Kill Phil: The Fast Track to Success in No-Limit Hold 'em Poker Tournaments

• #46 in Best Gambling Books

38 Reviews

Sort by: Most Helpful ▲ Date Rating

This book is going to change the way you approach tournament no limit holdem. It will be an essential book to round out your no limit tournaments library.

The subtle beauty is that this approach can allow inexperienced or moderately experienced players to negate some of the skill edge veteran and expert players hold. This book is a detailed and expanded version of "The System" described in David Sklansky's "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players", which Sklansky designed to allow a complete novice to be competetive in a big buy in tournament.

Before "Kill Phil" was published many of the young, aggressive players were already using this type of approach with good success against the veteran tournament pros. It is an interesting strategy which if you don't know and understand will leave you behind against the rest of the players who do know it. I will go out on the proverbial limb here and predict that this book will become an instant classic and "must own" book in any players no limit tournament library. It is that good.

It is not the "Holy Grail" for no limit tournaments, but because it is so powerful, you must understand how to use it and when it is being used against you. It does have drawbacks certainly, but used as described will minimize some of the skill gap for lesser experienced players where they may be put to tough decisions too often. The core of the system is a combination of math and psychology; the system has you making some hyper aggressive plays with hands that don't seem to warrant it, but the psychology of the all in bet coupled with the possibility of elimination if you call- and either guess wrong or are outdrawn -make it a devastingly effective strategy in the right situations.

If someone asked you at the beginning of a $10,000 buy in tournament to flip a coin for your entire buy in, would you do it if you knew ahead of time you would probably lose your $10,000 about one time in three?

Post Script Jan 21st: Lee Nelson(co author with Blair Rodman) took first in the 2006 Aussie Millions on Jan 19, 2006 and won $972,000 for first place. If you weren't a believer before, you should be now.

Posr scriptApril 4, 2006: There seems to be a fair amount of hostility coming in toward this book and I am not sure exactly why. An astute player and reader should realize that this type of strategic approach is just a small part of a well developed approach to no limit tournaments. The one huge thing it did for my no limit game was to decrease the fear of moving my stack in
more often both because it was mathematically correct to do so and in defense of the "table bullies" who constantly apply pressure to you. So to the extremely negative reviews I wonder ...what were you hoping to gain from buying this book? and why could you not find some value in this strategic approach to add to your game?

I suppose I understand where these authors are coming from; they know that the WSOP and WPT hype has brought a lot of new players into the game of hold 'em, particularly into tournament play. Now, the best way to become a quality poker player is to rack up experience at the tables; but, they offer this book as a short-cut to the impatient. Allegedly, this is to help them do better while learning the game. But I question that approach because the Kill Phil strategy is largely formulaic. Exactly how does one learn the game while following a relatively fixed formula?

And what exactly does the formula consist of? Essentially, it involves pushing all-in before the flop or folding. The authors rarely ever discuss playing past the pre-flop stage, referring derisively to such tactics as "smallball." Folks, hold 'em is not a game that's supposed to be played with only two cards; waiting to see a five card hand before deciding to play for all your chips should not properly be classified as "smallball," whatever the authors say on the matter. You can still make "longball" plays after you've seen if you have an actual hand or not (and whether your opponent is likely to have something).

What does this system offer? Basically, this book concedes that you're a sub-par poker player and unable to compete with quality poker players at their own level; so, instead of doing that, the book offers a fairly mindless system to employ to force coin-toss confrontations against your opponents. Basically, if there's a certain amount of money in the pot, and you're likely to be 50-50 or so against any hand your opponent might have, the book advises you to push all-in pre-flop. This has the obvious advantage of preventing you from being outplayed after actual cards are dealt; but the extreme disadvantage of never leaving you with much more than a coin flip chance against your opponent.

You'll have to win a lot of coin flips to win any sort of tournament with this system. Of course, you'll have to win a lot of coin flips anyway, but here, there's no possibility of outplaying your opponent and getting your money in with favorable odds. Pre-flop, you can never expect the odds to favor you as much as they might after the flop (especially if you factor in the odds of forcing your opponent to fold). So essentially, this book advocates a system that removes any chance of playing a hand out with favorable odds. This is not only bad poker, it's bad math, and bad gambling.

Now, in the final stages of a tournament, this strategy is basically sound. At that point, you should take your chances whenever and wherever possible and hope to win a lot of pots without too much confrontation. The problem is that the strategy presented here is much too tight early on. It's in the early stages of a tournament where you can be creative and apply skill to maximum advantage. Yes, this is more dangerous than pushing all-in, but presents an ideal opportunity to build up a big stack before the end-game forces random acts of desperation. Kill Phil has you basically throw away hands like AAs and KKs by raising all-in pre-flop and not getting any value out of them; if you are fortunate enough to get a hand that good in a tournament, I should hope you would be smart enough to try to milk them a little! If they get cracked, that's poker; but you gave yourself good odds to make some money in the process, and you've already won if you can do that often enough. This book assumes that you can't.

While the book's claim to fame is the use (and misuse!) of allins in no limit Texas Hold'em poker tourneys, it really covers many aspects of staying on course in tourneys: handling tough opponents, stealing the blinds, playing the final table, even making deals to split the top prizes.

Some of the information in this book is revealed nowhere else that I know. Other material that can be found elsewhere is presented here in a concise way, giving as much certainty as possible to the often murky world of poker probabilities.

The detailed at-the-table examples using this strategy in play are excellent.

I won't tip the best advice in the book, but overall, it is a terrific book on tourney play. (You feel in reading some books by big-name players on NL tourneys that they have all the expert knowledge, but they aren't about to tell you for $24.95.)

This book gives you a real insiders' view of the game.

Edit: The secret to success using the KP method is Fold Equity. If you ain't got a large fold equity, you will not like what happens. To shove your stack with "better than average" hands is a poor play unless there's a good chance your opponent will fold. Don't try it at all in the early levels of online tournaments as you get numerous any-two-card callers.

The genesis of the original allin/fold concept is David Sklansky's teaching a beginner how to play in the WSOP in 1 day! (Imagine a pro's reaction to frequent allins in the main event on day one!)

I have never seen such a concerted effort to hype a mediocre book.
This book is tired and old, using a very outdated strategic approach. It would never have been published at all but for the huge boom in poker's popularity.
First the premise of the book is that you beat certain star players, who all coincidentally share the name "Phil" allowing the weak pun based on the Tarantino film of the title. That is about as good as it gets.

The main criticism of the book is that it fails to deliver on its premise. You are not going to be a top tournament player on the basis of this book. You can't memorize a strategy and win at poker tournaments, the human element forbids it. And Kill Phil is highly specific. To be successful at poker tourneys you need, in addition to a huge amount of luck, to be able to adjust your core strategy to your opponents who figure out what you are doing. That is the difficult part. And here the book waffles or just ignores the problem completely.

I'm tempted to award this book another star for awarding me the opportunity to beat all the people who will effectively be turning over each hole-card by using this strategy. It takes five minutes to come up with a powerful anti-Phil strategy. But then again, poker isn't about charity.

I feel sorry for all the idiots that will buy this book, get lucky and win some money in a tourney and put it down to Kill Phil's advice. Then they will spend years losing money thinking the problem is with them. It isn't.

Watch this review disappear in a few days as all the sycophants boosting this book's sales close ranks. One thing you can learn from this book is marketing...

Great poker players want to enter a lot of pots and beat the amateur players on the late streets. This is small ball poker. Kill Phil allows you to side step the advantage of the pros by getting all the money into the pot before the flop--before the pros can outplay you later on in the hand. This is long ball poker.

The great thing about this book is that while you are using the long ball tactics, you can learn small ball tactics by observing other players. So rather than getting eaten up in a tournament, you are going further and learning at the same time.

Another good thing about the book is that as the blinds and antes increase, all of the players should start adjusting to long ball tactics. Some players don't know how to make the proper adjustments, so they fall short at the end. This is where even an advanced player would benefit from the book.

Because the techniques work extremely well when blinds and antes have increased and decisions need to be made for greater portions of your chip stack, I have found this system to be most effective in the turbo style NL tournaments.

There are different levels of Kill Phil, going from basic to advanced. As you move through the system, you are not just moving all in with AA or KK like you would at the basic level. You play more flops and become an aggressive force at the table.

I would say this belongs on the book shelves of most regular NL tournament players. The book is easy to read and the concepts are pretty simple to use the day you get the book at the most basic level.

Additional thoughts: I have had this book for about 6 months now and it has done wonders for my tournament play. I have worked on my play to the point that I am able to employ the Kill Phil "expert" level tactics almost by second nature. Couple this with the fact I had already read the Harrington books prior to getting the book, I am very comfortable playing any level of NL hold'em tournament. This book has moved from 4 star level to a full five star book. I think it is going to allow players to get a lot of enjoyment from the tournaments they play in. Even the tournaments I lose, I always know I am not going out without a good fight. I really love this system, especially at the advanced levels of the program. Highly recommend.

1. Play aces, Kings and Pairs. Bet the farm if you improve on the flop.
2. If the blinds are huge, bet the farm with any garbage.

This book deserves less than nothing but stupid amazon won't let me do that. One star overstates the value of the book by about a hundred times.

If the other players catch on and punish you to death, then try another strategy. What other strategy? Ah well, waffle, blahblahblah. Did I tell you I know big-shot tourney winners? Yes, you too could be a lardassed WSOP champ if you have only an extreme amount of luck and five or six hundred thousand dollars to lose.

Thanks for the $15.72.

Other reviews by all customers: best book on tourney poker ever, vague?, overly simplistic, oh no not at all, I just want to bask in the glory of big poker names, sheep?, oh no, bah bah bah...

If you want to learn poker stick with Sklanky, Harrington, and any other Two Plus Two book. The first 70 pages of this book is literally nothing but hype about how good this system is (which it is not), then there are another 180 pages of small amounts of strategy (using the term loosely) mixed with antic dotes and other fluff. There is a small amount of interesting info (in a clinical since) when the strategy is laid out, but basically the Kill Phil strategy is nearly worthless except maybe to be able to say that you made a great player fold a strong hand. Unfortunately the KP strategy does not deal with the rest of the poker world who will be happy to call you with a crappy hand that is slightly better hand than the crap you just went all in with. Bottom-line, this is a loosing strategy. The one semi-redeeming quality of this book is that I do think the mentality of the Kill Phil Strategy is in the right place, be on the attack, push your advantage when you think you have the best of it, and don't be afraid to bust out.

I bought Kill Phil after Mason Malmuth of Two Plus Two publishing and noted poker authority rated it a 10 out of 10, which is a very rare event. The premise of the book is to teach beginner and advanced tournament players long-ball or big pot strategies. These strategies have several advantages. One it helps negate the skills of better players. These players, the "phils" named for some of the big names in tournament pokers won't want to get involved in big pots even if they are a favorite. They will fear you because you will be willing to play aggressively in these marginal situations. Two, it is an excellent medium to small stack strategy. Many players are too cautious at this stage. KP teaches you to use your stack as a weapon, whereas most players allow themselves to get eroded away. Finally, it is an excellent strategy for late in tournaments as the blinds get very high and you are forced to gamble. KP will teach you when and how to gamble.

The book begins with KP Basic which is a full strategy of poker much like basic strategy with blackjack. It requires no decision making only calculating you stack relative to the blinds and antes. It requires you mostly making all-in moves stealing the other bets and doubling up. I have experimented with basic strategy in 200 low limit Sit n Go's with great success. A return on investmet of 35% and almost 50% in the money. I think my success has been party because I chose a site with a very fast tournament structure. The book adds to KP basic extensively describing KP basic plus and KP Expert. Both teach you to apply KP strategies and adapt them to the circumstances as your experience increases.

For the beginning player you will learn KP basic and it will be very beneficial. You can gain lots of experience and still be a winning player. For the intermediate player, KP will give you another gear and help you tremendously in end game, where many intermediate players are too tight and timid. For the advanced player, it will teach you long ball. A strategy that you can combine with your small ball post flop skills to be very dangerous. A good example would be to use small ball as a big stack and then switch to KP as a medium stack. Although the best players will mix it up throughout the tournament. I highly recommend the book and think it will help everyone's game. As a limit player, my no-limit post-flop skill were pretty weak. KP allowed me to build on these skills while staying a winning player.

I like the idea of a simple system that makes mediocre players competitive with better players. The Kill Phil System promises this, but I have been watching it fail online and on television. The 2005 WSOP was full of players doing the All In rhumba and exiting the tournament quickly. Online, I play against Kill Phil players regularly at SNG tables and they rarely make the pay level.

After reading it, I thought their advanced system was pretty good and use some of the ideas in my own game. So, I recommend reading it. But the folks who use the Rookie or basic system had better get ready for a thumping at the hands of better players.

I already had significant SnG experience before picking up this book, and therefore I don't think I got that much out of it. The book is trying to be a "how to" guide, and in that regard is probably pretty decent. It fails however to provide the same level of detail and analysis that Harrington does in his NL texts. It is that underlying knowledge that will ultimately improve one's poker game. If you are starting out, I would still recommend reading Harrington's book to this. The concepts there coupled with experience will ultimately be more beneficial than adopting the basic or advanced Kill Phil strategies advocated in this book.

Kill Phil is an outstanding contribution to tournament poker literature. This is not, contrary to what you might suppose, merely a naive all-in approach. The basic Kill Phil approach involves (i) minimizing tough decisions after the flop (but not eliminating them-- both the basic Kill Phil approach and, to a greater extent, the more advanced variations invlove play after the flop) and (ii) adjusting your aggressiveness and the risks you are taking based on blind levels, stack size and number of players. The hand rankings that form the basis of the system are exceptionally useful and are very different from the hand rankings that you may be familiar with from Sklansky or similar sources. These hand rankings are intended to reflect playability in an all-in situation against hands that may call you or hands that may have raise or called in front of you--domination for example results in some hands ranking lower than you might expect, and the likelihood of two live cards results in some hands ranking higher than you might expect (e.g., middle suited connecters). The authors make the point that the Kill Phil approach does not have to displace your regular game, but can be incorporated into a style that involves a small ball approach as well. In any case, about half way through a sit and go tournament, and in the later stages of other tournaments, all-in skills are crucial.

I have incorporated the Kill Phil approach into my regular game and am very happy with the results. I think the book can operate either as a complete method of tournament play or as a supplement to more traditional tournament play. Highly recommended!

These guys have fleshed out David Sklansky's all-in or fold "system" from Tournament Poker for Advanced Players. And they have done it using concepts similar to those Dan Harrington wrote about in Harrington on Holdem 2 - (i.e., M, Q and zones) combined with position.

If you are new to NLHE tourneys, this is a good way to learn to play. If you aren't new but having trouble, this book will help get you back on the right track.

As for the book itself, there is quite a bit of filler material in the beginning that would only be of interest to complete beginners. But after that, the book is outstanding.

Kill Phil joins the Harrington books, David Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players, Barry Greenstein's Ace on the River, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book and Howard Lederer's More Secrets of NLHE DVD as the best resources available on NLHE tourneys.

I am slightly taken aback by there being any negative reviews at all concerning this important book. There's so much in the poker literature which is clichéd and repetitive that a work like Kill Phil should be acknowledged for its originality. I concede, as do the authors, that the idea for their style first came from what David Sklansky wrote in Tournament Poker, but the author's development of these techniques far surpasses what he put forth in his original 10 page system.

Rodman and Nelson have found a loophole in no limit tournaments and that is a way in which beginners, but particularly, the Kill Phil expert player, can use selected, and total, aggression pre-flop to negate the expertise of professionals. What the pro wants, more than anything, is to last in a tournament as long as possible so that his skill, which provides positive expectation value, has a chance to manifest itself and he can outplay his opponents. With Kill Phil strategy, the pros must now play defensively. A hand like AQo, which usually warrants a raise, must be folded should the pro not want to risk all his chips. Think of Esfandiari with Hellmuth on WPT, and the way in which the great Phil constantly folded hands before an onslaught of reraises. Hoyt Corkins is a master of this art as well.

The text is very easy to read and looks as if it has been thickened by a professional writer. The appendixes are excellent and full of the type of minutia most of us poker geeks really enjoy-an example of this is a page on the probabilities of being dealt pairs; fine stuff indeed. The authors acknowledge that the KP form of play, while certainly requiring skill in execution, takes considerable expertise out of tournament results. Unlike other pundits, they actually offer a solution to the loophole which would be to play Pot Limit or Limit in the opening rounds of a tournament. This would necessitate a more careful style of play and be, at least for little while, a return to the small ball betting of a past era. Sounds quite practicable, but until then look out for the "all in" after you raise with 9s.

If you are a serious poker player then you will need to know this strategy, even if you don't use it fully.

It is worth knowing, as you may need to pull it out your repertoire on occasion. Plus you will need to recognise when it is being used against you.

I bought this book in early January 2006 and studied it for a few weeks. I then used the strategies in play money games on various poker sites, while refining its use for my game.

I was able to incorporate the Kill Phil strategy into my game in a flexible manner. I learned when to move all-in at certain points in the single table sit and go tournaments I played in.

Then, I decided to use Kill Phil strategy for real money. I started to play in sit and go's on PokerStars on February 14, 2006.

Between this date and March 24, 2006, I played in 26 on-line sit and go's and 4 live ones. The results have been nothing short of amazing:

Total live + on-line tourneys: 30
1st 6 times
2nd 7 times
3rd 6 times
In the money: 19 times

Return on Investment percent: 112.0%
In the money percent: 63.0%

There is no other poker book I have ever read that has even come close to having the type of positive impact on my game Kill Phil has.

The title of this book should have been Suicide: The Fast Track to The Loser Lounge in No-Limit Hold'em Poker Tournaments.
This book teaches you how to quickly leave a poker tournament.
I've played against players who have used this system before this book was ever written. I agree they might get lucky and go on a rush...but eventually a good player is going to take them out, and they'll never win a tournament with this system....Guaranteed.

Kill Phil will turn a beginner into a winning player overnight and a winning player into a killing machine instantly.

The strategies in this book are both effective and easy to follow. With advice and strategies ranging from complete newbie level right through to advanced players, this book has something for everyone. Topics such as "making a deal", "match up expectations" and "pair frequencies" have not been covered in such detail anywhere else, and are essential in improving an already experienced player's game.

This book is so dangerous, if you're at a table with someone who has read it and you haven't, you're in serious trouble.....

I play mostly online tournaments and sit and go's. I play tight and try to survive until I catch a big hand. My results though have been pathetic.
After I read Kill Phil I decided to give it a go. I couldn't believe the results. I won two sit and go's and made the final table in a multi-table in seven tries.
This stuff definetly works. Now I need to know what to do when other players are equally aggressive.

Used to play a lot of cash games, but took a look over at tournaments due to the high Expected Value. I tried my cash game strategy out on a few Sit 'n Go's and a couple Multi-Table Tournaments thinking that since I could rock any ring game I sat down at that it would transfer over to these tournaments just as well. After about 6 loses I started to get really frustrated. Even though the buy-in's were low, my cash game strategy just didn't hold up in tournaments.

Then I got Kill Phil. I read through the whole thing, typed up my own "Strategy Sheets" that Lee talks about in the book and that are also available from him, and set out again to try my luck.

I swear to God, this book should be made of GOLD !

Over a 10 day period I played 21 Sit 'n Go's at my favorite poker site, and out of all 21, I placed in 13. Not only that, I more than double my money! Here's my numbers;

1st Place - 8 Times (This was a first for me...Actually, 8 firsts :-D )

2nd Place - 2 Times

3rd Place - 3 Times

Overall Profit minus Buy-In's = $127!!!

I'm still amazed! Because all I have to do is sit down, play this extremely simple, yet complex strategy, and I rake in money everyday!

Some people may be reluctant to try this out, I know I was at first, but the results are simply stagerring!

Instead of sitting down at a ring game for 5 hours straight to "hopefully" double up, I can now sit down at any Sit 'N Go for less than 1 hour and simply DEMOLISH everyone there!

This is THE best tournament strategy book available. Harrington is no doubt good for those that really want to get into the mind of a poker champ, but when it comes down to it, my money is on Kill Phil!

This book was way too basic.
It mainly said play super tight and move all in against "Phils"
so they can't outplay you.

Tell me something I don't know

I dont run across too many "Phils" in the games I play, but enjoyed reading this. Im a little skeptical about how much success one would have playing against regular players, but it is good reading.

The "Phil" in question is famed poker player and nine time "World Series of Poker" bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Jr.. Cogently co-authored by Blair Rodman and lee Nelson, Kill Phil is an in-depth guide to competently playing "Texas No Limit Hold'em" style poker, defeating all you opponents at the gaming table, hosting your first tournament, participating in online-gaming, and all of the professional's intricate strategies involved in the most popular poker game in history -- and how to apply them. Serving as an excellent reference for the serious player, Kill Phil delves very deeply into the difficulties and barriers one may face when in the midst of a game, the pressures of betting and how to assess the situation. Kill Phil is very highly recommended reading to all aspiring poker players, be they novice or veteran, for its expertly written strategies, interesting perspectives, and easy-to-read format.

The popularity of Tournament No Limit Hold 'em Poker has been explosive. Players from novice, to wizened professionals, compete in tournaments that offer cash prizes among the richest found anywhere. Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson have long been respected professional gamblers, and have developed a strategy that allows anyone to compete with the best players, and be competitive! They have dubbed their strategy "Kill Phil," and it has been described as"a dangerous weapon in the poker world." The authors detail how their strategy attacks the weaknesses of especially top ranked players. Players such as Phil Helmuth Jr, Phil Ivey, Phil Laak, and Phil Gordon are among the best in the world, hence the" Kill Phil" name is fitting.
The authors lay out their strategy in a step by step manner that will quickly give even a beginner the ability to hold their own in most any game situation. They explain the goals, the risks, and the competition's vulnerable areas in many tournament situations. I thoroughly enjoyed "Kill Phil" and have followed the game of Hold `em for several years. But came away with a new understanding of the game, and how to play to win. I'm going all in on this one and predict sales will be brisk, on this soon to be a best-selling Poker classic.

Ray Ward editor6(at)newbookreviews.org

I found this book very disappointing. You can't condense poker into a series of simplified strategies-the design of the game fundamentally prohibits it. These strategies might work at low stakes-but then almost anything works at low stakes because the players are incredibly bad. But, any one who goes for the big money is going to get absolutely murdered using these strategies.
Some of the people involved in this book should know better: I suspect they want to cash in on the poker boom and WSOP hype while they can, with a poorly-thought out ill-conceived book.

I have been playing hold em since before it was cool...I learned a lot about the game which had never dawned on me. It is great because it has copious amounts of material for all level players. Very impressed. If you are a player it is a must own.

For those that say this works in on-line SNG's, don't buy into the hype. It doesn't. I tried it in one table, 5 table, and 10 table SNG's and cashed once at a one table out of 5 tries and NEVER at the 5 or 10 tables. I play mostly low buy-in tourneys ($5 and $10) and people are too loose when you finally play a hand.

Generally you only play hands when you are down to medium and low stacks, when the criteria to play a hand are relaxed. By then, you are one of the small stacks and the large stacks will find it easy to call you. If you do happen to get a playable hand early, even if you follow the 1/6th rule and don't go all-in, its still uncommon to get a call because you've already established yourself as a tight player.

Lastly, if your strategy for winning tournaments is to win a bunch of coin flips, think about your odds. The odds of winning 3 consecutive coin flips are one in eight. You'll need to win a lot more than that to have any kind of success. You need to have a better strategy than going all-in every time you play a hand.

AS A LONG TIME VEGAS PRO, I CAN ASSURE READERS THAT THIS BOOK IS THE NUTS FOR ANYONE DREAMING OF PLAYING TOURNAMENT POKER AND IS A GREAT READ FOR THOSE WHO ALREADY ARE IN THAT SPHERE.
THIS WRITER ISN'T JUST WRITING A BOOK TO MAKE A BUCK, HE'S GOT THE TOURNAMENT FINISHES HIGH ENOUGH TO SUBSTANTIATE HIS PROFESSIONAL OPINIONS HEREIN.

This the greatest shortcut to success in the gambling field imaginable!! In a mere three weeks I was able not only to compete but defeat 80% of the field in a $1,500.00 buy-in no-limits poker tournament at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. I had never played poker before. This book enable me to play like a professional.

KILL PHIL IS THE BEST BOOK ON A POKER STRATEGY THAT I HAVE EVER READ..IT IS CLEAR,CONCISE,AND VERY EFFECTIVE AND GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS HOW TO BE A WINNER IN TOURNAMENT PLAY.
SIGNED
DOUBLE00

I read about this book and I ordered it in advance. I can't tell you how much it has helped me already. I have been getting pushed around ever since I started playing online poker, but as soon as I read this book I won two $10 sit and gos in a row. All of a sudden, I was doing the pushing! I have to admit that the techniques in this book are scary to try, but they sure seem to work. I am rereading it now to try and better understand all of the math and examples that the authors presented. I am going to go to a real tournament in December in Los Angeles. Look out City of Angels. Thanks Blair and Lee.

This book is full of useful information that can help maintain your chip stack under a bunch of different tournament conditions. It starts with a basic strategy for no-limit hold'em tournaments, then goes on to cover lots of interesting stuff that's changed the way I think about tournaments.

Very well written, thought-provoking book.

The book basically gives the poker player a chance in a tourney when he finds himself outclassed. Decent strategy, good read. I have read over thirty poker books and find this one average. Best for those that want to get under the skins of those on the table and gain a pyschological edge when your outclassed.

This book has only one message: "MOVE ALL-IN". Because there is a statistical advantage to moving all-in pre flop with live cards against players that are very solid (they won't call without a very strong hand) this strategy will be the best strategy a player with very minimal poker knowledge can use against poker pros. I can't necessarily recommend using this strategy as often as they say you should but it's definitely an effective strategy when used at the right time. Get this book if you don't want to learn the science of poker and you're not afraid to gamble.

While reading this book, the reviews, online message boards, and playing constant online tourneys, it has occurred to me that there's a very important concept here. Namely, is there a mathematical basis for going all-in anytime you deside to play a hand?

I can see how these ideas were derived. For instance, suppose I have AK, and you have QJ, well since the status quo is for me to win, if neither of us improve, I'll win. On the other hand, IF you pair Q or J and I don't pair A or K, then you'll win. The same is true whether or not you hold 8 5. Also, obviously, if either of us draw to a straight or a flush we'll win, but if we both do, I'll win. And so on.

So, I can see how there might be some logic to going all-in with 8 5 as easy as one would go all-in with AJ. But here's where it comes back to reality. Even though it's true that if no one has a pair we both have the same odds of pairing something, that doesn't mean that the better hands won't win in the long run.

It just throws a giant monkey wrench into the picture in the short run.

So, what's the moral of my message? This book presents a legitimate point describing a way to try and win a tournament. Whether or not it works is debatable, so go ahead and try it if you like.

I think the better players will come out on top anyway, and shouldn't be so quick to condemn this method.

The first time I used the strategy in this book, I won a 180 player tournament. Hard to argue with those results!

I found the information contained in Kill Phil useful & productive.
It can provide another weapon in the arsenal of a serious poker player.
No system of play can substitute for hours of practice, lots of reading,
and constantly striving for improvement in your game. I experimented with Kill Phil in the recent WSOP Ladies circuit event in Tunica and went from placing 27th last year to placing 18th this year. Aside from the basic Kill Phil system, the book contains advice & a tournament overview
from two people who have been there. Of the many poker books I have read,
I found this one very worthwhile!

I found this book very interesting. Not a bible, however, an interesting read that may well help me in future, I don't think it's the ultimate info, but another piece of artillary!

Like all 'how to' books, no one, no one would give up 'the nuts' of a system. They would keep it too themselves!

"Kill Phil" is a poker book that definitely has a particular audience in mind. If you're a member of this audience and you plan to spend a lot of money in buy-ins to play over your head in tournaments, then this is a good book for you. Otherwise, though, it's somewhat lacking.

The book has some good ideas in it, but I think players are better off trying to learn the game before going after the Phils of the world rather than simply learning to go all-in against them in order to throw them off their games.