Hold Em Authority - Texas Hold Em Strategy and advice for all levels of players

This is the next review in a line of books I hope to review in the future. This time around, it’s Harrington on Hold Em Volume 2. I raved about volume 1 of this book, and I’m not going to stop with Volume 2. I think this is a must have a for a serious NL Holdem tournament player. I’ll try to give just a wee bit of insight on each chapter, but I don’t want to give away too much, because you need to read this book cover to cover at least 14 times.

******

Alright, topic 1, making moves…..
Harrington talks about a plethora, yes, plethora of things in the making moves section. Bluffing, continuation bets, defending against the continuation bet, probe bets, the squeeze play, the no-limit semi-bluff, the back alley mugging, the dark tunnel bluff, slowplaying, massaging the pot, the check-raise bluff, the post-oak bluff, and the BSB play. If you don’t know what some of these things are, might I suggest buying the book? As tight as you might think Harrington is, he’s got a TON of weapons in his arsenal, and this chapter gives a great in-depth look at what he does to become a winner. Read this section carefully, as it will help you understand the complexities that the next chapters have to offer.

Topic 2: Inflection Points

This section was the most helpful to me, because it addressed the issue of going all-in late in a tournament and when the time was right to do so. The bulk of this chapter was dedicated to a player’s ‘M’, a number found by taking chip stack divided by blinds + antes. For example, if my stack was 1500, and the blinds were 150/300 with a 25 ante at a 10 person table, my M would be just over 2 (1500/(150+300+25(10))). Harrington goes into detail about the range of M’s in which you can play your normal game, where you should be concerned, etc.

******

Topic 3: Multiple Inflection Points

Harrington gets more in detail about the previous chapter, citing specific scenarios.

Topic 4: Short Tables

My shorthanded game sucks, so this chapter really helped me out. Harrington taught me to be a bit more aggressive in these situation. Harringtonalso discusses strategies to eliminate short stacks so your overall winnings increase. Harrington also suggests in this chapter that when you’re on the fence about a decision, to just let the pot odds dictate your answer.

Topic 5: Heads-Up Play

I’m a huge heads-up guy, so this chapter didn’t help me a ton, but gave me some confirmation that I’m playing correctly, or at least the way a world champion does. Harrington goes into great detail in some of his examples in this chapter. It’s a really good read for anyone, regardless of your heads up skill level.This really is the whole book in a very very condensed nutshell. As in the first volume, Harrington gives fantastic examples, and those help just as much as his strategy advice does. I HIGHLY recommend this book, because it will not only teach you some new tricks, it will give you more confidence!

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 27th, 2006 at 12:33 am and is filed under Poker Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.