Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy for No-Limit Tournaments: Volume 1: Strategic Play

Sure to be a classic

"Action" Dan Harrington is one of the old-school stars of Texas Hold 'em tournament poker. There are lots of poker instructional books available and they range from the overly simplistic to the very technical. This book by Harrington strikes a good balance: he presents some of the theory of poker (calculating odds, etc.)as well as practical illustrations of hands players are likely to encounter in tournaments. I've read lots of poker books in the past two or three years, and this is one of my favorites. I read and reread it frequently.

OUTSTANDING!!!!!

Best book on poker period. Start with this one and make sure you read all 3 volumes in the trilogy. Your game will be taken to a whole new level. Easy read, you won't be able to put the book down. Real life situations he lays out rather than just blabbering on about the "right" way to play like most poker books do. this book has it all!!!!

Awesome book, an essential

I started playing poker several years ago and was pretty much clueless for the first year or so 'little to my knowledge at the time'. After that I read a book to learn more. That book was one of the dummies or idiot books about poker. I wouldn't recommend that to anyone that has the basics down it's really just for beginners trying to learn the basics. I worked on my game and got to the point where I could break even or make money most of the time. That was up until a few months ago when I started playing higher stakes. I had trouble breaking even and making money, and then I got what I still consider to have a streak of serious bad luck. I decided I had to re-evaluate my game again. This time I did research on which book to buy and this came with high regard from the best players I know. It was the best poker investment I have made so far. I am not even fully through the first book yet and I am already making more money. The individual hand analysis is exactly what I needed. You can only learn so much from watching poker on television. He weeds out the insane bluffs and all-bets of TV poker and analyzes the hands in between in which most players have the most trouble. I certainly had trouble with them. He helps you analyze the texture of the flop and lets you use logic to decide what the best move is. I now bet into flops that I never would have before, and it is generally successful with the right moves. At this point, I am rambling a bit. Let me summarize: if you are a player that feels he is lacking something in his game, it is 99% likely it is covered in Harrington's books.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

I don't understand all of the positive reviews. This is just another poorly written two plus two book in desperate need of an editor. Once you get by that, you still can't ignore the advice that is too tight and relies way too heavily on math -- another common two plus two trait.

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Great Tournament Hold 'Em Advice

When this book came out, everyone at the local card room was buzzing about it, and now that I've had a chance to read it I can see why. Rather than focusing on hand values or strategies, Harrington walks the reader through the thought-process that world-class poker players use to make their decisions, sometimes taking several pages to analyze a single hand. The information within is invaluable, and should be extremely useful to intermediate and advanced tournament players alike. I look forward to the next two books in Harrington's series.

Excellent book, the best I have read

I have read many a poker book but none of them provided such in-depth strategy for tournaments and hold'em in general as this book. I never write reviews, mind you, but after reading this book and placing in the top 3rd of every single table online tourney I have played since I read it, I felt obligated to pass such a goldmine of information on. If you are thinking about buying this book, do it. I am in the process of reading his volume 2, which is all about the endgame of tournaments and I feel 100% sure I will improve my winning chances (on top of what I already am doing!) by 100%. Dan Harrington has always been somewhat of a hero of mine, as he has played with the best, and came out on top time and again. Buy this book, you will not regret it.

A+ for tournament stratigies

Fantastic book for the tournament player! This is a well written intellegent book, and a must have for anyone interested in playing tournaments.

Just great

If I would make a list of top needed books for a Hold'em pro, this one surely goes into the first three. Add Slansky's 'Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players' and Barboianu's 'Texas Hold'em Odds' for full coverage on odds and math and you will have all you need to know for winning.

Why some players lose money playing the same hole cards other players make a lot of money on!

Absolutely the best poker book I have ever read. I used to think I knew how to play hold em since I would usually wind up in the money. I didnt realize was how much money I was letting slip through my hands until I read this book by Dan Harrington. It taught me how and why some players lose money playing the same hole cards other players make a lot of money on. You will learn why you will win more money on hands most players throw away than you will on a pat hand! No matter how good you are at playing Texas Hold 'em, you will be a better player after reading this book.

Very Informative

A very informative study (and this is only Volume 1) of what it takes to succeed at no limit hold 'em tournaments written by a past WSOP Champion. After reading this book, I cannot wait to put this new found knowledge to practice in my next tournament.

Probably the must definitive book on 'No-Limit Hold'em Tournaments ! A must read for anyone looking to improve!!!

A fine book by Harrington & Robertie. There's plenty to digest in this 374 pg volume. Written in clear plain language, Harrington defines what's important to get to the final tables in a no-limit tourney. The stuff you don't see on the WSOP or the WPT. Topics include: Playing Styles and Starting Requirements; Reading the Table, Pot Odds and Hand Analysis; Betting Before & After the Flopp etc. I've played in live small limit games and tourneys online but I can't wait to start playing in live events. I plan to give this book another read, just to be on the safe side. I throughly enjoyed this book and I can't wait for Volume 2. This book should help you kick your game up a notch!!!

Best no-limit tourney book on the market, bar NONE

There¿s a reason this guy made 2 straight World Series of Poker final tables (a feat most people rank as one of the most impressive in modern poker history ¿ even more impressive than Johnny Chan¿s back to back victories, because Harrington competed against a field of thousands each year.) He knows his stuff cold. I had always been an above average fixed-limit hold¿em player, but was the first to admit that I was absolutely CLUELESS when it came to no-limit (and no-limit tournaments). Harrington, however, explains VERY clearly how to approach the early and middle stages of NL tournaments (the 2nd volume to be released later this year will cover the late stages ¿ I can¿t wait). This book helped my tournament play more than ANY other book or friendly conversation I¿ve ever had. I started off tackling the low-limit online sit and go NL tournies, and ended up in the money (top 3 out of 10) around 50% of the time. The examples from his book are priceless ¿ taken from actual tournaments he has played in ¿ and he always, always takes time to explain how his read on a player affected his decision. Perhaps what I appreciated most was that unlike nearly every other book I have read, Harrington doesn¿t preach his style of play as the be all and end all. In fact, several times he goes out of his way to note that there are a number of different styles that could be adopted ¿ and even praises many of his peers as masters of a looser/aggressive styles than he¿s comfortable with. Whereas other books I have found leave you pretty much stranded if you don¿t agree with something the author writes, Harrington explains the THOUGHT PROCESS so clearly that should you choose to deviate from his strategy, you have a good idea just how to do that. Take all of my feedback with a grain of salt, because I really have stuck mostly to online tournaments, but I¿m sure that his advice applies expertly to live casino tournies as well. Personally, I like online play better ¿ I was a little hesitant at first, but after taking the plunge, I don¿t understand what all the worry is about. Read some site reviews at pokercroaker.com that will help you pick which poker site to try. Overall, I¿m extraordinarily happy with this book, and eagerly look forward to the 2nd volume.

The most helpful poker book on the market.

Every poker book out there is labeled 'the poker bible' by some expert. I have read many poker books, but Harrington on Hold 'em puts it all together. He covers it all from pot odds, to playing styles, to how much to raise/bet in certain situations. Everyone should have in their library such classics as listed below, but Dan Harrington puts all of the great advice from other books into a useful manner. While T.J. Cloutier's book has several example problems, they are nowhere near as in depth as Harrington's examples. I have finished in the money in on-line single tables ever since I have read this book. Read Doyle Brunson's Super System I and Sklansky's Theory of Poker. They are classics that you should have in your library. But it will only come together with Harrington on Hold 'em, Volume I. I can't wait for Volume II.

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