By David Sklansky - Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players (Advance Player)

by David Sklansky

Texas Hold ’em is not an easy game to play well. To become an expert you must balance many concepts, some of which occasionally contradict each other. In 1988, the first edition appeared. Many ideas, which were only known to a small, select group of players, were made available to anyone who was striving to become an expert, and the hold ’em explosion had begun. It is now a new century, and the authors have again moved the state of the art forward by adding over 100 pages of new material, including extensive sections on "loose games," and "short-handed games." Anyone who studies this text, is well disciplined, and gets the proper experience should become a significant winner. Some of the other ideas discussed include play on the first two cards, semi-bluffing, the free card, inducing bluffs, staying with a draw, playing when a pair flops, playing trash hands, desperation bets, playing in wild games, reading hands, and psychology.

Genres: Nonfiction, Games

Paperback

First published November 30, 1987

About the author

Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966.[2] He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked for an actuarial firm.[3]

Sklansky is generally considered[by whom?] a top authority on gambling. He has written many books on poker, blackjack, and general gambling.

Sklansky has won three World Series of Poker bracelets, two in 1982 ($800 Mixed Doubles, and $1000 Draw Hi) and one in 1983 ($1000 Limit Omaha Hi). He also won the Poker By The Book invitational event on the 2004 World Poker Tour, outlasting Phil Hellmuth Jr, Mike Caro, T. J. Cloutier, and Mike Sexton, and then finally overcoming Doyle Brunson.[4]

Sklansky attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania for a year before leaving to become a professional gambler.[5] He briefly took on a job as an actuary before embarking into poker. While on the job he discovered a faster way to do some of the calculations and took that discovery to his boss. The boss told him he could go ahead and do it that way if he wanted but wouldn’t pass on the information to the other workers. "In other words, I knew something no one else knew, but I got no recognition for it," Sklansky is quoted as saying in Al Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town. "In poker, if you're better than anyone else, you make immediate money. If there's something I know about the game that the other person doesn't, and if he's not willing to learn or can't understand, then I take his money."

Sklansky resides in Henderson, Nevada.

Reviews

[Jason Koivu · Rating 3 out of 5]

You got to know when to hold 'em. (When ta hold 'em!) Know when to fold 'em... Ah, so true.

Don't let my 3 star rating fool you, this is a very good book. It's great for those whose only poker knowledge comes from Kenny Rogers' songs, as well as for beginner/intermediate players who've already learned the basics and put in some home-game hours.

Hold'em Poker will assist the player's game to advance beyond the rudiments with numerous tips and examples that include diagrams showing the hands being discussed. The problem is that it's a tad on the dry side. Sklansky did not prove himself to be a riveting writer as far as this example shows. Perhaps Hold'em Poker is meant to read like a textbook, a very useful textbook I might reiterate. That's fine, but I'd be surprised to ever find a textbook I felt passionate enough about to give a 5 star rating.

[Федор Кривов · Rating 3 out of 5]

Продолжаем читать про покер. Ценных мыслей много, но игра сложная, придется практиковаться )

На уровне профессионалов холдема, способность «думать за противника» может простираться на несколько уровней вперёд. Настолько, что можно запутаться. Однако в обычной игре против хороших игроков вы должны думать, по крайней мере, на три
уровня. Сперва подумайте, что может быть у противника. Во вторых, что противник может думать о вашем хэнде. И в-третьих, что противник думает о том, как вы себе представляете его хэнд. Только в игре против слабых игроков нет необходимости уделять этому столько внимания. Ведь сами они не думают ни о вас, ни о том, что вы о них думаете. В игре же против всех остальных, всё сказанное очень важно для успешной игры, поскольку хитрость и обман - важные составляющие этой игры.

[Ryan Greer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book following me around for months, just begging to be finished. It's not particularly easy to read, and caters more to the mathematician/economist inside me somewhere. I have a couple complaints: 1) the book focuses primarily on Limit Hold Em, which has a very different strategy at times from No Limit, as pots must be built over the course of the hand rather than any bet on any street 2) the book was written in 1988, the structure of the game hasn't changed but the quality of players has improved exponentially, which means that many of the subtle strategies promoted in this book won't work as effectively as they would have at the time 3) yes, it is dry.

Nevertheless I'm glad I finally finished it. I wouldn't say it's an essential read for anyone who wants to get better at poker, many of its strategies are fairly common, if poorly understood by those who use them. It is nice to learn some of the stats, and to consider some of the psychology that makes studying your opponent, slowplays, semi-bluffs, and squeeze plays so much fun. Poker is a great game because the idiot and the genius can both play together and some days you might not be able to tell which is which... it keeps you realistic and practical about life, helps you learn to roll with the punches.

[Nick Kovronskiy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in 1988. As such, a lot of the information and advice herein is outdated and doesn't easily apply to the modern game -- largely, as predicted in the book's conclusion, because this book and others increased the popularity of Texas Hold 'Em and the average player today is much better and much better INFORMED than the players of 30 years ago. Furthermore, I found it a little less useful than I wanted because most games in which I play are no-limit games and much of the advice in this book is for limit games.

All of that being said, there is still a lot of meat here for people who want to take the time to absorb it, especially if this book is used as one of many.

[Sanford Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

On par with Ed Miller's book. Read both in conjunction to get a firmer grasp of the concepts. This book is better in terms of explaining the concepts and less confusing in terms of explaining limit bets.

[Johan Kwok · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels dry, boring and outdated. Doesn't explain much why you should do X or Y. Couldn't bring myself to finish it.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I ever read on poker. Had 200$ to my name at the time, and at the end of the week and 4 days spent at bicycle club 2-4$ to 4-8$ tables had 1400$... Can't argue with that ROI, so for that it gets 5 stars... It's been quite some time since picking this one up though, and some of the material may be a little outdated, although I recall liking it slightly better still than Lee Jones limit hold'em which was a similar text..

[Eric M · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting style of writing. The book is very informative but the writing style can be cumbersome at times, the authors do elude to that in the opening chapter and warn that the book is based on content and not out to win a pulitzer.

Some of the topics seem extremely detailed and others seem like they were included but not fully developed at the time. A good mid-range book as far as methods of play goes.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit skattered. I really preferred Dan Harrington's books. (If you are into No Limit Hold 'Em tournaments). People debate whether Harrington is a good teacher as he is not the most winning player of late, but solid for instruction and example hands are great. Sklansky is obviously a genius of poker but makes the reader work too hard to get the goods.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the definitive how to play actual poker book back in the day when the suckers were playing Super System. I'll always have fond memories of these days when the poker rooms went smoke-free and everyone there with the exception of myself was a super filthy gambling degenerate.

Now everything is bots, variance, and gto optimal with a twist. I liked the old days poker more.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information which I've ended up using, but the book is difficult to read and can be a bit of a slog. I wouldn't recommend it to casual players. As a casual player myself, I don't know if the time spent reading it was worth the investment.

Ultimately I should have taken the title more seriously or been a little less arrogant about my perceived skill.

[Mike Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning the concepts in this book and the twoplustwo forums/website, I made a tidy sum of money back in the good ol days of the internet poker gold rush. The tight aggressive style of play will always win at limit hold em... but the game has evolved a lot beyond this book's scope in the last decade or so.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I thought I was going to become a card player. Yup, so were a lot of other guys. It didn't quite work out that way. This is a good book. Sklansky is an expert. I learned a lot, just not enough to commit my own cash.

[Luboš · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Texas hold 'em is hard. There is probably no other form of poker as difficult. Yet, the game appears deceptively simple."

Well, I expected some simple how-to, but obviously Texas hold 'em is not easy. I will return to this book and may be re-evaluate it later.

[platkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking it up after a long hiatus. Borrowed the copy I started reading and had to return it. Informative, but inconsistent writing. Good tips nonetheless.

[Gregory]

Building on the basic theory. This is an advanced book and teaches you how to think on a higher level. Very difficult reading.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sklansky is a very, very, very smart hold 'em instructor; that said, his other hold 'em book is more useful than this one.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes some serious focus to throughly digest and understand the topics and concepts presented. Not a quick read, but great reference book to brush up on key topics.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Math and the art of poker collide!

[Scott Hoverman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look at the cover. Cards AND a big gun. What more could you ask for?

[Kingsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, I'd stick to Doyle's book. If you've read all the other poker books, give this one a shot.

[Daniel Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent guide to limit hold 'em poker theory. This one is more specific to live games against competent players.

[Felix]

Should probably read the Theory of Poker or similar beforehand. Putting it away indefinitely until I ever decide to learn poker again.

[Robin Spano]

Absolutely excellent read. I read this after Harrington's series, when I was ready for some more advanced (i.e., abstract) theory to take my game to the next level.

[Duke Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

the only reason i rated this down to a four is that it isn't the easiest read. It is however extremely informative.

[Cyberpope · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dry difficult read, unlike Sklansky's "Theory of Poker"

The information is good, but it's a slow dragging time gleaning it.

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outdated. Dry and at times very boring. Only covers limit poker.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

No doubt it was a great book in it's day. My rating reflects that times have changed and there are a lot of better books now.