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Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em (Championship Series) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Tom Mcevoy, T.j. Cloutier
Publisher: Cardoza
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy Used: $2.86
You Save: $27.09 (90%)
New (30) Collectible (1) from $6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 230335
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st Cardoza Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 158042127X
Dewey Decimal Number: 795.412
EAN: 9781580421270
ASIN: 158042127X
Publication Date: March 30, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: NOT an ex-library book. Interior pages are in excellent, unmarked, lightly-read condition with normal light tanning/discoloration from age (four-year-old book). Side edge of book (opposite side of spine) has minor shelf grime/dirt. Cover is clean and intact with moderate shelf wear (rubbing of cover's glossy surface) -- no creasing, rips or tears.
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Product Description
Written by World Champion players T. J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy (8 titles between them), this is the definitive guide to winning at two of the world's most exciting poker games! All the answers to players most important questions are here: How do you get inside your opponents' heads and learn how to beat them at their own game? How can you tell how much to bet, raise, and reraise in no-limit hold'em? When can you bluff? How do you set up your opponents in pot-limit hold'em so that you can win a monster pot? What are the best strategies for winning no-limit and pot-limit tournaments, satellites, and supersatellites? Rock-solid and inspired advice from two of the most recognizable figures in poker.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Disappointing and dated August 10, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I'm not sure who this book is intended for. The down home, folksy style of writing makes it easy and accessible, like a good beginners book. But some topics that beginners absolutely need to learn, like pot odds and implied odds, are skimmed over and barely touched on. Other times, they'll simply repeat the same thing over and over again, with different ways of phrasing it. I get that you need "iron balls" to play hold 'em; no need to word it 5 different ways in the span of two pages.
The authors also like to make grand pronouncements and hold fast rules, as if they're reading from a stone tablet or something (this is not a direct quote from the book, but they do mention this "concept"): "Thou shalt not draw to a flush unless ye have the nut flush draw AND two overcards!" Ignore, for a second, the absurdity of that statement; I just hate it when poker players say things like that as if they're the gospel truth. There are going to be times where you should put money into the pot with a non-nut flush draw or even simply two overcards, let alone both of them. The overall strategy described in this book is uber-tight, to say the least. They're much more concerned with protecting their own chips then they are with taking them from others. That's not a bad strategy for a beginner to start with, but if that's as far as your poker skills get, you're going to leave a lot of money on the table.
This book is not without it's highlights. The discussion on how to play small pocket pairs is refreshing, if only because two dissenting viewpoints are discussed. T.J. doesn't really like them, Tom will play any pair. Personally, I agree with Tom, especially if the stacks are deep. The implied odds you get from hitting a set make it a very profitable hand to play, as long as you can get some action when you hit it. If you're at a table full of nits who don't pay off (players like T.J., for example), you probably shouldn't waste your money with the small pairs unless you're simply trying to steal the pot pre-flop (basically playing it like a semi-bluff.)
Overall, I was very disappointed with this book. I think the main problem is it's target audience. It seems like the authors wrote this with serious poker players in mind, but a lot of it reads more like a beginners book. If I had found this a few years back when I played ATC (any two cards) this would have been exactly what I needed. Now that I know how to play the good kind of loose, this book does nothing for me.
If you're a real tight player, you may find this book comforting. Everyone else should move along, there's nothing to see here. If this is "the bible of poker", as the back cover claims, then call me an atheist, cause I ain't buying it.
I was hoping for more... May 11, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book contains many stories and not that much poker-tips.
The tips are pretty basic and many of them are told repeatedly throughout the book. The result of that is a book with 304 pages that contains a net total of maybe 100 pages of poker-lessons. Not good. Sure, the stories are very entertaining to read and the authors both have a LOT of experience, but I got this book to get better at tournaments. Not for entertainment reading.
I regret that I bought this book. Recently I threw myself into Dan Harrington's vol.1 and vol.2 and they're great. I highly recommend them. Actually I can't even think of a single bad thing to say about them.
Sorry T.J.!
 Great book for reference! May 10, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I must admit this is one essential poker book that should be in every poker player's library. Tj and Tom give you expert analysis on the proper way to play particular hands. I really value their experience given all the bracelets and tournaments they've both won. Tj Cloutier gives great advice on knowing your opponents and tendencies to make your decisions at the poker table. Even though much of the advice in this book at first look can be interpreted as conservative, its really the best book on tournament poker strategy. Tj stresses no limit holdem is all about survival and making smart decisions where you don't have to take too many chances will ensure you do survive. For example Tj states "In the first round of the World Series, as well as in the first round of the smaller buy-in events at the WSOP, a pair of kings is not a big enough hand to get broke with. The only hand that is big enough to get broke with before the flop is two aces." Who'd a thought that at first glance!
Not the best available April 11, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
As the title implies, the authors discuss every hand that [they] think is playable in a tourney and describe how to play them in limit, no-limit and pot-limit events. There's also a discussion of some important hands that were played in past WSOP championship events. However, I found the information and discussion to be a bit shallow.
McEvoy and Cloutier seem to take a cookie cutter approach when describing how to play the hands. When you have hand X you do action Y. While they [somtimes] modify the action to be taken based on position, there is almost no discussion of the changes that your stack size would dictate. Nor is there much discussion of how hands play differently early in the tournament at full tables vs. late at short tables.
Discussion of how to play various hands on the flop and later are seldom given much in-depth discussion.
Anyone following the advice would be fairly predictable.
Lastly it should be noted that the authors are two long-time successful players. While overall I was disappointed, there were a few points that struck me as very useful. Hence the two stars instead of one.
 championship no limit&pot limit hold/em February 25, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
there is some good stuff in this book and written in simple terms
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