Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play

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No limit hold'em, obviously, is a complex game. So complex that there has never been a good comprehensive treatment in a book form; I had thought that this was because it involves more "table feel", experience and intuition that can't be easily taught or expressed in a useful format.

Harrington and Robertie have done just that. Harrington is the 1995 world champion, and the only player to make the final table in both 2003 and 2004, overcoming the two biggest fields in World Series history (839 and 2,576 players, respectively). Robertie is a top backgammon player and author of several excellent books on that game.

Among the top players, there are drastically different styles of play, from conservative to super-aggressive. One problem I expected was that given Harrington's solid, fairly conservative style, he wouldn't be able to give much useful information on playing at the other end of the end of the spectrum, styles such as those employed by Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen.

I was wrong. The book does a fine job addressing the relative merits of various styles, playing against each type of opponent, and even choosing one for yourself. This makes sense; no matter his own style, to be successful he has to have spent a lot of time thinking about, observing, and combatting all different types of players. Further, a playing style isn't cast in stone; even the most conservative players have to switch gears and become much more aggressive at times, and vice versa.

A few more notes on this idea: first, Harrington's own play as described isn't as conservative and cautious as many think. Second, a fairly conservative approach is demonstrably the more sound one for the student, and anyone without many years of experience. Hyper-aggressive play would be much harder to teach well, and also much harder to pull off successfully. The players who thrive playing these aggressive, gambling styles have exceptional talent as well as lots of experience and a great feel for the game and their opponents, and are faced with difficult decisions under lots of pressure much more often. For those who insist on trying, it probably still makes more sense to learn a fundamentally sounder style first and then proceed from there.

The book is laid out well for learning. Each chapter starts with a discussion of the topic, touching on the theory. There are several example situations with the authors' answers and detailed reasoning, as well as the merits of alternative plays. Following each chapter there are problems, mostly from real hands. It provides a diagram of the table, the chip counts for each player, your knowledge of the opponents, etc... all the relevant information. The problems usually provide all this information even when some of it is irrelevant to the problem, which is a strength. A big part of the decision-making process in poker (as well as lots of other things) is recognizing and eliminating extraneous details to make analysis more managable.

This is the first in a two volume set. I thought this was odd, as this is first for 2+2 poker books, but the first volume is bigger than most of their others already. The book is self-contained; there are no partial answers or information that tell you to buy the second volume for the details. I don't think there has been an official announcement on when Volume 2 will be released, but I've heard sometime this spring.

The book is geared specifically toward tournaments, and especially toward those with well-defined formats, such as major casino/cardroom events and those on the Internet. For cash game players, a solid understanding of tournament and poker theory would be necessary to make the appropriate adjustments to cash play. Most of the book would still apply, but some situations would change drastically in a side game, where simply getting your money in with an advantage, rather than survival, is the main goal.

For those newer to poker, to get the most out of this book, I would recommend a few others be read either first or at the same time: "The Theory of Poker" by David Sklansky, "Small Stakes Hold'em" by Miller, Sklansky and Malmuth, and "Winning Low Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones, especially for the newest players.

UPDATE FOR VOLUME II:

Many of the same comments apply to Volume II, which is more of a continuation of the first than a separate book (even the chapter numbering picks up where the first left off). It focuses on the endgame; the late stages where everyone left is in the money and the blinds are relatively very large. They use the ideas of zones and inflection points to give effective generalized advice about different situations, evaluating your chip position relative to both the size of the blinds and the other remaining players.

The last few sections cover short-handed and heads-up play, where strategy often changes radically. In most tournaments the table only gets heads-up at the very end and doesn't last very long, but the difference between first, second and third place is huge, even millions in the biggest events. Given that one position makes such a big difference, strategies changes dramatically, and most players have little experience heads-up, this material is extremely valuable.

A third volume is in the works, in workbook style with problems and examples, which should nicely complement and review the material in the first two.

Every time I read a 'poker book', my play seems to suffer until I can figure out how to incporate the new thoughts I have with my style of play. Not true with this book - in some instances my style of play felt 'validated', and in others, I learned where my style of thinking was differing from a 'professional'.

This book has a different 'style' from other books - it doesn't start with lame advice like 'hand rankings'... it runs down the difference between amateur and professional thinking - things like position, bets a multiples of the blinds, etc. it then talks you through scenario after scenario from real poker situations, asks you what you would do, then explains how he would have thought about it. These scenarios are grouped into sections with 3-5 hands designed to 'teach a lesson'.

This is truly a magnificent book - the first of its kind that I have found that teaches the person who already knows how to 'play', really how to PLAY.

I bought this book the other day and was rather skeptical about how good it would be, but, now that I finished it, I can honestly say that Harrington on Hold `em is the best book on poker that I have ever read. Am I over-exaggerating? No. The secret of this manual is that, while he expresses many of the same thoughts and ideas as other poker players/writers, he is far superior to them in the teaching of technique and strategy.

As a teacher, Harrington is a master. Every page is crystal clear and comprehensible which is considerably more than I can say about the works of his publisher, David Sklansky. The lingo was in keeping with our common poker tongue, and I never had difficulty imaging the situations he described; whereas, with Super System I, while I totally recommend it, there were times when I could not apply Doyle's counsel to my own game due to a lack of skill. Such a situation never arose with Harrington on Hold `em. Many of my faulty and defeatist habits at the table were identified, and, more importantly, the manual helped me understand just how much careful attention needs to be paid to the betting patterns of my opponents.

The strongest segments in the book are "The Problems" sections. They are found at the end of each chapter or part. Harrington uses them to "show" us information after he has already taught the concepts. These scenarios grab us by the wallet and place us atop the championship felt. The funniest, and most unique, thing about his examples is that Harrington observes the hands from a vantage point high above the players. He tells us what should be done and then often has to shake his head when the player analyzed does the complete opposite. Regardless of the quality of the amateurs, Harrington follows along and makes the best of their bad situations while being careful to point out how much trouble would have been avoided had the right play been initiated in the first place.

Early on, "Action" Dan makes clear that he will be using examples from online play (and then does so extensively) which is extremely helpful for the majority of us who do not reside near one of the gambling Meccas. Most of the scenarios come from the commonly-played online single table satellites. Harrington, rather surprisingly, knows all about the pitfalls and characteristics of internet poker, and, time after time, illustrates how a particular play succeeds in a brick and motor card room but not on the web-and vice versa.

Dan Harrington was the perfect person to write a book like this. Other than Texas Dolly, he has the most gravitas out of any of the poker luminaries. He won two bracelets in 1995, and finished at the final table two years running (2003 and 2004). Practically nobody else has the combination of experience and contemporary success as he, and his intelligence stands out like a flush in this initial volume.

In the spirit of true conservative play I don't want to put all my stars in at once. BUT, THIS BOOK REALLY IS A 5 STAR BOOK. You should not buy it. You should just continue to play like you usually do so that those of us who have read it can continue to win your chips. Besides, it will take a lot of time to read and understand this book anyway. So please continue your casual weak, play-too-many-hands style of play and continue getting the same results you have always been getting.

This book wasn't bad at all.

It takes theories found in Sklanskys Tournement Poker for Advanced Players and explains them using simpler language, and many practice hand examples.

In fact, I would say that the most valuable part of this book is the countless practice hands found throughout.

It dumbs down the concepts of pot odds, and implied odds, so that they are a lot more practical and easily applicable to the game. His writings really drive home the importance of calculationg the odds regularly, not by giving complicated mathamatical results over the long term, but by using more easy to understand examples and everyday scenarios.

I would say that this book could be read as a stand alone, how-to book for no-limit Hold em tournements. It does however only deal with the early and middle stages of tournements (He is releasing a volume two that will cover late stages and final table play).

But I would certainly recommend reading Sklansky's book for a more thourough study of the game in general.

Specifically Theory of Poker for a good understanding of, well Poker Theory.

Hold em for advanced players for a solid understanding of how these theories apply to Hold em specifically, and for a good solid grasp of starting requirements and the value of specific hands.

Tournement Poker for Advanced Players for some specialized theories related to tournement play.

Harrington draws from all three of these books and refers to them in this book.

Overall I would say its a good book (even with a few too many typos) and could be valuable to a begining player interested in tournement play, even if he hasn't read any other books. I also feel that even more seasoned players will enjoy it and be able to draw some good insights from it.

As other reviews have pointed out, it distills Sklansky's and Brunson's thoughts into digestible form. I thought it stood out from both of those books, though, for 2 reasons: its flexibility and its personal style.

Harrington is of course known for a particular style of play, and he explains its merits in the text. He also explains its disadvantages, though, and presents alternative approaches with a balanced review of their strengths and weaknesses.

Moreover, the book is written in a wry, personal, occasionally very funny tone, and was fun to read. The practice hands are extremely deep and well-explained.

One minor complaint (also noted by another reviewer) is that there are a number of mildly irritating typos and grammar errors; I'm the sort of person who gets annoyed at such things, though, and it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the book.

I eagerly await the second volume.

This book wildly surpassed my expectations. I have read several poker books and I am a big fan of Sklansky and Malmuth's books in particular. Having read so many books on poker already it is rare that I find one that contains much new information. Mr. Harrington's book was a delightful exception. It seems as though he truly held nothing back and revealed the full spectrum of his tournament strategy for the early rounds (at least as much as possible for such a situation-dependent game).

I highly recommend this book for beginners and experienced players alike (although I recommend the beginners "fill out" their poker knowledge with other books as well). I definitely recommend it over _Pot Limit and No-Limit Poker_ by Ciaffone and Reuben, and _Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold 'em_ by Cloutier and McEvoy. An aspiring expert should read all of these books eventually, but Mr. Harrington's is definitely the superior treatise on the subject of No-Limit Hold 'em--buy his book first.

I hope this review was helpful to you.

Seems like everyone loves this book!

I bought it because I had just started playing a weekly tournament where I live and wanted to improve my game. Why do something if you can't be good at it, and why learn from your own mistakes (at cost) when you can learn from someone else's (free)?

This book paid for itself immediately. Some of the fundamental concepts in this book seem extremely obvious once they've been pointed out to you, but cost real money until you grasp them. Others I already been using somewhat intuitively, but by examining them I apply them better.

His tight pre-flop play, for example, was a sea change. Throwing away cards that I don't even want to get hit on the river instead of limping in to see the flop not only save me the blind when I miss the flop, but also the subsequent bets trying to defend the second-best hand when my 9 pairs up. Basic stuff, but how many hands/rounds/sessions of losing would it have taken me to figure out that mediocre hands cost more than trash hands? At $20, Harrington's book was the cheaper choice. How much money would it have cost me to discover the connection between an opponents stack size relative to the blinds and his playable hands? A lot more than $20, that's for sure!

Furthermore, the book deals very well with the concept of pot odds -- something I as a beginner had a hard time grasping and calculating under pressure, but which is helping transform my game from purely intuitive towards odds-based -- a good thing when one's lack of experience makes one's intuition suspect.

Obviously, there are tricks and stratagems in the book for the advanced player (which I'm studying furiously as well), but it's the solid presentation of the fundamentals that make this book and it's follow-up volume.

The problems at the end of the chapters are also extremely valuable, if for no other reason than because they keep you from just skimming through the chapters and recognizing concepts instead of actually learning them. Many times I found myself challenged by the problems and having to go back and review -- again, a lesson that would have cost me cash only cost me time.

I've already transformed my game and am a noticeably stronger player than before. While it's been hard to make the style adjustment, the returns are making up for it: I'm no shark yet, but I'm making money in the cash games as well as the tournaments, and against people who have been playing much, much longer than I.

If you play hold-em for any kind of money at all, invest a few dollars and by this and the second book in the series.

No-limit play is different from limit play; tournament play is different from ring-game play. In tournaments the blinds come marching irrepressibly around, and they get bigger and bigger. In a ring game, they march around but they stay the same size. What this means is that there is a certain urgency in tournament no-limit that doesn't exist in a ring game.

Harrington, one of the top players in the world, and a dead-on scientific and shrewdly psychological player, who is also a master chess player and a world class backgammon player, emphasizes this difference by making this book just volume one of a two-volume set. The second volume is sub-subtitled, "The Endgame" and focuses on the later stages of tournaments.

How valuable is this book? For the tournament player I would say that there is only one other book that is even in the same league; that's David Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players. But this book is better. Harrington's nearly exhaustive approach out-Sklanskys Sklansky. Scores of hands are analyzed in minute detail, the analysis typically covering several pages of text. Harrington begins with a diagram of the table, showing "your" position and that of the other players seated. He gives the amounts in each player's stack, the size of the blinds, the stage in the tournament (just starting, early, middle) and what kind of tournament it is, major, online, etc. And he identifies conservative and aggressive players.

Next he gives "your" hand and the action to you. For example, you have TdTh on the button and Player A passes, Player B raises x number of dollars....and now it's up to you. What I love about these illustrative hands is that Harrington gives first an analysis of the factors that a professional player would consider at that point, and then he gives his recommendation: fold, call, raise x number of dollars, etc.; and then he tells what "you" actually did--which is sometimes or even often, the wrong thing. And then he continues the hand to the flop and often all the way to the river, commending on every action.

How much to bet, Harrington says, can be calculated almost exactly in some cases. If you have top pair and you believe your only opponent is on a draw, you need to bet enough to make it unprofitable for him to call. If it is a turn bet and the pot is $900 and he has a flush draw he has a 9/46 = 19.57% chance of hitting his hand, or about one in five. So you need to bet more than one third of the pot to make it a mistake for him to call. But, as Harrington cautions several times in the book, you do not want to foolishly bet more than is necessary. Going all-in--an irresistible thrill for some tournament players--is silly when you can get the same result by betting a smaller amount.

Another nice point that Harrington makes is that whenever there is a bet and you are trying to figure out what the bettor has and whether you should call or not--always more of an art than a science, which is one of the great things about poker--you should put the probability of a bluff at at least ten percent.

What the reader realizes is that no-limit tournament hold'em poker is a very complex game and that there are almost always many things to consider before making any decision. Sometimes of course the decision is easy. You have the nut flush on an unpaired board at the river and it's bet to you. You raise, of course. But wait a minute! Is there somebody behind you yet to act? Maybe you should just call and try to get an overcall. And, by the way, just how much should you raise? Even if there is nobody else in the pot but you and the bettor, you need to consider just how big a raise he is likely to call. If you bet too much he may not call. If you bet too little you may not get as much out of the hand as you might.

You might say, Whoa, not everybody at the top plays this way. Surely Johnny Chan, for example, in his prime did not stop and figure out every angle before proceeding. He acted and reacted with lightning speed. Yes, but that is only because he had already figured out all the angles, had added them up and totaled them, so to speak as he went along; and when his opponent acted or he saw the next card, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. Instantly, and perhaps somewhat unconsciously.

The "natural" player as opposed to the "scientific" player considers the same factors before acting, but he or she may put a different emphasis on certain values. The natural player may value position more than the scientific player (or it could be vice-versa), but regardless both players take into account the very factors that Harrington delineates before acting.

One thing that really made me sit up and notice is that Harrington's theory about profitable player styles includes not only his fairly conservative style, but the "aggressive" style and the "super-aggressive" style. His main point is that the more aggressive your style, the more alert, intense and sharp-witted you have to be. Wild players CAN win, but they have got to be able to read both the action and the other players extremely well since they are often walking the razor's edge.

Bottom line: Harrington's mastery of the game and his clear instruction make this a mandatory read for the aspiring tournament hold'em player.

I would just like to say that I have read over 14 books on poker, won tournaments, and I was fortunate to be in the 2003 WSOP.

That said, I read this book and realized that I still have a LOT of holes in my game REGARDLESS of my playing style.

I learned that I haven't been tracking my opponent's betting patterns as much as I should be. I learned that I have been giving my opponent's proper odds to make calls in certain situations because I didn't pay enough attention to the money in the pot. I learned how to apply some of the lessons in Theory of Poker to NLHE Tournaments (i.e. make your opponents make mistakes) thanks to the examples/problems/exercises in this book. I wasn't making enough calls pre-flop because I was too focused on staying alive in the tournament (because of Cloutier/McEvoy books which I will discuss next) instead of looking at pre-flop pot odds. I wasn't paying enough attention to what players thought of me to use that at different stages of the tournament.

I have a lot of the Cloutier/McEvoy books and one of their main points in surviving a tournament is to throw pot odds out the window because you can get busted out of a tournament on any given hand. Basically: Don't play hands like J-10 suited or 9-8 suited in the blinds or late position in a tournament even if it's only $20 more to call an early position raiser with $10-$20 blinds because those are chip-burners you'll need later to double up when you have AA or KK.

Harrington claims that Pot Odds are Paramount. Page 375. And I believe him now. While I have had success playing big hands and big pairs, I have always realized that I need to loosen up my starting requirements, but now I realize HOW to loosen up my starting requirements IF Pot Odds are favorable to me and I won't be making a "mistake". (As always, "it depends" on a lot of factors before you play these hands) It's not that I didn't play the occasional K-J suited or Q-10 suited for another bet, it's that I wasn't even THINKING about how I was getting great odds pre-flop. Poker is a thinking game, and I see that I need to do a lot more thinking when I'm playing.

When I have won tournaments or done well, the stars and planets were pretty much in alignment. The AK beats the pair, the pair beats the AK. But that doesn't happen often enough to justify entering the number of tournaments I entered in 2003. I had holes in my NLHE Tournament game that I can take care of now thanks to this book.

I've read SuperSystem, Theory Of Poker, Championship Series, Tournament Hold 'Em by Sklansky, and a whole bunch of other books and they all had a lot of great information. I honestly thought this book would be more of the same, but it wasn't.

I learned in Harrington's book how to use what I've learned in those other books (particularly Theory Of Poker) and how to open up my starting hands quite a bit.

No Limit Tournaments will always be big money tournaments, at least for the next 100 years. If you're going to play in those tournaments, I recommend that you get this book and hold it in the same esteem as the other poker "classics" because this one holds it own with SuperSystem, Theory Of Poker, and the Championship Series.

This book is good in that it covers a couple of topics never covered before:
-Style of play, conservative/aggressive, super aggressive and how to counter each style

-Pot odds and implied odds and how to use this in conjunction with your opponents play and style. Rather than a study on odds
-Starting Hand values according to style and position.
-Practical problems that are deeper in comments and strategy than any other NLHE book ever published. (Including Middle Limit NLHE). These really put you inside the head of one of the top Pros.

What is evident is that Harrington is a very sophisticated player and the depth of thinking required to play NLHE at the highest levels cannot be covered in one book. References are made to other books by Sklansky for instance.
Feel free to incorporate this new knowledge into your play but understand at the higher levels so will your opponents.

The main lesson from Harrington is that we must each think for ourselves and incorporate our natural style but understand that at different stages of a tournament we must play tighter or looser.

Harrington has had good success recently and we must ask why compared to the super aggressive players such as Negraneau and Ivey, the answer may be that in super large fields less sophisticated players are less bluffable and more willing to draw out all in. (Remember Men the Master's Aces getting cracked by a 20% draw out by an all in internet player at the 2004 WSOP main event.)
Overall its a very detailed book that will take about two weeks to go through and months to master.

I have read a lot of poker books and I have acquired a good understanding of strategy in conjuction with other texts, especially from applied mathematics and gambling psychology. This book explains in depth the strategy, reading hands and even psychology in an enjoyable manner. But I think it still has no full coverage of odds calulus, interpretation and math behind the poker. I found Catalin Barboianu's "Texas Hold'em Odds" far superior on this count. I recommend it as a completion for this book.

Read this book first!!!!!!.

I have never written a book review before. This book is certainly the best to start with. Skalansly'book are the best books, however, for a first time poker player its very very hard to undertand/grasp what he is talking about?. In that sense Skalansky's book are of less value to a beginner. After certain good amount of limit experience ( when you can consistently beat $1.00/$2.00 limit tables over a period of 5-6 months) and good amount of online NL tourney experince( when you can atleast breakeven on NL Tourney results over a period of 5-6 months) you can read Skalansky. They will then start to make sense.
But for beginner Dan's is by far the best book I would say.

I would rate any book on following criterions:
(a)The content.
(b)Organization.
(c)How easily the content is well understood by the reader( intended reader only )?.

Dan's book scores well on all three points.Note Skalansky's book scores poorly on point (c) as I am assuming a beginner/intermediate poker player reading. Skalansky will score high on point (c) when reader has gained some experience and can consistently beat the limit he is playing.

Just to give an example, this is how Skalansky explains preflop play. He gives a table with each playable hand and a number representing a perticular group. (AA, KK, AQ are group 1) and QT,JT would be something like belonging to group 8. Then he goes on to say you can play so and so group in such and such position. To furthur confuse a beginners he also puts in exceptions like , well you can also play Group 2,3 suited here when you read a player to be lose raiser!!!. How can a begineer grasp all that?.Also what if on button and and there are two raises, now what can I still play all hands that are playable from button?.

On the other hand Dan explains starting hands and play like this:
(1) You are the first one to enter flop ( when no one has entered the flop yet, either you are the first one to act or players have folded down to you). Now he explains each position and how to play(raise,call) based on how many are yet to act after you and what cards you get.
Same thing with cases:
(2) There is a raise before you then explains how to play(raise,call) based on how many are yet to act after you and what cards you get.
(3) There is a raise and reraise before you then explains how to play(raise,call) based on how many are yet to act after you and what cards you get.
(4) There are one to many callers before you then explains each position and how to play(raise,call) based on how many are yet to act after you and what cards you get.
(5) Also how to play when there is raise/reraise after you.

Now things will make more sense to a beginner.

Other good point he explains everything through his real world examples and how players are thinking when making plays. This will give you a good understanding on how to think like a pro!!. Then there are examples and exercise to work on with his solution and again containing the detailed though process you need to do while arriving at conclusion.

In all I would suggest to buy this book strongly before going for Skalansky. BTW, if you can understand/grasp Skalansky then there is no need to buy this book. But then you won't be reading this review either and would already be a pro.

This is a terrible book. The book doesn't address going all in with 7-2 off suit like you should.
Sorry, I have a feeling this book is going to hurt me in tournaments if all the fish start reading it. The best part of the book is bet sizing which no other book I've read really goes into. The is the last piece I needed to plug my last leak. I was sizing bets based on....well...some mystical feeling I suppose. This book made me, a conservative player, a serious force in live tournaments. The average players have no idea what to do with me now and the really good players show me a lot of respect and stay aaway form me in the early stages and let me build my stack. This book will pay for it a thousand times over.... as long as only a few people read it. Otherwise we are all in trouble.
If you want to be a top player this is the book but ONLY if you have a goood core understanding of NL. Once you have that this book is worth it's weight in gold!!!!!!!!!

This book renders most others obselete. It is simply the most advanced theory of No Limit Hold'em ever given in a public format, putting you inside the genius mind of one of the most successful players of all time. Often I had to put the book down and take a deep breath, simply startled by the depth and insight of Harrington's logic.

Beginners books can teach you that AK is a good starting hand, but Harrington will tell you what to do when you are in fifth position behind a hyper-aggressive player and two raises behind you. In other words, every real game situation is covered. With a calculating mix of math and psychology, he teaches how to accurately deduce the situation, put people on hands and make smart decisions. His formulas are unique and replicable.

The book is structured in the typical Sklansky-style texts, but the hand examples are deeper, with the specific attention paid to the nuance between online and casino games. Even those tablejockeys who say they "never read a poker book" should swallow their pride and buy a copy or be left in the dust.

When Doyle wrote Supersystem, many players felt he had given away too many secrets. Harrington has just offered us the Holy Grail so cough up the $20, and make far more dominating your lesser opponents.

As your bankroll skyrockets, you will keep rereading it. Welcome to the new Poker bible.

I added this to my collection recently. Its one of the top books I have read. I haven't read them all, but have about 9 books. Dan's book will help keep you out of trouble by limiting the tough decisions you have to go through in a tournament. He has a conservative style, but that is what you need to survive early. I like his hand examples. You really get two for one on most questions. He lays out the situation and goes over the "right" play. After that, he'll continue through the hand assuming you took the "less than best starting play" and works his way through the hand trying to limit the damage of the novice type play.

I don't think I have ever recommended a poker book, and I am thinking twice about recommending this one. I want the information all to myself! And I want volume two to come out soon.

I think there should be a pre-req to this book. Get a Sklansky book and learn the game from the math angle. Sometimes when faced with the absolute, "I have no clue what to do here" situation, go to the math and let it decide for you. Harrington does it.

I wanted to add to the long list of positive reviews on this book by adding a few facts in which this book has improved my game. I've read some other books on No-Limit and I've played online for a little over a year and live play at a small poker room for almost 6 months. It wasn't until I read this book that my play drastically improved. I almost want to write a bad review to keep people from buying it and improving their own game. After finishing the book I went off to my local poker room to play in one of their weekly 100 person max NL tournaments. I have consistently been a 50/50 player at the sit n' go live tournaments, meaning I win money 50% of the time and lose money 50% of the time. I figured my play would improve from the knowledge in the book but I had no idea how much of an improvement I would have. I won! Yeah thats right, I won my first tournament larger than a sit n' go at live play after finishing the book. My online play win percentage has increased as well, I consistently finish in the money in major tournaments. I've finished in the money 11 of 15 of my last online tournemants with more than 1500 entrants and made 2 final tables. I consider this a drastic improvement and attribute the majority of my success to the knowledge in this book. I can't wait to finish and absorb volume II as it appears the endgame is where I need to improve at this point. The best part of the book for me is that it made everything "click" in my mind. I highly recommend the book and wish you all the disciplne and patience needed to win ~ luck is for losers :-)

Although this is a two volume set, the books should really be considered as one, so I have reviewed them as such. These books are the best publications on NL Hold'em tournaments to date.

Dan Harrington does an excellent job of detailing complex strategies and how they change through the course of any given tournament. He even goes so far as to break down different styles of tournaments and how you should adjust play for each (i.e. major big buy-in, single table satellite, major online, single table online etc.) and examines all of these types within his problems throughout the book.

The book is impossible to summarize due to the wealth of knowledge in the book and the detail that Dan puts into his strategies and analysis. A couple of highlights include Dan comparing different playing strategies (Loose-aggressive, tight-aggressive, etc.) and how to play and play against each. Just because Dan is a tight player himself, his vast experience gives him more than enough knowledge to teach any style. Dan goes through some of the basic components found in many poker books: starting hands, pot odds, continuation bets, slow-playing, semi-bluffing etc. But then will get into deep analysis of many complicated facets of tournament strategy that the average player may have never heard of. His analysis of M&Q and how it relates to your play as the tournament progresses, complicated moves (squeeze play, sandbagging, back-alley mugging, rope-a-dope to name a few), end play and heads-up play are some things rarely found in other books that alone will advance your game tremendously.

Dan's in-depth and detailed analysis is what sets these books apart from any other book. He doesn't just explain bluffs, but goes on to explain when to bluff, how to bluff, how much to bet when bluffing, the type of player to bluff, the stack size to bluff against, why you only bluff when you have absolutely nothing, the expected return on bluffing, cards that come on the on the board that send a red flag (this may surprise many, but a 10 on the flop is one of the worse cards) and so on. This type of analysis is used on bluffing, semi-bluffing, slowplaying, check-raising and every other aspect of the game. He doesn't just talk about pot odds, but reversed odds, implied odds, and then teaches you how to not only use them yourself, but how to take them away from the player in the hand against you.

Other things that impressed me are Dan is the first to give credit were credit is due, noting that many ideas come from other offers and players. Dan will also send you to other books that cover certain ideas that better than he could insert into his book. For example, he immediately references David Sklansky (of course) on the subject of pot odds, and Mike Caro on tells. Dan barely even touches on the topic of physical tells, but rather basically says that Caro has already covered it better than anyone else ever could, so I'm not going to discuss it, just read his book. Dan does say that the primary physical tell he looks for his hand movements stating that people are aware of their facial expressions but not their hand movements. Dan also states that physical tells, though important, are somewhat over rated and that betting patterns are actually more important stating "Not everyone has a tell, but everyone HAS to bet."

Overall, a great book that is full of information and even well written and an easy read. I recommend reading the books multiple times, because you will be surprised the second time through the stuff you missed the first time.

I've read several Hold'em books, but they all were describing Limit Hold'em ring games rather than the type of game I usually play: No-Limit Hold'em tournaments. This book was exactly what I was needing. Many of the points I already knew, but didn't know the logic behind them and there were dozens of new ideas that I had never grasped before. This book helped me recognize the leaks in my game as well as the moves I was doing 'right' but couldn't reproduce consistently because I didn't understand them well enough. He describes how to play different styles as well as how to play against them, tricks and traps, pot odds and betting amounts (finally a realistic pot odds section) plus great information on reading the table and how to use the information you gather. The only problems that I had with the book was a few typos and the fact that Vol. 2 isn't out yet. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Just look at the ratings on this site. It isn't a fluke that 45+ people have all (except one) given this book 5 stars.

There's no question about it in my opinion. Harrington has written the best book on poker ever -- and without a doubt the best text on No Limit Hold Em. Without going into exhaustive detail, let me just say that Harrington takes the oft difficult concepts of no limit hold em and poker in general and makes them simple and clear. Not that he suggests that mastering expert play is simple or easy -- but he presents the information that the successful player must have so well that the many, many significant concepts are easily grasped.
This book is, by design, written to teach people how to win no limit texas hold em tournaments. But it accomplishes must more than that. Harrington presents the essence of successful poker play and with it builds the firm foundation of understanding that is so often missing from other poker books.
I am a poker author. I wish I had read this text before I wrote my first poker book or poker article. And I certainly wish I had read this book before my first no limit hold em game. And I will say, once again, I truly believe this to be the best poker book ever written -- and there's another volume yet to come. Bravo Action Dan!

This is by far the only book you need , if you do not improove your game switch to monopoly or come to party poker and play with me :)

The books covers the following topics
- The Game of NL Hold 'em
-Playing Styles and Starting requirements
-reading the table
-Pot Odds and Hand Analysis
-Betting before the flop
_Betting after the flop
-Betting on 4th and 5th st

It starts off with a very brief intro to NL Hold'em and how it has blown up in the past couple years

It went into the different styles :
-The Conservative Approach
-Aggressive Approach
-Super Aggrssive Approach

he does give u a basic strategy that u can follow , it a tight but not so tight approach , not like in Cloutier's style if u do follow harringtons's strategy u will have a good stack coming into the final table

he does give basic advice on tells and reading the table but nothing special if you want to go into details you might want to read Claro's Book of tells

Overall It cant get any better i cant wait for Vol 2

If you wanted something to replace supersystem this is it, Harrington teaches the right play in nearly every situation with many examples, it's a like a quiz book for perfect poker play. You can't go wrong buying it.

This is probably the best poker book I have ever read. The book is a blend of math, stories, strategy, and analysis of actual hands.

The book begins by discussing various popluar styles for NL holdem and their strengths and weaknesses. Moves to starting hand selection by table condition, then on to post flop play.

Hand analysis is a round by round analysis of the way to get the most chips with the least risk from your opponenets. Dan even shows you how to recover from mistakes in the previous round.

Can't wait for VolII.

Volumes I and II are a must-read for anyone who plays No-limit tournaments with any regularity.

The most important factor to consider in any gambling book is: will I make more money after mastering its material? Sadly, 95% of the books out there are pure rubbish. These books are not just instructional, but extremely well written.

You can see the mix of the two authors combining to make this text. First, you have Harrington, a well-known no-limit player. More importantly, you have Robertie, an author with amazing talent for teaching gambling techniques with many problems and solutions. Robertie has written a two volume set on Backgammon that uses a similar style: a rule is given, and 10-20 real-life scenarios are given with actual solutions.

The combination of a Harrington with Robertie is very effective at teaching you how to win at No-limit Hold'em poker. Before reading this, I was already a winning player. After studying these texts, my hourly win-rate went up about 50%. Even solid players will read this and say "Hmmm. I never thought of that, but it makes sense!" You will follow the offered strategies, and even though you're not sure quite where things went right, you'll play longer and win more money.

When you consider these books, you should really consider both volumes as one large text. The materials are geared towards an intermediate or higher player. A beginner will learn from this,
but it is a nasty learning curve for beginners, and there are no good books out for scrubs.

No-limit hold'em poker is still a relatively ripe market, despite the press it gets. If you are serious about making money at it, this 2-volume set is mandatory.

If I would make a list of top needed books for a Hold'em pro, this one surely goes into the first three. Add Slansky's 'Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players' and Barboianu's 'Texas Hold'em Odds' for full coverage on odds and math and you will have all you need to know for winning. The rest is practice and patience.

Every poker book out there is labeled "the poker bible" by some expert. I have read many poker books, but Harrington on Hold 'em puts it all together. He covers it all from pot odds, to playing styles, to how much to raise/bet in certain situations. Everyone should have in their library such classics as listed below, but Dan Harrington puts all of the great advice from other books into a useful manner. While T.J. Cloutier's book, Championship No Limit and Pot Limit Hold 'em has several example problems, they are nowhere near as in depth as Harrington's examples. I have finished in the money in on-line single tables ever since I have read this book. Read Doyle Brunson's Super System I and Sklansky's Theory of Poker. They are classics that you should have in your library, however, I found it difficult to play the aggressive style Doyle described. People should also have Caro's Book of Poker Tells. But it will only come together with Harrington on Hold 'em, Volume I. I can't wait for Volume II.

i've never played a deep stack tournament before.
i've watched plenty of no limit on dvd, and i've read a few other books which added a little to my game, but i still felt a bit under done. i know this is a poor substitute for actual table experience, but after reading the first 2 volumes of "harrington on hold em", i felt ready. let me preface this by saying, i had no poker bankroll, this was a one off risk , and if it failed, well, it would be a while before i'd have the money to try again. i have a bankroll for horse racing , which is my main gambling strategy, but i scraped together whatever else i could for this adventure.
$1650 buy in, 2 day tournament, 1st prize $112k, 404 players (including joe hachem), 48 made the money.
i won't kid you. i was nervous, i was sweating most of the time, but i wasn't going to lie down. i was going to hang tough and play tight when it was needed, and i was going to loosen up when it was needed, i was ready to change gears whenever i felt i was stuck. when things got rough , i said to myself "what would dan do here?" . there were a few times i was on the canvas, there were a few times i was doing pretty well and well above the average chip stack, but by the start of day 2 i was 55th with 61 players remaining, pretty short stacked and looking likely to bubble out of the money.
i never gave up , and i played hard ball pre flop, not all in, but i always bet heavy. in particluar there was a move dan mentions in volume 2 that i was dying to try and the perfect moment arose.
49 players left, next person out would get nothing. naturally, no one wants to do anything stupid. cashing in my first tournament was very important to me. under the gun raises to 16k (blinds were 2k/4k with a 500ante), next 3 players fold, guy before me calls the 16k, i look down to see QQ. a big hand, sure, but not a powerhouse, and certainly vulnerable if an Ace or King flopped. normally, i'd consider calling, or maybe raising all in. i had about 100k, they both had me well and truly covered. i didn't really want them to call, epecially with an Ace or a King. remembering a passage in volume 2, a play that dan used in the 2004 WSOP main event against raymer and arieh (although dan did it with 6-2 off suit, i at least had a hand.) i re raised them to 60k, not all in, but more than half my stack, so they knew i was pot committed. under the gun stewed for 2 minutes and folded, guy before me also stewed , but for about 30 seconds, and then folded. i added the 102k pot to my remaining 40k and breathed easy.
i later found out under the gun had pocket 10's, and the other guy had AK , exactly the hand i didn't want calling me. if i went all in (like i probably would have prior to reading vol. 2), i suspect i may have been called. maybe'my queens would have held up against the AK and the 10's. i ran it through 10 times and the queens would have held up about 50%, the AK would have won 40% and the 10's won 10%.
i ended up cashing in 33rd spot and got back more than double my entry fee + airfares + accomodation, which to most players wouldn't raise their pulse,but to me, it was huge. don't get me wrong, i was disguisted too, at not advancing much much deeper into the tournament.i know there were plenty of pro's who were used to this stress, but i wasn't. these 2 volumes gave me the confidence to know how to approach various stages of the tournament, especially the green/yellow/orange/red zone strategies, which i think were crucial to my surviving and thriving. if nothing else, it's worth buying these 2 volumes just to understand this concept, which i'd never heard of before. i didn't make any huge mistakes. a few hands i know i misplayed a little, where i could have extracted more chips when i won, and a few hands i could have lost a little less. i can't wait for my next tournament, and i can't wait for volume 3.

I've been learning poker now since 2003 and have read many books on the subject including books by Doyle Brunson (Super System 2), Phil Hellmuth (Play Poker Like The Pros), a few by some lesser known authors and a couple of Sklansky books. My game has steadily improved over the past couple of years and I've won dozens of online sit and go tournaments, and various real life competitions. I've also learned that No Limit Texas Hold'em is a game that takes many years to master.

My game today is a world away from 2003 when I started. I can certainly hold my own in a low stakes game. However, this book by Harrington has proven to be the most valuable and insightful poker book I have ever read (about poker). My eyes have been opened to subtle game concepts that I had not previously considered. I can honestly say this is the best poker book I have ever seen. His writing style and method of using examples seems clearer to me than any other I've read. What he says makes perfect sense, even to an amateur like me.

Even before I had finished the book I could feel my game improving, I can't wait to read the second volume and see how my game is by the end of that. I'd recommend this book to anyone that likes poker irregardless of their level of play.

I didn't realize how little I knew about no-limit hold-em until I read this book. Although I've been playing for awhile and have been moderately successful, this book brought my game to a whole new level. True story, I finished this book on a Saturday afternoon, that night I entered an on-line tournament (with over 1300 others) and finished third.

This book had me thinking about things I had never previously considered (or only thought of in abstract terms). The book provides clear and concise analysis of most issues. Sections deal with things such as; the importance of table position in deciding whether to enter a hand, the importance of understanding playing styles (and recognizing that perception is not always reality), the use of pot odds and dealing with aggressive players. In particular, I found Harrington's advice to go against type and play aggressively when the pay-out cut-off grows close (while most players tighten up hoping to finish in the money) helpful. It has won me a lot of chips.

I can't over-emphasize how helpful this book is. If you are serious about poker, buy it.

If I would make a list of top needed books for a Hold'em pro, this one surely goes into the first three. Add Slansky's "Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players" and Barboianu's "Texas Hold'em Odds" for full coverage on odds and math and you will have all you need to know for winning.

Dan Harrington is one of the premier tournament players in the world. And this is by far the best book on tournament hold 'em. Some have recommended David Sklansky's tournament book over this; however, I would personally recommend this over Skalansky's book.
First and foremost, it is a much better written book. Sklansky is certainly a brilliant theorist, but he does not write in a coherent style. On the other hand, Harrington, with the help of his co-writer, writes in a lucid style. You will not catch yourself re-reading sentences and paragraphs as you will with Sklansky's book.
Secondly, Dan Harrington is a premier no limit hold 'em tourney specialist. His back-to-back final table appearances in 2003 and 2004 may be the greatest achievement by a single player in the history of the WSOP Main Event. Why would you not take this man's advice?
And finally, Action Dan makes you think like a poker pro. He takes you into the thinking processes of championship-caliber poker gods as they make moves that are seemingly absurd to us mere mortals.
Another common failing of most poker books--and this applies to even such classics as Super System--is that they teach you one particular style, whether that be aggressive like Doyle's or more solid and math-oriented like Sklansky's. What is special about Harrington's book is that while its author is known for his tighter than tight "rock" image, it exposes you to all the different styles. So whatever your current style may be, you will be able to apply the advice in this book.
This book transformed me from a poker neophyte to a feared online player. And while I have studied just about all the poker classics, I attribute my rapid poker growth first and foremost to this book. In fact, I just won a seat to the 2005 WSOP Main Event, and if I am fortunate to meet Action Dan in Vegas, I will be sure to thank him for this great gift to us poker amateurs.

Whoever wrote the review by Bonus Cash For All The Online Sites is a fool. To say that Dan Harrington's style is only good enough to sustain but not win is a ridiculous assertion. Had Moneymaker not made his only out on the river in the middle of 2003 World Series we wouldn't even know who Moneymaker is today. The fact that Harrington won the event in 1995 and came in third and fourth back to back in the largest fields ever to play in the Series is a testament to his greatness. I had a chance to read the first two chapters of this book and I'm about to buy it. I just have one word to describe this book - AWESOME. It gets into the minds of the top poker players and expertly applies a lot of poker theory that one reads about in the abstract to actual situation play. If you've read books on poker theory and find yourself scratching your head wondering what all of it means, this book really shines the light on how to apply it to real play. If you don't add this book to your poker book collection, you'll certainly miss out.

I have been totally blown away by this book. This is simply the best no-limit hold em book on the market. The detail, anaylsis and overall wealth of information make this book well worth its $20. The reason why this book is so excellent is because it attempts to teach you how to think like the pros and gives you clear guidelines on how to accomplish that. Warning though, this book is not for the lazy, get-rich-quick wannabees. This work is going to require a major investment in time and mental resources in order to fully upgrade your game and become competitive. If you are willing to do that, then this book cannot be beat. It's even better than Supersystem.

Three things separate this poker book from all the others I have read (and I think I have read them all):

1. It is in plain english.

2. It gives clear and excellent problems for you to work out.

3. It is well organized throughout.

I suggest new poker players read Sklansky, "Theory of Poker" and this book. Sklansky does not write as clearly, but he gives you a good grounding in the basic mathematics of poker. Harrington will then give you an excellent introduction to the theory and practice of No Limit Hold'em.

Einstein stated that a truly knowledgable person should be able to explain even the most complex of ideas in such a way that even a child could understand them. That is the essence of this work. Harrington takes poker literature to another level, beyond the stratosphere, with this book. His writing style is so lucid that even concepts you've never considered come across as something that makes you think to yourself, "Wow, why didn't I consider this before, its self-evident?" If you've ever read a book from two plus two, you know all too well that the authors almost always throw a disclaimer up front that basically states that they are terrible writers and communicators. Not so with this one, to do so would have been a travesty.
Also, unlike other authors (poker brat), if you really want to call them that, Harrington holds nothing back. He probably sees his career winding down and decided to lay it all out there. With the experience and intelligence that he possesses, bellieve me, "all" is alot. There is no possible way that you could read this book, even if you only give it a quick scan, and not dramatically improve your game. And I don't care how successful you already are. And don't shy away if you don't like tournaments. I hardly ever play them myself, but early stage tournament play is a pretty close facsimile to ring play and many of these ideas will improve your cash game results.
The detailed yet lucid explanations of pot odds, which you will eventually calculate as second nature, are alone worth the price of this book many times over. I assure you that the $20 you spend here will be back in your pocket as a direct result of this masterpiece the first time you play after reading.
I suppose there isn't much more to say without starting to ramble endlessly like Helmuth, who don't get me wrong is a great player but should stay away from other endeavors. All I can tell you in summation is to get this ASAP and study it repeatedly, you won't regret it.

This is one of the best no limit tournament books in years, however there are 3 caveats; 1) It is only! for no limit holdem tournaments, not any other type and not for cash games, 2)This should not be the first poker book you ever read, you really should start with something aimed at beginners and have played atleast 4-6 months before reading this book and 3) Harrington devotes little time making points about off topic points, like JT suited out of position and with slightly unfavorable pot odds, why call with 4 opponents still to act? Well, its a great multiway hand. He also does not mention that one of the main reasons to raise with AK is that it is a hand that does poorly multi way but generally good heads up.

Still, this book makes a lot of good points that will improve your tournament play. One of them involves the different types of bets made before and after the flop, its common knowledge to any professional or long time player, but most mid level players will learn a lot from it. If you like Volume I, you'll certainly wanna buy Volume II

Dan Harrington, Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy for No-Limit Tournaments, Part I: Strategic Play (Two Plus Two Publishing, 2004)

I've always been a horse racing guy. I'd watch poker tournaments on TV, and I loved Rounders, but I didn't catch the tournament poker bug myself until a few months ago. The first books recommended to me after I did were Dan Harrington's Harrington on Hold 'em series, and I picked up the first one recently. I burned through it in three days. I didn't even need to take notes.

This is great stuff. Harrington explains it all in simple, easy-to-understand terms, in such a way that if you've played a couple of thousand hands of poker, a good deal of this is going to seem self-evident to you-- you've had nebulous thoughts about some of it, but never concretized any of it (why A10 or KJ offsuit ain't worth your time, what positions you should be in to play low pairs, that sort of thing). Harrington's just showing you what you've already figured out and bringing it into your conscious mind.

The best recommendation I can give it? My ability to finish in the money in small-stakes tournaments increased-- tremendously-- almost as soon as I closed the back cover. There's no better endorsement for a how-to book than that it is effective, and the first volume of Harrington on Hold 'em is most assuredly that. Can't wait to get my hands on Book 2. ****

Without question, this is the best NL Hold Em tournament book on the market today.

End of story.

I have read tons of poker books out on the market, books that focus on Limit Hold Em, books that cover the basics, books that cover how to stay in the moment while playing poker. Each of these books have their own pros and cons, but sadly none of these books focused on NL Tournament Hold Em like it should be covered until I read 'Harringon on Hold Em: Volume I'. Dan Harrington and Bill Roberte have packaged together a book that ALL NL Hold Em tournament players should read (or maybe they shouldn't --- I'll get back to that later).

The chapters are broken out as follows:

1. Basics of No-Limit Hold Em
2. Playing Styles and Starting Requirements
3. Reading the Table
4. Pot Odds and Hand Analysis
5. Betting Pre-Flop
6. Betting Post-Flop
7. Betting on the Turn and River

After reading this overview you might think that this is just like any other NL Hold Em book, but it's simply not. For one thing, this book ASSUMES that you know something about the game of NL Hold Em before you read this. While you can pick up this book not having ever played the game before, you are better off probably having read a basic book like Phil Hellmuths or playing some hands before you read this text.

While most books cover the basics like AA is better than JJ and explaining what 'Big Slick' is, the heart of this book are the hand analysis parts at the end of each chapter. The thing that separates this book from any other on the market is the realism of the hands presented. Other books try to do the same thing, but to help the reader feel better, they will usually say the reader hits a monster hand and wins a ton of money. I understand why the writers do this, but it really doesn't help anyone who really wants to become a better poker player.

My favorite poker quote of all time:

"You win you earn, you lose you learn"

Without going on and on and on and on, I'll stop this review and state that while I have reviewed many books in the past, this is only the 2nd poker book that I have ever put HPR on. If you want to become a better NL Hold Em tournament player, pick up this text and watch your game improve dramatically.

Actually, maybe you SHOULDN'T pick up this book so that myself and others can take advantage of our improved game while you are stay the amateur level and watch the chips come my way.

***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

This book is top-notch. I can't wait to the second volume comes out. If you are new to NL Tournament Holdem you should improve your results dramatically by reading this book. There will be several other no limit books coming out soon I hear, by Greg Fossilman Raymer, Greenstein, etc. and it will be interesting how they compare with Harrington's. I like the book because Harrington gives instruction WITH examples (although I'd prefer a ton more examples like Ciafonne's book Middle Limit Holdem). If you're a limit Holdem player, you should give NL Tournaments a shot--I think it will improve your overall Holdem game and prevent you from going stale--plus it's FUN!

An amazing book. "Action Dan" takes you all the way in to the hand to hand tourny action. It is great reading for anyone interested in NL action. Especially for those interested in tournaments, though most of the concepts can apply quite well to cash games.

Its a fast book, easy to follow, written in a comfortable, up close and personal way. The sample hands and exercises are very good too.

A must read, for anyone thinking about sitting at a No Limit table.

Any poker book that will win you an occasional bet or two is obviously well worth the buy. Harrington's book will certainly do that, even if you're a loose player. You need to know the thought processes of the tighter players such as Harrington but he also covers other styles of play as well.

I have only been playing poker (no limit hold em) now for a few months and so am obviously quite the rookie, but I found this book to be a wicker read. I read Brunsen's Super System section on No Limit Hold em before I bought this book and it gave me a lot to learn but at the same time the motivations for a lot of strategy seemed to be lacking. I have just finished Harrignton's book (I've only had it for 4-5 days) and can say that for the most part everything is explained in great detail, motivation and all. This is a great help for a begginner such as myself to help understand somewhat of what it takes to play good poker. Obviously I didn't absorb nearly all the material by reading it just once (especially given my inexperience with the game) but the parts I have taken from it were nuggets. I definitely plan on re-reading this one a couple of times (probably taking notes) and am certainly looking forward already to volume 2.

Though I haven't read the classics of poker (Slansky's and others) I would still reccomend this book to anyone who has a rough idea of what is going on in a no limit poler game (maybe played a few times or watched some TV and have a genuine interest in the game and would like to start playing). I'm guessing there is still lots in here for novices and maybe even those of you who have a great deal of experience (I say this only because of Harrington's success and assume that he has some wisdom to pass on).

A highlight about this book is the numerous examples for you to go through. They are a great help too see how your poker skills rate (roughly).

I bought this book based solely on the reviews here on Amazon and was not disappointed. (Well, when I read some of the reviews saying that they almost didn't want to reccommend it because they wanted all the knowledge for themselves, and I thought, "Come on. Enough already. I'm sure it's a great book, but you can't be really serious." Now I find myself thinking a little along those lines myself. Disappointed that others have this great tool available to them.)

I set out to buy a book on Poker, specifically on no limit hold 'em, and started reading the reviews on Amazon to decide which one to buy. After reading the reviews up here on Harrington's book, I decided to buy it. Boy, am I glad I did. I don't know why I'm putting this review up, because I've made some ok money in the few times I've played since reading the bood, and I can't understand why I would want others to play better, but I guess I owe a debt to those who gave great reviews before me.

This book is very easy to read, I breezed through it in a matter of a couple of days. It has problems at the end of each chapter that test your skills and strategy. I found, as the book went on, that I was able to think more and more like Harrington suggests a good hold 'em player should. More importantly, I began succeeding in the poker clubs. I've used the thoughts from this book to play no limit and limit games at local card clubs, as well as in Las Vegas, where I made final table at a no limit tourney (and played a hand very well pre-flop that almost went my way and would've put me in the chip lead at that table had it stayed right).

This book lays out strategy that sound intuitive once you consider it. He recommends a fairly conservative style of play, but when you begin understanding the way the table works, you realize that you can play other styles as well, using the tools he's equipped you with.

All in all, a great book, and hope that Harrington makes more money from his poker than he does from this book, or it's trouble for all of us.

I've read many poker books, but this one I can't put down. Very enjoyable reading. Very easy to understand. The examples on how to play hands are very helpful. I found the information on betting the most helpful as most books tell you to play position and what good hands are vs marginal hands in situations. Harrington tell you how to bet right to get the pot odds in your favor. I hesitate to recommend this book as It's helped my game and I'd rather not educate the guy across the table from me but I also appreciate great advice and Harrington has it here. Can't wait for the next volume.

I am an amature player, playing mostly on-line and local casino tournaments and this book has made me a 100% better player. There might be better books for ring games or limit poker, but his is the best no limit book on the market. Harrington does a wonderful job of explaining the different styles of poker and although he suggests his conservative method he explains the methods and how to play them. This book will make you a better poker player if you have the desire to learn. I now have confidence in my play for the next tournament.

Finally, a book that actually improved my game. Great job boys. Can't wait for the next 20 volumes !!!

Of all the poker books, I've bought over the years, this is one of the few that I can remcomend.

I have been playing poker for about 6 months. This book is absolutely filled with information about hold em. Probably the most important thing I am learning from it is just how to understand the game. There are so many aspects of this game that need to be looked at. Now I have realized that there are many more factors you need to look at besides tells and the cards in front of you. I am probably going to give this another read-through (maybe of just the real important topics) just so I clearly understand what Dan is trying to teach. This will help apply the new concepts I have learned. Dan teaches you how to interpret your opponents actions and how to act on those interpretations. The best part about this book is probably the examples. From what I have counted, there are about 71 "problems" or examples. These are probably not what you are imagining (this is really great). On each problem you are given a VERY detailed set of circumstances. You can see the actual table on the page, your position, the amount of $$$ each player has, and Dan tells you if certain players are tight, loose, etc. Then Dan goes on with an explanation such as: "Player D in first position is a young, super-aggressive player. Other than that the table seems pretty conservative. Your hand is: King, Queen." This is just an example I made up, its not in the book. But there are about 70 of these problems and each has an explanation of all the different possibilities that could occur during the hand. Each explanation is a few pages long. The great thing is that you can try to answer these yourself by thinking about the concepts you learned during the chapter. Three of the more helpful chapters for me were the ones on the different types of bets (value bets, continuation bets, probe bets), the chapter on pot odds, and the chapter on the Gap Concept. I think another real virtue is Dan's writing. Most books I can't read in a couple of days. But this book is almost 400 pages and I was through it in a few days. Thats mostly because I'm very interested in poker, but Dan has a good writing style which keeps me interested. Also, in the back there is a section for "notes" which is nice because you can study the new concepts taught in the book. I must say, this book has been helpful mostly because my style of play is mostly like Dan's (very conservative) but I think any hold em player would get a lot out of this book. I can't wait for volume two to come out! 5 stars out of 5.

I've read them all... Super System, Play Poker Like the Pros, Ciaffone's Book, Cloutier and McEvoy, and numerous others, and I can say that this is by far the best book on NL Hold Em that is out there.

It is geared towards tournament play, however it is also very helpful with cash games. If Harrington's Volume II is as good as this volume is, the two of them together will collectively become the "Bible of NL Poker".

One thing about this book though is that it isn't going to be an easy read, and it's not supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, Harrington writes extremely well, but you have to really be *thinking* as you read this book. You need to *study* this book and re-read sections and always think to yourself "Why is this a good play to make for this particular situation?" The reason you need to do this is because one play that might be right in one situation can be terribly wrong in another situation (as we all should know), so you must constantly remind yourself of what situation you're in, hypothetically, as you read.

I honestly cannot say enough good things about this book. I've read so many books on NL Hold Em, and none of them (not even the classic Super System) come close to this IMO. Maybe that's because my natural style is closer to "Action" Dan's style of play, but maybe it's just because this book is indeed the best there is on NL Hold Em.

Read the book at won a 50 man tourney the next night....that's progress!

This book, although accurate, is very technical. In fact, after reading it, my playing became worse because I was trying to remember and follow all the technical stuff. However, if you're new to the game there are many useful tips. It gives you a clear understanding of the order of things. Example: When playing Texas Hold'em you need to know your position with regard to the big/little blinds, the betting sequence and why it's important to know who you're following. For instance, a decision you make regarding your bet is different if you're the first to bet than it would be if you're 2nd, 3rd or even last. On the whole, it's a good reference but don't let it take the fun out of it or you won't do well.

Dan Harrington's book is the most sophisticated, subtle, and comprehensive treatment of hold-em poker in tournament format that I have found. This is not just a book to pick up and browse through; it is a master class in every aspect of play, money management, and psychology.

This first volume is subtitled Strategic Play, and covers basics and fundamentals of solid play, of finding your own style, of understanding just what a real hand is and what it is not, as well as betting strategy for most any situation. Reading Harrington go into these issues is fascinating, but the real value of the book is then dealing with the 'problems' (actual poker situations) which escalate in subtlety and complexity. To skip over these examples or to read them lightly is to deny yourself an education. By going through them again and again, with Harrington's running analysis, is to really understand what is going on, why, and how to play one's best. Volume II also has a wealth of these problems, and I understand Volume III will be all problems.

Harrington's style has been characterized is very conservative; after reading this book you'll know first of all that it is not actually true, and second, why the perception works so well for him.

This is an invaluable study tool for anyone serious about poker tournament play,

there's not much to add that hasn't already been said by the other reviewers. it's the best no limit hold 'em book i've read. i DO think it has some applicability to cash games, however (some of the previous posters disagreed with me). buy this one, as i feel it's the best of the three books in the harrington series.

If you're into Texas Hold'em (and who isn't these days) this is a book worth reading. Even playing "free money" games on the internet, Harrington's strategies are helpful. If you play in live tournaments or cash games it WILL help you play better, winning poker. The format of using actual hands in actual game situations as teaching aids is a good way to learn the basics. You will be surprised how quickly you will be more aware of your own play - are the other players aggressive or conservative, how many "outs" you have, what are the pot odds, and so on. Harrington's book will make you a more skilled player, rather than one who just relies on luck to win. Try it!

I usually write long, detailed reviews of poker books, but not here. These two books are essential to anyone who wants to play No Limit, in tourneys or otherwise. So many other reviewers have already said it better that I could: whatever your style, these are the best NL tourney books ever written. They're even fun to read! Spend the money.

On this book [Strategic Play], Harrington provides the basics of proper play, his thoughts on strategy and tactics, lots of problems/scenarios, and builds a foundation for the second book [End Play].

His approach works.

About a year a year ago I was invited to join a group that plays no-limit Texas Hold'em on a frequent basis. As the other players were far more experienced at poker than I [a few play in casinos or on-line], and because I didn't know "I didn't know what I was doing", I usually finished last or near to last.

Since reading this book, I have not become a champion or won thousands of dollars any place (I only play in this group), but I have finished second a couple of times and recently came in first. But, even more importantly to me, the other players have commented on my improved play. That means they have begun to respect my play. Once they respect your play, you have more options, and you WILL win more pots. And that's what this book is really about---how to win more pots in the long run.

Let me just say this first: These two books are the finest tournament poker books every made.



Doyle Brunson at first wanted to sell his original Super System for $1000 a copy as it was the finest collection of poker strategies ever put on paper. These two books are so good that they could also be sold for $1000 a piece, they are that good

Dan Harrington has earned the nickname "Action Dan" due to his super rockish appearance. His super tight style seems to be a throw back to the early days of tournament poker. When this book first came out I thought it would be another book that wanted to teach you how to become the most masterful laydown artist (not a complement), however this is not the case.



Volume One addresses the nature of tournaments and sound strategies that are benificial to all player style types. The name of the game in the beginning stages of every tournament is survival and Vol. One addresses many problem that may arise. This is not a "if-this-happens-do-this" type book, these books review "situations". How one handles "situations" is what seperates the winning players from everyone else. After each chapter there are a number of exercises that first set up the hand, how opponents have appeared in previous hands, what your possible table image is, the blind levels, and both your opponents chip count and your own.



The first book will do a great deal of good to players that seem to get knocked out often. Everyone from the tightest rock to the loosest hyper-aggressive players will take away a great deal from this book.



Volume Two addresses many key concepts that are unique to the later stages of tournaments where you may or may not have the luxury of having solid hands and easy decisions. Crazy things happen toward the end of tournaments. The later stages of tournaments are the situations that make the cut in televised poker, they just flat out make good TV!



In volume two, Harrington addresses key problems such as inflection points, making a move on a pot, short handed play and other concepts that you must know to reach final tables regularly.



While these books specialize on tournament poker, the concepts discussed are key to both tournament and cash game play. These books are not beginner books, many concepts are very advanced and require the ability to spot key situations that newer players will not notice. I highly recommend these books to both skilled players hand to players who have advanced past the "Winning Low Limit Holdem" and "Holdem for Dummys" level and are looking for the next step. Both of these books belong in your poker library. The list price is $30, they both can be found on amazon for around $20, again they are worth thier weight in gold.

I have a fairly large (over 20) collection of poker books, and I have got to say this is the best book on the subject of tournament poker I have ever read. He writes about subjects that I have never seen in any other book, and the sample hand problems are actually relevant and interesting. I shouldn't be encouraging anyone to get this book, because it'll just make it harder on me next time I play in a tournament! See you at the final table!

Harrington's straight-forward delivery has shown me two things:

1) I do make mistakes in NL Hold 'em,

2) I also make correct moves in NL Hold 'em. However, I didn't know why some of those moves were correct until now.

Although some of the examples in the book seem tedious, if you are patient, they will be quite illuminating.

By far, the best poker text I have ever read. Slansky and Cloutier were useful, but Harrington is far far better at explaining the small details and strategies one must employ to compete at the top level. Honestly, worth its weight in chips...

Harrington on Hold Em has improved my game tremendously. I've never won a Texas Hold Em event. I learned many successful strategies from this book which I put to use at a recent Texas Hold Em game with 11 decent players. I was happy to place second, given my "newbie" status. Maybe Harrington's Volume II will help me achieve first place next time!

I think Dan Harrington's Expert Strategy for No Limit Hold'em is far and away the best tourney strategy book out there. I have read a few books on poker, but this one is the best.

I have read just about all books on hold'em poker. I play mostly limit hold'em live in casino everyday, and just starting to play online limit tables and no-limit tourneys. This is the only book you need to read to develope a tough no-limit tourney style. I can't wait to order volume 2 when it becomes available for extra information.

The Bible has finally arrived. Because Super System is no longer as effective as it once was (it was written back when poker was conservative, but now with all the newcomers and maniacs its theories aren't applicable), the time has come for a comprehensive, NO LIMIT strategy book. Melmuth and Sklansky talk mostly about LIMIT strategy for cash games--this book covers it all--multi-table tourneys, satellites, sit and goes, online vs. live, etc.

And yes, Harrington even discusses styles other than his own. I'm telling you, this is the best poker book around, even better than the Cloutier/McEvoy book, which in my mind, was the best No-Limit tourney book ever until now.

Read it and weep with joy.

I think Harrington's book and it's sequels are the best books ever written about no limit hold'em tournaments. The first part of the series covers strategic concepts about tournament poker, the second part tells how to play in the ending of a tournament, and third part is the workbook for reviewing the concepts of first two books.

Before reading this book (and the sequels), I have been mostly playing online cash games and occasionally some sit'n'gos, but I am still a beginner in NL hold'em (mostly concentrated on limit games). Totally I have read some 10+ books in poker. Well, after reading this book series I finished 14th out of 2000 players in my first large NL hold'em tournament simply by following Harrington's advice, and slightly adapting in some points.

What's best here is that Harrington is quite a practical guy, and practical guys win. For example, compared to Sklansky, one of the finest authors in poker, Harrington is actually able to teach how to play poker in practical level. In my opinion, Sklansky provides theoretical foundations for some very advanced strategic concepts, but more responsibility about how/when to utilize them is actually left to reader. I think these approaches complement each other very well, and both are great poker authors.

I would say that the first book is also good reading for NL hold'em cash games, especially if you're a beginning player (I am not sure anymore though, since Harrington's cash game series is now out as well). The second book (excluding first chapter) relates only to tournament concepts.

Last night I won again the Texas tournament with my buddies; They enroll me on Texas H and I have been playing for almost three years, they play a lot on internet sites and I don't but after reading just 1/3 of the entire book I can tell you that I noticeable improved my game, I put more attention in each hand and I can read all what is happening on the table that helps me to take better decisions.
I fish better, I bluff better, I make more chips with good hands, I detect more efficiently the danger and fold on time and I can stop and win a medium hand at the flop or before that can become against me on the turn.
This is a great book, you won't regret. There are good exercises at the end of each chapter testing you and giving you huge feedback why you should or shouldn't do something.
Of course, I don't tell anybody of my friends and neighbors that I have this book! Because this is my secret weapon and I try to keep a low profile saying "Hey that was lucky".
It's hard to pick a good Texas book because all the titles you find in internet but this is really good; thick book at small caps with 100% valuable info.
If you don't read a book like this, you will keep relying on just "luck" and Poker is not a luck game ok!

Do NOT read this book. I don't care if you already bought it - don't read it! If you already started it - stop reading! If you already read it - forget it!

Actually, I just don't want anyone else to know what I now know. =)

I am gonna make this short and simple. THIS BOOK IS A MUST OWN. This along with vol.2 are the best two books ever written on poker. This is a must own for anyone who wants to play the game and win. I purchased these 2 books and saw instant results. I dont play many live games but I play online for hours every day. Getting this book for around $20 is a rediculous deal, I have seen a return of thousands because of that small investment. If you want an example of how much it can improve your game look for me on pokerstars my name is TheSh0w (with a zero).

This is a review of Vol 1 and 2 combined as I purchased them together and read them one right after the other and cannot easily separate the value of each. This is the approach that I would recommend as you need the knowledge contained in both of these books to become a better hold em player.

Others have described the layout and content of these books and I will not duplicate that here. Instead, I will focus on what is important to me and should also be important to you -- Results.

Before reading these books I was doing well at 9 handed $25 buyin online turbo sit and gos. But every time I tried to parlay my winnings from the $25 tables and try out the $55 s&gs, I got killed. I never came close to making it in the money (third place) and was usually among the first three to be put out of the tournament.

After reading these books, I struggled for about a week at the $25 tables while I merged my new knowledge with my own style of play (and adjusted for the fact that the players at online $25 tables don't exactly play like the pros that Dan H. is used to playing with). Once I started winning again at the $25 tables, I tried the $55s once again. First night, I played one $55 s&g won the tournament and walked away. Next night, I played another $55 s&g and another first place finish. I realize that this is a small sample size, but going from being totally outclassed to winning 2 for 2 has to say something about the value of these books.

Harringtons book is about the sixth book i have read on No Limit hold em. I found that after a certain amount of understanding of the game, information becomes somewhat repetative to the advanced player. I had read about pot and implied odds quite a bit before but i always seemed to find myself making quick calls without really speculating the hand. Harringtons book talks about these concepts with great detail while making them simple to understand. If you implement these strategies into live poker as well as online, results will be seen quickly and often. Definetely the best read on No Limit hold em i have come across. I recommend this book for the player that has a decent grasp of most concepts already, but i don't think it should be the first book you read on hold em. Definetely a must read for anyone trying to succeed at poker.

This book is simply OUTSTANDING! No better tournament book has been written to date. Period! I went from just cashing to earning over $3500 in tournament winnings from making FINAL TABLES the next month after reading this book.

'nuff said.

GET THIS BOOK if your serious about tournament poker.

This Volume I edition contains a thorough treatment of playing in no-limit tournaments. Like any hold'em book, every possible hand cannot be covered, but the many examples in this book help make Harrington's material very comprehensible.

I want to focus on the one section that is developed much better than in other tournament poker books, which is Part Five: Betting Before the Flop. This part begins with the Basic Hold'Em Strategy, which is the key to deciding whether or not to see the flop. Harrington notes that many players call too often to see the flop because they reason that if the blinds are low relative to their stacks, they can limp-in and see the flop cheaply. But what do you do when you hit middle or bottom pair and don't have much other potential because you came in with mediocre cards? One of the benefits of playing good cards is that your decision on whether to play after the flop becomes easier. As part of Harrington's Basic Strategy, he provides suggestions on what percentage of the time to raise x times the big blind, y times the big blind, and z times the big blind, depending on your position. The reason for the x y z mix is so that you won't become too predictable.

Part Five is way too long to use for a quick review prior to each time playing. What I do is review the suggested raises in Part Five and then review overall hold'em strategy by using the Poker 6-7-8 Hold'Em Strategy Cards by Hal Marcus. His compact, fit-in-your-pocket, two-card guide contains virtually the same strategy that's in Part Five of Harrington's book. The strategy on the Poker 6-7-8 Hold'Em Strategy Cards is a little tighter (you don't play quite as many hands) than the strategy in Part Five of Harrington's book because Part Five is based on 9 players at the table, while the Poker 6-7-8 Hold'Em Strategy Cards are based on 10 players. But no-limit tournaments typically use 10-player tables, and when I'm playing on the Internet I always keep my Poker 6-7-8 Hold'Em Strategy Cards right in front of me so I can refer to them whenever I'm not absolutely sure about what to do, which is nearly all the time except for obvious folding situations.

If Doyle Brunson's Super System is considered "the Bible" of learning Texas hold'em strategy, Harrington's book should be considered the lost manuscripts to such. This is an outstanding book! I won't drone on and on about what you can expect. Let the previous reviews and their respective notes speak for themselves. 5 stars out of 82 reviews? -- what does that tell you? A MUST, (I have to day it again) a MUST for the serious hold'em player.

I have read I would say 80% of all the poker books that have been published, good and bad. Most of the books that come out are pretty much junk, slight variations on the same topics and diverts away from the topic of HOW TO WIN AT POKER. This book is at the top of my list by far.

This book explains it ALL, extremely original, simply THE BEST.

Harrington on Holdem Vol 1 and 2
Theory of Poker by Skalansky
And the Tournament Holdem book by Skalansky are
the only 3 books you need.

This is a terrible book. The book doesn't address going all in with 7-2 off suit like you should.
Sorry, I have a feeling this book is going to hurt me in tournaments if all the fish start reading it. The best part of the book is bet sizing which no other book I've read really goes into. The is the last piece I needed to plug my last leak. I was sizing bets based on....well...some mystical feeling I suppose. This book made me, a conservative player, a serious force in live tournaments. The average players have no idea what to do with me now and the really good players show me a lot of respect and stay away from me in the early stages and let me build my stack. This book will pay for it a thousand times over.... as long as only a few people read it. Otherwise we are all in trouble.
If you want to be a top player this is the book but ONLY if you have a goood core understanding of NL. Once you have that this book is worth it's weight in gold!!!!!!!!!
(....).

I have just recently purchased the book because of the great reviews from AMAZON.com. Well they were right on the dot. I havent even finsished the book and I love it. This is by far the only book i cant wait to read when I come home from work. Ive been writing key notes from his book and I find myself writing, writing, writing, page after page. Its unbelivebale how he made Holdem so easy to understand.

Ive been playing for awhile and have learned many strategies and moves and mastered the basics, but he explains why you should do something. He even gives you a situation and lets you decide what to do. And when you decide what to do, it shows the most common play that will occur(Based on his experience).

He mentions at the beginning that there will be a Volume II. I cant wait. I thought Doyle's book would be the greatest but Harrington makes it real to you. Doyle explains one -thing and goes with it(Which isnt bad). Harrington explains one topic that branches off to other things, then explains how.

I hope this review will help your decision because it helped mine and Im glad I got it. If you wanna be a Pro I really believe this is a BIG step to it.

---Jack

About time there was a book dedicated to grinding it out in a NLHE tourney. The hand examples are well thought out (pot odds, betting patterns, hand analysis, etc) and several are real examples seen through the eyes of Harrington himself. I chose this over Super System and do not regret it. Props to 2+2 for publishing yet another classic and props to "The Cincinnati Kid" quote at the beginning.

strategy (noun): a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result.

As the title indicates, this textbook spells out Harrington's tournament strategy. It is not a collection of tactics, but a comprehensive treatment of winning tournament play.

Unlike some other well-known poker texts, the writing in this book is clear, unambiguous, and profesionally edited. Harrington is concerned with giving you the facts as he sees them, rather than with self-promotion or opinion. Although Harrington teaches you how he approaches a problem, he doesn't hide the fact that there are other styles of play that can be considered equally valid. After reading this text, you will have a thorough understand of the differences between all the major tournament strategies, their strengths and weaknesses, and which strategy best fits your personality.

Bad poker players blunder their way through tournaments: betting when their cards are favorable, checking when they are scared, and attempting the occasional outrageous bluff in hopes of doubling their stack when nothing else seems to be working. These players know all the tactics, but misapply them. Luck is the ultimate decider of their fate.

Good poker players, on the other hand, have an overall tournament strategy.

Harrington introduces you to the various tournament strategies, and teaches you how to apply them to your play.

The value of this textbook is in the wealth of examples it provides. For each major concept or tactic, Harrington describes perhaps a dozen scenarios that illustrate the idea, and teaches you how to think about the hand the same way a pro would -- with a level-headed, rational approach to the problem.

"Harrington on Hold 'em, Vol. 1" is far and away the best tournament NL Hold'em textbook. This is a must-read for any tournament player.

If you are a tournament pro, you already think you know everything there is to know about poker tournaments. However, you should still read this book because your opponents undoubtedly have.

If you are a beginner, Harrington will show you how to think about a tournament as a single event, rather than as a collection of unrelated hands of poker. You will get a feel for overall tournament strategy, instead of relying on luck or resorting to playing hunches.

This text is the best of the best, don't miss it.

This book is an excellent piece of reading that lays out many different strategies and types of play in a No limit hold 'em tournament. I especially enjoyed the examples that Harrington provides of real life situations and walks you through what every player was thinking in the situation. I give this book five stars because I am completely satisfied with my purchase.

Harrington's book (vol. 1) is clearly intended for No-Limit tournament play. It does, however, offer a variety of ideas and techniques that are useful in other forms of Texas Hold `Em. Harrington is very selective in the hands that he chooses to play; his choices are based not only on his hole cards but also his position and his chip stack relative to the blinds and the other players. Once he chooses to play a hand, he bets in a moderately aggressive manner so as to present his opponents with pot odds that are unfavorable to them. A central feature of his tactics is always knowing how much money is in the pot, and projecting what size bet you need to make to set your opponents' pot odds at the desired level. There is an extensive requirement to know the odds related to various events - e.g., filling a flush draw, beating a pair with two higher cards, etc. Harrington assumes you have these odds at your finger tips and can use them in real time and under pressure.
I found the book informative and useful, even for our local "friends and neighbors" limited betting poker game.

I have bought a ton of books and DVDs on poker and , by far, "Harrington on Holdem" has helped my play the most. The books gives you the basic ideas on pot odds, implied odds and starting requirements, tells and other aspects of the game you'll find in many books. However, the book succeeds because it uses analysis that is simple enough to understand yet really touches the complex aspects of Hold'em without leaving u dazed and confused. You'll quickly learn many amatuer mistakes and why pros don't make those mistakes and are able to last longer than the "Dead Money". Besides his witty comments and thorough explanations, I particularly liked the sections called "Problems". Here, Harrington gives the reader real life scenerios and shows you what are the right and wrong decisions to make with a hand based on your chip stack, position, antes and your opponents. Also the book teaches you to understand the texture of the flop, turn and river cards from a professional players perspective. Since reading the book i really think hard before making decisions on the table and his insights have helped improved my game. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wanting to take their game to the next level.

This series of books (and the review applies to all three) is not for the beginner. They assume that before you read this series, you have a basic working knowledge of the game. I would reccomend these books to anyone, but you won't really understand most of what is being discussed until you have played in about a dozen or so live tournaments, or at least fifty or so online games. These books are a must for those who have already read Supersystem 1&2 and maybe one or two of the 2+2 series on hold'em. Not only do these books have wonderful sections on theory, but they have a wealth of play-by-play analysis so the reader can take those ideas and see how they work in actual play. Most of the examples are from real games in which the author, or others, actually completed. Some of the examples are from widely seen televised events like the WSOP or the WPT. After playing for a number of years, and having read most of the books on the market, I was longing to take my game to a new level. These volumes were a godsend. I can't reccomend them enough.

The most amazing poker book I've read (I'm writing about both volumes, as they are not dissociable). Not another one of those "read this and you'll be a winner" that finally only gives you basic stuff that anyone can read about on poker sites. It covers just about everything that matters to be a good Texas Hold'em tournament player (useful to both live and online players) - math and odds, stack strategy, making moves, playing the oponents, tournament inflection points, etc. I believe it's a "must have" to anyone wanting to get serious about Texas Hold'em. It's probably a bit complex for beginners, as it assumes the reader already knows the basic game and dives deep into strategy.

I thought I knew how to play poker until I read Harrington on Hold'em
It's like getting private lessons from a pro who's been there.
jb

Very good book, excellent examples. I think it's a very good way to explain the tournament strategy.

The odds chapter was a little bit confusing though, i think there are simpler (or at least faster) ways to calculate odds.

But the book really improved my game, i definetly recommend it, i'll buy volume II soon.

I will make this review as short and to the point as possible.... The Harrington on Hold'em series: Volumes 1-3 are the best books written on the subject of no limit texas hold'em touraments to date. Plain and simple! I have owned this series for over a year and these books have helped me so much in understanding the game of NLHE better and has made me alot of $$$ over the last year, so I figured it was my duty to post an honest review...

Just like virtualy every review on amazon, I give this one 5+ Stars. Bottom Line: If you want to step up your NL Hold'em tourament game, these books will do it for you. You can only get so lucky in touraments, in the long run you need SKILL to be a winner and consitant in NLHE Touraments. The knowelege from these books combined with table experiance is in my opinion the making of a great overall NLHE Tourament player.

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE...This book teaches you the skills necessary to be sussesfull. You must understand: Proper Out Calculation, pot odds, implied odds, position, continuation bets, betting patterns, M, Q, Squeeze Plays, Gap theory, Value Bets, ect... ect....

These books cover just about all you need to be a sucessfull NL Tourament player. To understand and apply the knowlege in these books, and learning to think for yourself will make you lethal at the poker tables. You can read these books over and over again to absorb more knowlege and you will not get bored.

These books are Very well written and it's easy to understand the concepts. If you dont understand them Harrington gives you examples and senerios. I will personlly thank Dan Harrington for being so honest and for not holding anything back in these books. He has definatly taken a risk writing these books.

He writes about what no other NLHE books to date include. These books have helped me tremendously!! YOU MUST BOTH UNDERSTAND AND THEN APPLY THIS KNOWELEGE.This will give you an edge in touraments....Whenever I am playing a NLHE Tourament I hope that no one else at my table has the same knowlege from these books as I do.

I am a firm believer that exeprience is the best practice, but soon after finishing the first 2 books, I have been CONSISTANT in cashing in big live events. I play in live tourements weekly ranging from 40-400 people at NY underground poker rooms,(which in my opinion is the HARDEST and TOUGHEST FIELD TO DOMINATE, and coincidently where harrington starting his poker carrer) and out of the last 20 times I played after reading these books I have cashed 16 out of the 20 times.
Like I said, I was pretty good before reading these books, but now, APPLYING the knowlege in these books I am so much better then I ever was. Understanding and applying the knowlege in these books is key to understanding the game and winning touraments!

Great book with alot of tips evne for some one who have played for years

This book really taught me No Limit poker. The authors do a good job of explaining what are the important ideas for anyone wanting to win. It's not too mathematical. The methods here are mostly higher level than finding 'exact' odds.

they also help you scope out what playing styles your opponents are using. Very vital in adjusting your methods. Can make a big difference in your wins.

thanks again to the authors!!