| Mastering No-Limit Hold'em | 
 enlarge | Authors: Russell Fox, Scott T. Harker
Publisher: Conjelco
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $7.50
You Save: $17.45 (70%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 459238
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 1886070210
Dewey Decimal Number: 795.412
EAN: 9781886070219
ASIN: 1886070210
Publication Date: May 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Because of television, the game of choice for most new poker players is no-limit Hold'em. This has led to changes in the game. With so many players trying to emulate their TV heroes, they tend to play too many weak hands, call too many bets with marginal to poor holdings, and try to make too many big bluffs. Today's skilled player must learn to adapt to these changes in this complex game. This book covers all aspects of the smaller, fixed buy-in, no-limit hold'em games from understanding your opponents to learning about pot odds. Included are topics seldom written about such as finding the proper amount to bet, how to manage your mental game, bankroll considerations, and how to beat the rake. Also introduced is "The Matrix Theory: " a unique tool for understanding just what hands you should play and how they should be played depending on a matrix of considerations few think about. If you are looking for the most comprehensive guide to fixed buy-in cash games, you need this book!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Great for Learning the Cash Game September 7, 2007
Great Book that centers on the Low Blind No Limit Cash Game. I have learned alot. Thanks
 Bad writing and worse advice April 23, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I play poker for a living and online no-limit cash games between 2/4 and 5/10 are currently my games of choice. I have read probably 15 poker books and this one (MNLHE) is far and away the worst. I think the only reason it ever got decent ratings is that for a long time there were very few books on no-limit on the market. This has changed. No Limit Holdem: Theory And Practice (NLHE:TAP) by Sklansky and Miller is now the Bible on cash no-limit, and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book and Little Blue Book are also very good.
As other reviewers have noted, this book endorses the bizarre idea that a short stack is an inherent disadvantage (as opposed to simply a less profitable choice than a deep stack) in a cash game. This commonly believed idea was debunked once and for all in NLHE:TAP.
MNLHE's problems get much worse than that, though. You only have to reach page 18 before this stunning advice appears. You're sitting in a $2/$3 NL game with $60, having just lost a pot, and:
"You look down at 9d7h in the cut-off position. An early position player raises to $7 and 4 players call. Normally you would fold this hand but in this situation you might elect to call. It is likely your cards are live. If you hit the flop you can win a large pot."
If you haven't played much no-limit you'll have to take my word for it that this is unbelievably bad advice. I feel silly even explaining why, but: with a deep stack of say $300, a call could be justified, but with a stack as small as 20 big blinds, your payoff when you hit the flop in a big way is far too small. You have good position, but that is worth a lot less when you're short stacked. The pot is going to be something like $40 on the flop and you only have $53, so your choices are going to be limited to allin or fold. It's also worth noting that in a loose game there's absolutely no reason to believe that "your cards are probably live".
Wander over to page 21 and we see the authors endorse the idea that having a stack of $400 facing two players with stacks of $70 and $125 is any different than having a stack of $125 in the same situation. See NLHE:TAP if you don't understand why this is wrong.
Turning to the quiz on page 161, the authors ask:
"You hold QQ in the cutoff seat. There are two limpers to you, you raise to $20, and only one of the limpers calls you. The flop doesn't appear threatening: 7h7c3s. However, to your surprise, the preflop limper bets $30 (he has you outchipped). It's your turn to act; what is your action?" (You began the hand with $150 in a $2/$3 game)
This is an utterly trivial hand, but the authors start their answer:
"What does your opponent hold? Is he bluffing? Hands like this are why some of us get grey hair!"
Um, really? You guys must be easily stressed.
"If your opponent is tight and solid, a fold is probably correct; he likely has one of the hands that beats you."
Are you serious? What is a "tight and solid" player doing splashing around preflop for over 1/8th of the effective stacks, out of position, with 33 or a hand that includes a 7? And if he does have one of those hands (or is slowplaying aces or kings) why is he betting straight out at me instead of checking and giving me a chance to put more money in the pot if I have something like AQ? Folding here is just ridiculous. The pot is $48 and your stack is $130 - there's no way you're doing anything on a flop like this except getting the money in. You should either raise or call here depending on the tendencies of the opponent, but in either case your focus is squarely on getting all the money in the middle.
Those are some of the more egregious examples; I could go on, but my point should be made.
The writing is terrible, both in terms of correct use of English and in terms of clarity and readability. There are grade-school grammatical mistakes like "not that great of a situation" (rather than "not that great a situation"). The narrative is tangled and often wanders off on little tangents of questionable relevance. It is frequently anecdotal rather than dealing with underlying theoretical context. This adds up to a very confused presentation of ideas which the authors (given some of the jaw-dropping advice) probably don't have much of a grasp on in the first place.
I felt compelled to write this lengthy review after ordering MNLHE from Amazon on the strength of the reviews. I learnt nothing from this book and its presence on my bookshelf is nothing but an irritation. I'm not one of those people who trawl Amazon looking for things they can give one star to, but I really do think that is what the book deserves. Buy NLHE:TAP instead, or if you already have that, save your money and reread it.
Greatly Needed. April 5, 2006
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book really fits into a void within the poker literature because there are a million books about limit and no limit tournaments but a scare few address no limit cash games. The irony is that NL ring games are the types in which most of us play. What Fox and Harker do in these pages is discuss various elements and strategies necessary for play in the 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 dollar NL games. However, it obviously won't help you deal with Juanda and Matusow at NL 10,000 because the authors' views are fairly conservative. The tactics showcased here are not ones that are going to appeal to loose-aggressive players. Theirs is a tighter game which becomes classically aggressive in moments of strength. Appendix A contains a play-by-play analysis of an 8 hour NL session at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. By offering this, readers get an opportunity to "sweat out" a game with the authors which is an absolutely wonderful idea. It really allows you an opportunity to plug up some of the leaks in your own game by seeing the right and wrong way to do things. Personally, I'd give anything for Dan Harrington to provide us with a 400 pages sweat-now that would be worth about $500. Anyway, the real live play example was helpful and I'd like to see more authors make use of this technique. Overall, this shouldn't be the first book you buy on No Limit, especially since Ed Miller will be coming out with one in a month or so, but Fox and Harker have given us something valuable, so, if you're having any trouble in the small to mid-range NL games, this one's a must read.
 middle of the road... March 6, 2006
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is a fairly straightforward book for no limit; however it is a niche book. This book discusses the small buy-in no limit cash games found mostly in the LA clubs and Las Vegas casinos. While I think it provides an adequate overview for these specific games it is short on the underelying theory of no limit holdem and almost completely void of the psychology which is the main thrust of no limit holdem. The book is for the casual to intermediate player who wants to play at these smaller games. My main complaints are that there is much basic material that is more common sense than anything and the authors never take you to a place of elevating your game. If you are still learning the basics and don't understand things like position and how to read holdem flops it may be okay but personally I didn't feel I got much value out of it. Do an honest assessment of your own game-if you would consider yourself a beginner or struggling intermediate player you will learn enough to make the read worthwhile otherwise it is very middle of the road and you might find better value in "Super System" or "Harrington on Holdem". While "Harrington on Holdem" is written to be a tournament no limit book most players will find tremendous value learning from a truly great player like Harrington and you will learn underlying theory of no limit holdem that can be applied to cash or tournament games.
Good book for beginners March 3, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Well I think this is a quite good book, but especially for beginners. People can understand the differences between limit and no-limit hold'em, but that's all. You won't master your no-limit skill with this book. Of course there are chapters that are good, for example the Odds and Betting Strategies and the Position. If you are new you should read it, but be ready to buy other better books that can give you the essence of no-limit hold'em. For example the magnificient Little Green Book by Phil Gordon or if you want to play absolutely an expert level and want to take part in tournaments the Harrington's books are waiting for you. All in all this is a good book for beginners, before more serious ones.
Buy it but be ready to buy another ones!
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