Poker For Dummies

Poker For Dummies

by Richard Harroch and Lou Krieger

Quick Thoughts

This is not a bad book, and has some good material in it. However, one fault is trying to cover too much material for a book of its size. As a result, in places, it ends up not covering some aspects in sufficient depth. There are chapters on Holdem, Omaha, various stud games and even a chapter on video poker.  Internet poker is touched on but the treatment is very dated. Overall not too bad, but there are better more focused introductory books out there. I picked this up second hand on Amazon, and on this basis it was quite a good buy and an interesting read.

Three stars out of five. Some good material but tries to cover too much in a book of its size.

Basics

A medium sized soft back book of around 300 pages. The introductory chapters on poker basics are great for the absolute beginner up to the novice player not sure on a couple of points. The book then goes on to cover the basic rules and strategy for a range of different types of poker, 7 card stud, Holdem, seven card stud 8 or better Hi/Lo and Omaha. Other topics covered include home game poker, tournament poker, and importantly bank roll management and record keeping. Video poker is also covered in one chapter, should you be curious on how this relates to the poker you play at the table or online. 

Having considered the basics the book provides various additional chapter ranging from strategy advice to advice on tells. The final chapters in the book are in the 10 tips format popular in the dummy books. These include ten reads (and tells), ten poker legends, ten keys to success, ten tips before going pro, ten ways to improve, and ten real life poker lessons. An additional nice touch for an introductory book is a short chapter on further reading.

Typical Cost

£7 to £14.99, $13 to $17, available a lot cheaper second hand.

Additional Thoughts

Most people will consider the treatment of internet poker in this book as very dated, which is unsurprising given the first published date for this book.

The overview of other forms of poker other then holdem is a nice aspect to the book. If you are a holdem player thinking about playing an additional form of poker this might be worth a read before buying a more specialist book on the form of poker that interests you.

If you have read this book please share your star rating. Also let us know if you have any comments on the book.