Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em (Championship Series) (Paperback)

by Tom McEvoy (Author), T.J. Cloutier (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Written by World Champion players T. J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy (8 titles between them), this is the definitive guide to winning at two of the world's most exciting poker games! All the answers to players most important questions are here: How do you get inside your opponents' heads and learn how to beat them at their own game? How can you tell how much to bet, raise, and reraise in no-limit hold'em? When can you bluff? How do you set up your opponents in pot-limit hold'em so that you can win a monster pot? What are the best strategies for winning no-limit and pot-limit tournaments, satellites, and supersatellites? Rock-solid and inspired advice from two of the most recognizable figures in poker.

About the Author
Tom McEvoy -- The 1983 World Champion of Poker, Tom has won four World Series titles. Formerly a 9 to 5 accountant, he quit his day job in 1979 to join the high-pressure poker tournament circuit. In 1995 he wrote the acclaimed Tournament Poker, "one of the most important poker books of all time," according to the Gambler's Book Club in Las Vegas. McEvoy is also the co-author of the "Championship Series:" Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em, Championship Stud, Championship Omaha and Championship Hold'em.

T. J. Cloutier -- The 1998 Player of the Year, T. J. has won four World Series of Poker titles. He is the only player ever to have won bracelets in each of the three types of Omaha games: Omaha high-low, limit high Omaha, and pot-limit Omaha. A former football star in the Canadian league, T. J. turned to playing professional poker in the '80s as a road gambler and has become one of the most celebrated tournament players in the world. He is the co-author of Championship Omaha, Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em and Championship Hold'em . The entertaining road stories he includes in each of his books have become legendary among poker players.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Cardoza; 1st Cardoza Ed edition (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158042127X
• ISBN-13: 978-1580421270
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,279 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please don't read this book, July 17, 2004

By	bubbapug "bubbapug" (laguna niguel, ca United States) - See all my reviews

I bought this book. The book is written in a very informal style. However, the first day after I read it I finished 6th out of 1600 in one tournement in which I never finished higher than 400 in before. This guy knows his stuff, but do you have the discipline and patience to follow his advice? This is not a formula book, as in play this way, and this way only. TJ goes into the real aspect of NL tourny play, as in playing the player, and not making mistakes. I would rather you not read this book because I don't want anyone who follows it to play against me. But if you do read it pay attention, TJ's style is understated to say the least, but he lays out a system that will win you tournaments.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, with advice from a poker legend, July 11, 2004

By	D. Gaito (Hoboken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The stories throughout are worth the price alone. Add to that Cloutier (& Mcevoy) giving sound poker advice, and you get a book to look at for years to come.

The book is focused on both pot limit and no limit, and the advise is split evenly throughout. It offers a ton of strategy, practice hands and different view points (Cloutier and McEvoy are both great players, but play certain hands very differently). The writing is such that you feel that TJ is sitting next to you, telling you how to play - - an aspect that I really enjoyed. The book ends with tails from TJ, a collection of poker memories from his days traveling from game to game throughout Texas.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not the best poker book you could buy, February 15, 2005

By	Rob Preteau (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada) - See all my reviews

I've read a few poker books before this one and I play alot of weekly games with buddies and tournaments that consist of 50-150 people every week in no limit holdem. Every other poker book I've owned was never specifically geared towards no limit holdem so that's why I purchased this book.

Against other books I've read, this book is ok, but really doesn't teach you how to be agressive or anything you'd need to know to actually win a 100 man tournament, nevermind a 2000 man tournament like the WSOP.

The problem with this book? Well TJ tries to teach you to be a "tight" player...only play premium hands in certain positions. That's great, he wants to try and get people to play smart tight poker, and that's a good style to play. But he always assumes that you've got an amazing hand! How many times per 4 hour session are you going to get pocket AA's? Once? Pocket KK's? Once? Never? He teachs you how to play with 5 of the best hands in the game and then for the rest you're on your own. For the amount of hands he wants you to play to be successful you will almost always be blinded to death and get knocked out of a tournament. I don't want to presume to be a better player than him, I'm obviously not, but he doesn't teach you more of the important things you need to know.

What am I talking about? He never teachs you about the different player types. The scared players, the maniac players, the cash cow players.....it's mainly just him telling stories about "one time I played 7 - 2, and I flopped a full house"...thats great, but how does that help me.

Here's the book I reccommend VERY HIGHLY (!!!!) : Killer Poker Holdem Handbook: A workbook for winners by John Vorhaus. I can't stress enough how great a book it is and how much it personally helped my game and completely changed my style. It may be geared towards limit holdem but the mental things that you get taught in that book can be applied to all poker games whether it be limit or no limit. I found it to be a far better book than this book by TJ.

If you want a book on how to win with the best possible hands in the game, buy this book, if you want a book that will teach you how to win with absolutely nothing, buy John Vorhaus's book.