Customer Reviews

Trademark Championship Holdem Tournament Hands-Mcevoy /Cloutier Instructional (Multi)

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

 

 

I really enjoyed Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em and was looking forward to reading this book. The book is about 1/2 limit hold'em hands and 1/2 no-limit hold'em hands. The no-limit hold'em hands are the same as the material presented in Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em. So if you are looking for different material on no-limit, this book is not it. It also contains actual hands played from many different WSOP championships, which are interesting. It's a good book, just not much different from Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em.

Firstly, I have to say that the credentials of the authors are absolutely unquestionable. Each author has had a very illustrious career playing tournament poker. However, the effort to translate their experience and knowledge to the written page has met with limited success. There are several key issues which prevent me from giving this book a higher rating:

(a) They combine limit and no limit hold 'em into a single volume - limit and no limit are completely different games and to cram them both into a single book demonstrates lack of foresight. It is possible much of the audience will only ever read half the book

(b) Very little of the book is devoted to outlining the different strategic considerations between cash games and tournaments. In tournament poker, it is critical to consider your stack size relative to other stacks as well as your stack size relative to the blinds. Playing Ace-King in a deep stack situation is very different to playing Ace-King in a shallow stack situation.

(c) Cloutier and McEvoy advocate a very conservative style. Whilst the book is meant to be a guide to how they play poker, I still think it is important to consider alternative styles of playing. For example, they advocate always checking Ace-King when the player has missed the flop. However suppose you play an aggressive brand of poker and you are acting behing a single, conservative opponent who has checked the flop. In this case a bet may be warranted. Subtle nuances like this are not discussed in sufficient detail.

(d) Some of the hand discussion is outright poor. For example, the treatment of middle pairs is very shallow. The book basically says "if there is any heat, get out". It doesn't discuss important issues such as position, texture of the flop and so forth.

At the end of the book there is a discussion of key hands from the World Series of Poker which I did enjoy. Overall, the book does provide some very solid advice but its primary drawback is that it takes a "cookie cutter" approach and doesn't discuss many of the subtleties of the game.

I bought this book a couple of months ago and found it to be an excellent book. Read this book first before reading a book like "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players" by Sklansky. This book will teach you how to play all the different hands in different postitions. It also has some great analysis of key hands played at the World Series of Poker.

I don't own the "No-Limit/Pot-Limit" book by McEvoy/Cloutier, but supposedly much of the material is reproduced in this book. I was expecting a discussion of famous hands played in major tournaments, and while this is an important section near the end of the book, there is much, much more.

Basically, the book is broken down between a discussion of how to play hands in limit hold em, and then another large section instructing you how to play hands in no limit. I prefer NLHE and went straight to that part of the book. The advice is extremely conservative. In one example, you are advised to fold AK to a pot-sized bet after flopping an ace and you have position on your opponent! I tend to disagree with the advice, but if viewed in the context of the authors' style of play, they give a good explanation. In short, they are trying to keep you out of trouble. This style of play often falls short against aggressive opponents, but also has the benefit of keeping a new player out of trouble.

I thought the limit section was excellent. Although I believe the advice in this book is geared toward tournaments, if you played limit hands the way they advocate you would probably make a decent profit over time. Again, the style is very tight, but this is perhaps more crucial in limit where you can't blow opponents out of a pot with a big bet as you can in no limit.

My favorite aspect of the book is that it discusses how to play each hand for each game. If it's not listed (J8 suited is nowhere to be found) then you aren't supposed to play it. It's a great beginner's book, and it's not too shabby for the experienced player either, as it helps bring you back and realize how important it is to come into pots from a position of strength with good starting hands. Even if you don't want to play this super-tight style, it will give you an good insight into how all those old-timers play in the morning games at the casino!

This could be a good beginners book. The layout and presentation is easy to read. The text is big and you can read through this book rather fast. It will teach you hand rankings and how to play certain hands in different situations. Unfortunately it's a big basic if you have been playing for some time and won't find too much new information here.

Good format. It is in an easy readable format to follow. I beleive its for the medium to advanced player. You need to have a working knowledge of the game. I have read many hold'em books and found this book to be the most sound. His approach and style are basically conservative, although he touches on the aggressive and super aggressive players. His explanations and reasoning on his methods are stellar and highly analytical. Throughout the entire book you will find buried treasures. You will not be able to put this book down.