Play Poker Like the Pros (Paperback)

by Phil Hellmuth (Author) "Most people today misunderstand poker..." (more)
Key Phrases: top ten hands, possible low hand, qualified low hand, Seven-Card Stud, Play Poker Like the Pros, Texas Hold'em (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Hellmuth is to poker players what Tiger Woods is to golfers. A seven-time World Series of Poker winner, he knows his craft and has now decided to pass a little of his wisdom on to less-skilled players. As the introduction stresses, this is not a book to be perused casually; rather, you read it like a textbook, a training manual for effective poker playing, at both beginning and advanced levels. As in Bellin's Poker Nation [BKL Mr 15 02], where the author explores the logic behind successful strategy, Hellmuth details card combinations and analyzes situations with the precision of a surgeon. And in both books the art of reading other players receives in-depth analysis. What's unique here is the breadth of coverage, focusing not only on traditional table play but also on online gaming, at which many high-end players now prosper. An extensive glossary makes for entertaining reading on its own, as does the impressive listing of Hellmuth's top-50 wins. A must for any gaming collection. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Phil Hellmuth is the best poker tournament player that I have ever played against." (Johnny Chan, Seven-time World Champion of Poker )

"Play Poker Like the Pros is the best poker strategy book ever written. ("Amarillo Slim" Preston, Hall of Fame inductee and poker's greatest ambassador. )

"From the moment I first played poker with Phil I knew that I was witnessing something special." (Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, Poker legend and eight-time World Champion of poker )

"Phil Hellmuth gave me the best poker lesson I've ever received." (Matt Damon, actor and co-star in the movie Rounders )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060005726
• ISBN-13: 978-0060005726
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #214,423 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

237 of 268 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thanks Phil - I'm making a killing..., November 11, 2003

By	"apbruce68" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

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!"

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the Intermediate Player, September 15, 2003

By	Jason Randall Nash "HawkeyeGK" (Council Bluffs, IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

99 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More Like Play Poker Like a Fool, October 17, 2003

By A Customer

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.