Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wish I could pan this book, June 1, 2002
The problem is, giving this book a rave review may get people I play with to read it and then I won't make as much money. Still, I must do what I must do.
This is a great book on holdem, and deserves to come from a guy who calls himself 'the coach.'
Each chapter covers a particular issue (pre-flop play from early position, turn play, etc.), with a brief but useful introduction and then adds numerous extremely useful examples, with correct play pointed out and explained for each example. Useful to read straight through or just go to problem parts of your game (value betting on the river, for example).
My only warning is that this book is probably not for beginning players. It has no easy charts on what to play and when and assumes some basic holdem knowledge. That said, for any player beyound the beginner stage this is an excellent book. You won't be sorry (but I might).
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wish you couldn't find this book here, May 10, 2002
By A Customer
Of the dozen or so poker books I've bought in the last two years, this one has gotten by far the most repeated use. The writing is clear and logical, and the quiz/explanation format is perfect when I'm wondering whether I played a hand correctly. In the last four months I have gone from someone who was terrified of hold'em to a consistently winning player, thanks in large part to repeated study of this book. I think most people will find it much more useful than Sklansky and Malmuth, simply because the practical examples are such an ideal teaching tool.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Under-rated Book, November 13, 2004
By under-rated, I don't mean the number of stars Amazon reviewers have given it--instead I mean the limited number of references given to it by other authors. Ciaffone's book gives the reader poker problem after poker problem, arranged by themes. There are tons of problems and Ciaffone does a great job explaining the nuances.
One of his first (p. 67) was this one: the flop is Kh, 7c, and 5s -- what is your action with each of these hands Ad,7d; 8d,7d; Qh,5d; 6c, 5d; 8c, 4d; and 9h, 2c. Or two hands with middle pair, two hands with bottom pair, and one gutshot straight dra and one abomination. Ciaffone argues that the same action is correct with all these hands--you try to steal the flop since there are not too many opponents and you only have to win one out of three to break even.
The 2+2 books are great for theory, but poker players need to see plenty of examples of theory in practice. Ciaffone's book gives you plenty of problems. It's one of the few poker books I think could give a guarantee it WILL improve your play. Perhaps if it was entitled "Think Like a Poker Pro" (taking a page from a chess classic by Kotov), it would get more attention. That's fine. The fewer people that read it, the better perhaps!
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