danny is a wonderful and winning player. I dont claim to be such...that is why I bought this "TRAINING" book, but right now, I feel it was a waste of money.

I concur with the review by (L.L. George) ... the book is full typos, poor grammar, etc. It is difficult to read. I acquired the book even after reading that review because it sounded (content-wise) like what I needed. It was. Content-wise I am satisfied and I got "fair warning" from L.L. George (thank you ... and thanks to Amazon).

Here is my background (which is close to a profile of who would benefit from this book): Over two years ago I started playing Limit Hold'Em and switched to No Limit online play about 6 months ago. I consistently win at the lowest micro-stakes levels (~ $2/HR at 10-cents/$10-buy in) but only break even in bigger games (up to $1). In these games I most often initially lose then tend to start winning if players stick around. I get these poor results even though I have read (and attempt to apply information from) all the classic No Limit books. My weakness is poor reading of my opponents: hand reading. After reading the book I realize the author would point out (correctly) that much of my problem is being to slow to adjust ... but that is related to a lack of confidence in reading opponents.

Secrets of Short-handed No Limit Hold'em is focused on hand reading. So the book was a perfect fit for me. It is not a book for beginners ...it assumes you are an experienced player (not necessarily a winner) and are willing to work to improve your game. Unless you fit that profile you will not be satisfied with this book. Poor editing just magnifies that problem. In fairness the book states the target audience is not a novice but that is not clear from the title.

It is difficult to give this book a fair rating. Content-wise I would rate it very high because it covers valuable material not directly covered in other books. But for beginners it is worse than worthless due to assumptions about the readers knowledge and poor editing. Here is an example from the book: "If he is raising a lot then he has a wide hand range and if he is raising a little then he has a small hand range." If you interpret that as meaning a big dollar raise means an opponent may be playing a "wide hand range" or if you don't know what a "hand range" is this book will just confuse you. The editors should have changed "a lot" to "frequently" to make the text clear. That is a minor error and the book is packed with them. I intentionally used this example because it is not a error a proof-reader would catch (unless they played the game) but one an editor (with the goal of making the book clear and easy to read) should catch. Well-written books seem simple because someone (with skills in this area) worked to make them very clear and precise.

The author reviewed this book and claims it goes into more depth than other poker books (except SuperSystem). "Professional No-Limit Hold'Em" and "Harrington on Cash Games" provide as much depth. Yet, I agree with the author. This book provides the best and most complete coverage I have seen on at least one topic: hand reading & multiple-level thinking. Others mention it as critical but never get into the details ... if you want to put an opponent on a hand (or range of hands) you need to make a focused effort to get into his head.

This is a review of the New Edition. Mr. Dan Addelman of D&B Publishing approached me after I had reviewed 'Secrets ...' in the old edition and offered me a Revised Edition of the book, AFTER it had been proofread properly, for free. He was genuinely embarrassed by the poor quality of the book. Mr. Addelman was true to his word. I received the New Edition a couple days ago, and my, what a difference! I had offered to do the proofreading myself because I felt the book is so important to poker literature, but whoever Mr. Addelman chose to do the job has done it masterfully.

The Revised Edition is entirely legible. Every objection I had against the old, pathetic edition has been dismissed. Be set to be stunned. Some of you know I have written several poker book reviews, and some have been very well-received. I now put my reputation on the line and consider this unpretentious, orange, almost humble poker book on No Limit Hold'em to be the authority on this game.

Could I be saying this book is better than anything by Sklansky and Harrington? I am. I consider this to be the definitive work on the game, the gold standard by which all other books on No Limit Hold'em are judged. Notice I do not state the gold standard by which Short-Handed No Limit Hold'em is judged but by the whole game of No Limit Hold'em, be it short-handed or not. Danny Ashman in the book itself says there is plenty of material here for not only short-handed but also regular sized games. What an understatement! The title now remains a bit of a misnomer, and for this reason, I feel it should have been changed for this Revised Edition.

It is to the honor of Mr. Addelman that he absolutely kept his word and saw to it that this New Edition was created and created quickly and well. This makes the publishing houses such as 2+2 and other big ones seem petty in comparison. How long did Sklansky tell the general public and his publishers that he did not know how to write English, and how many years went by before 2+2 finally brought in Ed Miller to do the job right? 2+2 never did correct those works in which Mr. Sklansky wrote his caveat. Mr. Addelman to his credit solved the problem of this definitive work in a matter of weeks. The man is serious about his product, and he should be applauded by the poker industry and the poker-playing public.

I know the publisher's task was made doubly hard because for whatever psychological reasons, the game that gave Mr. Ashman his living for so many years has completely lost interest for him. Therefore, Mr. Ashman was barely there to be helpful in the creation of this New Edition. Thankfully, the book was written while Mr. Ashman had his verve and enthusiasm for the game. Wouldn't it be nice to be such a winner that you can put poker behind you completely, your one source of income for so many years, and go on with your life doing other things knowing you are economically fixed for life? This was the economic nirvana in which Mr. Ashman found himself.

Why is this book so good? In this context, the title says it all. The operative word is 'Secrets'. Mr. Ashman apparently took this word seriously when he created his textbook. He has made the general poker reader privy to the secrets of No Limit Hold'em as played by real professionals.

You will see Mr. Ashman's mind at work at the tables as it has never been done before, not even by Mr. Harrington. Danny it seems never considers one example enough. If he states a concept, he employs three, four or even more examples to back up his thought. How can one help but learn?

Mr. Ashman also covers every aspect of the game. I stated in my original review of the old edition that he seemed to give short shrift to the listing of opening hands. Danny makes the point that there really is no need for such a list. Imagine all the memorizing of lists you have done for Sklansky, and recognize all that was unnecessary! Again, Danny backs up his revolutionary thinking with solid examples.

Mostly the author showed how he read hands and how his reading was applied to how he played the hands from that point on. It was actually exciting to follow his reasoning from one street to the next. He made the really beautiful point of showing how each street had to be viewed separately. For example, he attacked continuation bets as hazy thinking and made a shambles of this popular concept. This is not to say there isn't a place for continuation bets, but they should not be made automatically as suggested in 'Super System', but rather as a strategy to win more money in that particular situation.

I could go on giving example after example after example of 'hazy thinking' versus full concentration in a given situation. To the author's credit, there are hundreds of these examples. I just chose a couple to explain how the author presents his ideas and why he himself is happy with his book.


A potential problem for the reader is trying to incorporate some of the almost revolutionary concepts to his own game. I speak from my own experience in saying these ideas have to be treated with care, or else the player can find himself in all kinds of trouble at the tables. For example, Mr. Ashman writes betting to protect your hand in NLHE does not exist. I tried to follow his reasoning in a big pot I played and ended up losing a sizable sum of money. I had not thought it through. But I certainly remembered the words, "Protecting your hands in NLHE is a must" is one of the biggest misconceptions out there'. I did not understand that; I just did it. However, if considered reasonably and understood, his concepts are a great help in learning to play poker well. How do you know if you are making progress in improving your poker? The oversimplified answer is by being able to successfully move up to higher levels. The higher the level achieved, the greater your winnings.

What else is there to say? You simply must experience this book for yourself. If you do not become a far stronger poker player, I seriously suggest you should consider quitting the game.

FYI: This review says I give the book only four stars while clearly my review suggests I would give it five, six or even ten stars if I could. The reason for only four stars is that is the number of stars I gave the book when I originally reviewed the old edition. Amazon.com will not allow me to change that.

This is a really great book. What I like about it most is that it gets into the head of the professional player and explains his thinking processes. Hand reading eludes a lot of people, and this book can help clarify the process of hand reading.

It's a book for some one who has experience and has read the more elemantary books.

I like the writer's style, sort of a no-nonsense style, like he's sitting there with you giving you a poker lesson.

I like how he explains why he's writing the book, that he used to be a high-stakes player, did very well, banked his winnings, now plays at lower limits, and (obviously) has some free time now to write a book.

many ppl have complained about the editing - yes, its bad, but would you rather read a perfectly edited book that rehashed the same old stuff thats in 50 other books, or something new and valuable. this book, as I read it CLOSELY, and thought along with the author, opened my eyes to some new ideas and concepts and best of all showed me how a winning player thinks and what he thinks about.

this book is not for beginners - and not for people who want easy formulas. but if you are already playing ok and want to see how a winning higher stakes player thinks, get it.

I found this to be a very interesting book. It's filled with analysis which goes into the actual thoughts of the author, warts and all. He admits that there are mistakes in his analysis, and there are. But the point of the book is to get the reader into the thought process of a good poker player. At times, it's quite impressive the way he's able to put clues together and deduce his opponent's holding. This is definitely the author's forte.

I suppose one could roughly break poker players into two camps; those who are "math" oriented and those who are "people" oriented. Of course, the best poker players are strong at both. The author is definitely weak on the math side, which, for example, is evident in his approach to Heads Up play (far too weak/tight). However, he's very strong on the people part, especially hand analysis. I would recommend buying the book on this basis. That is, if you want to improve your hand reading skills, I believe you'll find plenty of food for thought from this book.

The proper way to judge a poker book is on whether or not it makes you money. This book has definitely made me money. If you are a mid-stakes player this book will make you money whether you are currently a winning player or not. How can I explain the value of this book? If I could go back in time with one parameter different, that there was only one copy of this book left in the world, I would tell my past self to stop the bidding at about 3K and that is only do to bankroll considerations.

It is kind of funny to see poker player's writing books or even articles for poker magazines. Many of these people are highly intelligent but simply played poker instead of getting an education- or at least getting a lot out of the education they sat through. As a result they don't have good writing skills. However to get caught up in that is too really miss the point. The point is the author gives some insight from the trenches of the current poker environment as oppose to traditional poker books that look at things from a highly theoretical standpoint. But poker is best studied empirically because the psychological element injects a lot of variation into how the game is ACTUALLY played at a given point in time (as oppose to theoretical treatments that assume rational behavior on the everyone's part). For example a traditional poker book might assert that a "player with this holding would almost always check in this situation so you should do X". The Ashman book focuses in on what THIS guy will do in that situation, given their history and style. This book is one of the few largely empirical treatments of poker out there and therefore it's a real gem.

Wow. I have can honestly say that I've never read a worse book on poker in my life. It is disorganized, lacks any useful information, and is just a running commmentary about some truly awful play. It is almost as if someone sat down with some drunk poker has-been, asked them to re-live their real and imagined winners of days gone by, and put it in book form.

Here is a summary of the entire book:

- I am Danny Ashman, and I am the most amazing poker player in the world.
- I really can't describe my amazingly awesome strategy, so I will give you a few dozen example hands instead.
- Here is where I re-raise with 9-5o because I am confident my amazingly awesome playing skills will bail me out.
- None of my explanations make any sense to you, because you have an inferior mind.
- Did I mention what an incredible and awesome poker player I am?

Here is what the book did NOT include:

- Rational, organized thoughts
- Any sembelance of what might be called a 'strategy'
- Coherent explanations about why some specific example hand that was played horribly just happened to work out

That'll be $24 please.

I have read many poker books and take the game seriously. This book is unconventional, irrational, disorganized and poorly written.