52 Tips for Texas Hold 'em Poker , by Barry Shulman

Book Review

Texas hold 'em is the style of poker that's growing most rapidly in popularity.

In hold 'em, each player seeks the best 5-card combination, out of his or her two-card hand, in addition to the five community cards that are common to all players. In sequence, with rounds of betting, the players discover the flop (the first three community cards), the turn (the fourth), and the river (the fifth community card).

Limit hold 'em has special rules, such as the cap on the number of raises allowed in each round, restrictions which are absent in no-limit hold 'em. Perhaps you have seen the no-limit game featured in the World Poker Tour (WPT) broadcasts on the Travel Channel, the Poker Superstars Championship on NBC, or E! Hollywood Hold 'Em on the E! network. No-limit hold 'em was also depicted in the movie Rounders.

52 Tips for Texas Hold 'em Poker is the latest book by Barry Shulman, the publisher of Card Player magazine , a biweekly founded in 1987. The book of valuable tips is published by the magazine's book division, Card Player Press of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Consistent with the game's reputation that says it takes a minute to learn but a lifetime to master, the book contains an 8-page article on the rules themselves, entitled How to Play Hold 'em [7-14], a one-page summary of a few important points, and then a presentation of 52 winning strategies.

For example, Shulman advocates the "tight-aggressive" style of playing, an approach where you have less hesitation to fold, stay in the game for a smaller number of high quality hands, and then bet on these fewer hands more aggressively. [17-19]

In addition, the reader will learn when it's best to act on a hand earlier or later, known as taking an early, middle, or late position. [20-22]

The 52 tips are arranged in order of a player's increasing understanding. The tips are also organized into five groups: Playing Before the Flop, Playing on the Flop, Playing on the Turn, Playing on the River, and More Hold'em Concepts You Should Know.

The author believes that hold 'em is the easiest kind of poker to make money by playing, because, compared to other styles of poker, it's played by a larger number of less experienced people. This makes the process of learning a few winning tips more profitable. It's a quicker step for the learning of a few hints to put a player head of the average player. [2] The author sets out, therefore, to indicate the methods which will "put you ahead of the 90 percent" whose money you will win. [4]

There are a number of books, videos, software, etc. to teach the game, however, in the author's opinion, "... very little exists for the brand new player." [3-4]

There are several appendices, one of which is a 5-page glossary of the terminology used in the game.

Book review by Mike Lepore for crimsonbird.com