Reviews Written By: A33ZRG90B1PBBSprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Mike Epstein on Hitting | |
 | "Horrible writing" | 2008-05-24 |
| I suspect the author knows about hitting but just can't write. He randomly and liberally quotes, italicizes, and capitalizes. He organizes poorly, explains badly, postures incessantly, and tries to sell us his other products excessively. This book has all the subtlety of an Amway pitch. Give it a miss and try The Louisville Slugger® Complete Book of Hitting Faults and Fixes : How to Detect and Correct the 50 Most Common Mistakes at the Plate instead. | ||
 | Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker | |
 | "Highly recommended" | 2007-11-16 |
| There's a lot of good, practical advice in this book. It's true that some of the sections cover games that you're unlikely to play today, but there's still solid thinking that you can apply to other poker formats. Moreover, the information density of this book is very high. If they expanded it with graphical depictions of cards and tables and repetitive bits of algebra (e.g., No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice), then the no-limit hold'em section would easily fill two volumes.
The discussion of position (absolute and relative to the raiser) is top notch. They introduce the 5/10 rule for implied odds decisions, which again is excellent, practical stuff. This is the book to take an intermediate player to the next level. | ||
 | Killer Poker Online: Crushing the Internet Game | |
 | "Pretty weak" | 2006-05-10 |
| Lots of the information I consider true but obvious or not actionable. Other parts I don't agree with. For instance, he's pretty negative about playing multiple tables and those that do. He never tries to back this conjecture up with any statistics or experiments. It's clear that the author considers on-line play to be a lesser from of poker, an imperfect simulation of Brick & Mortar play rather than a game of itself. Having really started on the internet myself, I find this perspective (while not exactly wrong) jarring. I don't, for instance, consider the lack of physical tells to be a defect. There's much discussion about tracking your opponents through notes. Vorhaus wrote this edition in 2003. In 2006 there should be some coverage of software tools (pokertracker, etc.) to help in this process. The section about preselect buttons is good, though not news to experienced players. If you're an experienced player making a first foray into online poker, there are a *few* helpful hints. As an alternative, I'd suggest reading rec.gambling.poker, fullcontactpoker, or 2+2 forums. They're more informative and up-to-date. | ||
 | The Complete Book of Hold 'Em Poker: A Comprehensive Guide to Playing and Winning | |
 | "Nice broad coverage" | 2004-10-26 |
| Of all of the books I've read on Hold'em, this one covers the broadest range of games. While other books tend to narrow their focus down to a particular type of opponents, Mr. Carson emphasizes changing your play to fit the game. There's actually a situation for which he recommends a pre-flop raise with Qxs, which I found quite revealing. I also recommend "Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play" from 2+2. Its specific examples and quizzes cover post-flop play in a way that compliments Carson's book. | ||
 | Delivering xDSL | |
| "OK overview, but weak technically" | 2002-06-02 |
| This book disappointed me. There were some nice tidbits of marketing data, and the overview is OK. I think this book is an acceptable introductory text, but it fails to deliver on technical insight. The first chapters are the strongest. The middle chapters seem suddenly targeted toward the end consumer. And the final chapters are clearly padding. Here's an excerpt from page 179: And here's another, suspiciously similar sentence only two pages later: I'd recommend DSL for Dummies as an alternative overview and xDSL Architecture (also from McGraw Hill) for more detail on the technology. | ||
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