Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook (Harrington on Hold'em)

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This book would be better titled as "All the Stuff I Taught You in the Other Two Books, in Actual Practice using Well Known Poker Players, with Some More Stuff Thrown In, plus, How to Play After the Flop and Read Hands". It's not just a big multiple choice quiz (though they are in question format), there's a LOT of analysis going on.

He uses actual hands between other top pros (not in every case, but most) to illustrate his problems in many cases. Most of the 50 "problems" are actually entire hands (with about 10-15 pages in analysis per).

Here's a few examples:

Problem 4: Negreanu vs. Farha - Aggression Meets Aggression
Problem 9: Phil Hellmuth - Calculating the Proper Bet Size
Problem 10: Phil Ivey - Maneuvering with Nothing
Problem 17: Attacking Limpers
Problem 19: Harrington versus Hansen - Playing a Medium Pair
Problem 45: Negreanu vs. Arieh - Handling an Aggressive Opponent

I should throw in here that having a world-class pro analyzing some of these guys is a real treat. For example, we all know that Phil Ivey is aggressive and one of the best players there is, BUT... can you explain specifically what Ivey actually does in practice? Harrington helps, at least a little bit. Thanks Action Dan!

Of course, this book is based aroung Harrington's tight style, and a lot of the analysis here flies in the face of aggressive poker theory. But, Dan does have tons of credibility in the poker world, conservative or not.

What I really like about this book is that it does a great job of highlighting some common situations that you run into all the time, like calling all-ins and so on. One of the prior reviews noted there wasn't much in the way of new material, but that's just not true at all. It's not laid out the same way as in the other volumes, true: they're absorbed into the problems. And there's not as much new stuff, but it's still very much there.

AND, the new stuff is VERY situation specific. Like, if your M is exactly 4, can you go all in with AQ offsuit if a player before you bets (that is, without first-in vigorish)? When talking about inflection point play in V2, he stressed that you want to be the first one in to push all your chips in, but didn't get into it too much. There's also a lot more hand analysis, and the book really centers around post-flop play.

Structured Hand Analysis (SHAL) pops up several times again, and it's been huge in improving my game... I wouldn't skip over it, even thought it is a little dull.

But yes! This is more than I was expecting when I heard it was just going to be a collection of problems. Anyone who plays No Limit tourneys should most definately own all three volumes, in my opinion.

I agree with all the other reviewers: this book is Dan Harrington like you've never seen him before, kicking butt and taking names. Finally we get an entire book devoted to analyzing pre-flop and post-flop action across every decision point of the hand. Even better, Harrington has shed the pure conservatism of the first two volumes. In this book, he advocates a variable style of play that includes loosening up against more aggressive opponents looking to push you off the table. The first two volumes will give you fundamental, mathematically-sound conservative play. This volume includes a great deal of more aggressive, "playing your opponent" kinds of moves. This is brilliant analysis.

I absolutely cannot rave enough about this book. Harrington takes your hand and walks you step by step through the decision-making process in dozens of hands. Along the way, he scores the quality of your decisions. Although he remains conservative and likes to play a hand substantially according to its potential, he respects more aggressive plays. He discusses the merits and drawbacks to other types of plays throughout, and tells you what he would do and why. An awesome display of poker analysis.

This new volume contains 50 problems with titles like "Negreanu Versus Farha" and "Playing on the Single-Table Bubble -- 1". Most of the problems focus on post-flop play with an emphasis on helping you move from "less weak" "mechanical strategies" towards "becoming strong". It sounds like a collection of exactly the kind of problems that I get sucked into. I think I'm really going to enjoy this book. I'll post a more detailed review after I have finished working through it.

As a book about post-flop play considerations - an area where few excel - this is outstanding. As a quiz book, workbook or whatever, it is weak. The "problem" format adds little but pages - I suppose they wanted it to be as thick as the other two volumes, which stand unequalled in the firmament. There is at least one problem where we are told of the opponent's betting patterns AFTER the problem is set. Fat chance we had of making the right decision there. This knocks a star off another Harrington volume that otherwise pulsates with insight - I am sure I am not alone in getting many of the preflop decisions right, then crashing into a cloud of unknowing post-flop. Action Dan shows us the way. The antidote to Kill Philistinism , this restores poker to an artform.

This volume is the natural offspring of Harrington's other two tournament books, I and II. Approaching Texas Hold 'Em as a hybrid of practical science and art, Harrington sets up a number of real hands borrowed from a variety of tournaments, some famous, some not-so famous, and asks how you would play the hand. There's a score-card in the back to keep the work-problems interactive and to stimulate a poker-player's "game gene."

This book is not an easy read, as it requires hard work and thinking--which is to say that it is not for the casual poker player--but if you are a serious student of the game, this is the natural and invaluable next step to his other two books.

One of the great things about ALL of the Harrington books is his willingness to challenge his own style of play and his own knowledge by offering advice and then showing how NOT following it sometimes still leads to success. This open-minded, and yet vigorously disciplined, approach to the game shows Harrington to be an exceptional teacher who is neither didactic nor short-sighted as to the myriad of choices available to the growing poker player, both in terms of individual hands, and in terms of overall playing styles.

Again, please note: this book is not for the casual poker-player, but for the serious student of the game. Also note: it is essential to study the preceding volumes I and II--not read, but study--before moving on to this "advanced" text. But if you ARE a serious tournament player, this book can bump you up a notch in your ability to play with complexity and nuance.

The first two books: 5 stars
This "workbook": 3 stars

I knew what it was supposed to be before I bought it, a "workbook" companion to the very excellent two volumes that preceeded it.

It's fairly interesting, and there are many common situations as the 1st reviewer noted, but there's nothing especially new here that wasn't in the 1st two books... just problems.

I'd get the new Sklansky NL book first, by far.

This work, just as Volumes 1 and 2, is near spectacular but Volume 3 is rather unique in the series. Unlike the first two offerings, this one is short on theory but long on practice. It is solely devoted to hand analysis, but what makes it unusual for a hand manual is that the examples come from celebrities. Readers now have the chance to be Phil Ivey--if only for a few moments--as Harrington provides a breakdown of his play against his opponents. The same can be said of many pros including Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu. The real idea behind the text is that you learn by doing which is exactly what occurs here. The effect is accentuated should you make a point of answering the questions as you go and follow it up by consulting the "Categorizing your Errors" section in the back. It contains groupings of wrong answers which allow us to see what exactly it was that you did wrong. Despite their excellence, I wouldn't suggest novices studying these volumes out of order. If you haven't read the first two, jumping to 3 will diminish its value. However, with Action Dan it's hard to go wrong with any subsection of Harrington on Hold `em.

If you play poker for money, you need to get this book. A clearer guide to poker success does not exist. In my opinion, it is better than Harrington's Volume II which is its closest rival.

What makes it better are the extremely detailed post-flop hand analysis. Post-flop is where most of the money is won or lost, it is the hardest part to learn, and, not lending itself to a hand and position "re-raise, raise, call, fold" chart, it is the most difficult to teach.

Rather than just codify a list of do's and don'ts, Harrington clearly articulates the principles involved. His text clearly indicates both basic and more complicated principles and demonstrates how complex well-played poker can be.

As for Harrington's "conservative" style, his books reveal that his style is not nearly as conservative as the "rocks" at your local card room. (The ones who regularly cash from players trying to be Gus Hansen.) If you can Harrington's style, you will be cashing from them.

If you play NL Hold'em tournaments of any level or any type, Dan Harrington's series are the absolute best books out there and are arguably the best series on poker period. It doesn't matter if it's high stakes or micro buy-ins; casino, home games or online; Multi-Table, satellites or Sit `n Go's; an expert or a newby....... you must own this series.

Although an absolute newby would possibly have trouble with some aspects of this book, you do not need to be an expert at all in order to read and comprehend. I own all 3 in the series (and I will add that they MUST be read in order) and I have read each one cover to cover multiple times, and constantly refer back to them. The first book is held together by duct tape from overuse. It's not just a book, but a manual that you can always refer back to. His principals and philosophies in tournaments alone are great with ideas and concepts you might not have every thought of, especially for the beginner. No one has been as in-depth, giving strategies and then applying them in examples...... which makes it very easy to comprehend.


It's just the best.

First of all, let me say that these books are excellent, even brilliant. If every idea presented wasn't convincing, I will be the first to admit that it is probably something I am missing or it is a concept that is equally valid to the one I have learned, as there are different correct ways to approach some NLHE tournament situations. There are enough good ideas in the books that successful tournament players should probably have banded together and bought up all the copies and destroyed them. After reading them, of course. However, I have a couple of things to say about the use of poker vocabulary in these books and they aren't complimentary.

When I was reading the first volume for the fist time, I asked myself, "Why does he insist on using `loose' as a synonym for `aggressive?" He does sometimes use the latter term but he usually uses "too loose" whenever he sees an action as too aggressive. Does he think aggressive is always a term of approbation? Does he prefer to use loose when he is writing a negative evaluation?

In one of the first two books, he says that limping in with QdJd in a certain situation is ok but raising is "too loose." Decades of poker writers and readers would have said it was "too aggressive," although some would have disagreed. Why does Harrington want to change the normal usage? Why is the terminology used by Mike Caro, David Sklansky, almost everyone who wrote about poker not the easiest way to communicate?

In the first book, where he discusses various playing styles, he discusses some of the, mostly young, small-ball players who get in a lot of hands and tend not to get pot-committed, he called them "super-aggressive." This is clearly misleading. They are not more aggressive than the players he called simply aggressive. They get into more hands and try to play most of them cheaply. I would think "hyper-active" a good name for them. In the last book, he uses the term "Small-ball" for a few of them. It is a good term. In any case, he described their play very well and you could gain some ideas about how to play against them and how they play from him. That is why I disagree with a respected correspondent who said he thinks this might be a conceptual problem, rather than a vocabulary problem.

"Loose," as it has usually been used, means coming into coming into too many pots or, less judgmental, coming into more pots than someone would who was playing "tighter." These are actually value-neutral terms. One can be too tight as well as too loose. "Aggressive" means betting or raising when another player would check or call or fold. That less aggressive player is usually termed "passive." These are also value-neutral terms or nearly so. There is such a thing as being too aggressive, although most of us think that the ideal way to play is way over on the aggressive side of the midline. However, that becomes the new midline.

It is almost obsolete to refer to a player as "tough" or "weak" but that is an important distinction. Once involved in a pot, especially after the pot has grown big, a tough player will be loath to let go of his hand. A weak player will, rightly or wrongly, be more easily convinced he is beaten. These are also value-neutral terms or should be. The trouble is that the terms sound exactly like a statement on the player's general ability.

The lack of vocabulary for this last dimension has consequences. Thinking that a loose player will continue after the flop when beaten is often found to be incorrect when the player is good enough to recognize the hand is no longer good and make the, correct, "weak" fold. Thinking that a tight player will also give up a hand when it is beaten is often incorrect. Very tight players are often tragically "tough," when they shouldn't be, when their Aces or some other premium hand is beaten. At deep-stack NLHE, this can be much more costly than being weak or loose. They guys at Wikapedia just won't change their definition of "loose" that states that a loose player will always be "tough" and will continue to play hands that don't flop well. Good loose players don't do that. It is possible that the guys who wrote the article don't think "good loose player" is a real category.

These guys also advise that steal-raises are more likely to succeed if the people in the blinds are "passive." It is as if using "tight" as a negative term, which it is in this case, is forbidden.

Harrington's writing style in general is pleasant but it is annoying that he can't use the normal terms in these situations. There's no authority that created these definitions but they certainly make communication among poker players and writers easier. Why does Dan Harrington insist
on saying "green" when he means "loud."

In the material at the end of Book Three, he says:

"Loose play: betting or raising without a good combination of hand or position."

"Loose play: setting up potentially big pot without a premium hand."

"Loose play: Moving all-in unnecessarily."

Who uses "loose" like that?

What about "Loud: the color of grass or other vegetable matter or the state of being envious."

Then there's

"Passive-aggressive play" Calling with a weak hand out of position." ???

and

"Passive play" Folding when you need to push all-in." That's not passive. That's "weak" in the usual terminology. I don't like the "weak/tough" terms for that dimension but THIS usage is just wrong.

Do they pay people to be editors at 2+2. None of this is conceptual error. It is all a failure to communicate in the standard way. It is all "Turn down that stereo, it's too green." it is all the sort of thing an editor could have dealt with in book one.

Harrington's third book on no-limit hold'em, volume III: the workbook, caps his brilliant trilogy on how to play no-limit hold'em. Specifically, the workbook zeros in on playing after the flop and it does this by providing numerous examples with Harrington's expert step-by-step explanations. In fact, Harrington does such a great job with his "on-the-money" examples that one comes away feeling empowered and more than willing to engage in after flop play. This book will definitely improve your game. In fact, if you want a graduate course on playing no-limit hold'em look no further than Dan Harrington's trilogy. You won't be sorry!

Dont buy it unless you have read Volumes one and two. This is typical Harrington, makes you think, will improve your game. If you play tournament no limit hold'em the three volumes are mandatory.

This gives you scenarios to look at and lets you pick the move. Then gives you a grade and an explanation as to why you might be right, wrong or in-between. Incredible and definately will not only tell you were you are as a player but help you rise to a new level.

This book is even better than the first two, since it explains how to play the bubble in sitngo tournaments. Basically, most players play too loose on the bubble and a smart player can take advantage of that. My ROI (Return On Investment) has gone from 115% to 140% since I bought Harrington's three books. This last book, which I received last week, paid for itself in approximately one hour. Also, it has shown me what my weaknesses are so I can improve even more. Harrington's three tournament books are the best on the market: no other books even come close.

Accordding to my husband, a very good and knowledgeable poker player: 1) the three volume set authored by Dan Harrington is excellent; 2) there are many books on poker, but only a select few are worthy of recommendation; and 3) as one becomes more knowledgeable about poker one's needs with respect to subject literature also changes. One can grow with Harrington from infancy to maturity, and, later, it's time for grad school with another author,David Sklansky. Well, that's what my husband, a man who usually surmizes in a few words what takes others many, has to say about it: hope this is heplful.

I own the previous 2 Harrington Volumes along with this and had read and enjoyed them thoroughly. Improved my game immensly.

Took down a 50$ 90 person SNG right after finishing volume 2 for 1350$ on Stars and won a satellite into the 1050$ Stars (which I finished right before the bubble unfortunately.) within a week after reading/studying...

Anyways.. I'm not giving it a 5, because like another reviewer said he doesn't agree with all the analysis... Which is fine, -- Harrington's a much more successful player than I am yet to be and I understand that. However, I felt that in several places the scoring system could have been different. Hands where I personally felt could have been scored more closely between two decision were given a 4 (points) for a certain answer and 0 points for any other answer, while other situations where I felt the correct play was more clear the hand might have given 3 points for the clearer answer, and 2 or 1 points for what I'd feel was clearly a less valuable (EV) play.. He may have used this to drive the point of the particular lesson, but I felt the scoring system could have been layed out better. Certain hands .. -- I can't recall off hand but an earlier one -- I believe it was something like "Calling for Value" where he suggest calling an underpair "QK" w/an inside draw with an ace on the board... I would of like more analysis of why he's still calling on the river, when I personally would put the opponent on A marginal Ace enough % of the time to get out of it on the river when my hand hasen't improved any further, but he suggest calling.. I just didn't like that he didn't go further into detail in implied odds and such here..

Anyways.. I'm actually half-finished with the book currently, and that's my 2 cents thus far. Harrington's consistantly got the best material on the market along w/twoplustwo (Sklansky and Malmuth) on poker in general.

This book provided fascinating insights into the play of a lot of heavy hitters in the poker world for me. Going through the hands, step by step and having each action explained as well as the why behind not only his suggested moves, but also the moves made by the players involved was extremely thought provoking. I recommend this to anyone that even remotely enjoyed the first two books.

Similar to the first 2 volumes, Harrington/Robertie continue to use the problem/answer format which Robertie first used in his "Advanced Backgammon" series (which is mandatory reading if you play backagmmon). Many of the problems focus on topics covered in the first two volumes - much of the text seems likes a review if you read the first 2 volumes.

The most valuable section of the book is the detailed analysis given to "bubble play" - there is a lot of material focused on internet sit-n-goes, with some non-obvious play alterations when you are down to 4 or 5 players with 3 getting money. The detailed analysis of this one problem alone is worth the $30 price for this book.

While I love everything these two authors have written, I only gave it 4 stars because 1. about half of the problems in this book focus on concepts already taught in the first two volumes; and 2. the "challenge-level" of the book was much lower than the first two volumes - you can read it from front to back with understanding in about half the time as either of the first two volumes.

All the poker pros write books, they don't read them. Play poker, develop your own style.

Harrington on Hold 'em Volume III: The Workbook is a wonderful companion book to the 2 prior classics written by "Action" Dan. Providing 50 examples of real hands played by pros and online tournaments and sit n' gos, this book takes everything that you should have learned in the other 2 books and sees how well you have understood and applied the material that he has taught. The writing is just as smooth and easy to follow as in the precursor gems, quality being of the utmost concern.

I have no qualms about giving this book 5 stars and a solid thumbs up, but even if you are the most experienced of players, I feel that this book doesn't have much place without having read the other 2 books first. This is kind of like a Lord of the Rings type triology where you need to read every book in order to get the most out of each of them, and like Tolkien's trilogy, Harrington completes probably the best series of books relating to No Limit Tournament poker EVER written.

Final analysis

Harrington I: *****, ESSENTIAL READING

Harrington II: *****, ESSENTIAL READING

Harrington III: **** 1/2, great resource, read only after already having mastered the first 2 works

These books are so good, the make you thirsty for a Harrington IV where he could write about anything poker-related and you would be a happy consumer. Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie should be commended everywhere for their contributions to the poker world, no doubt turning many good players into GREAT players by way of these 3 gems

For the series overall...

***** HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

I thought volumes I and II were much better. I was bored by page after page of lengthy analysis. I disagreed in many cases with the points awarded. It seemed that the way I would have played quite a few hands would have had better results. But I am no top poker player... so, who am I to criticize.

Larry Byard

This is a tough book to read, very technical and very good.

This series of books by Harrington is just so much better than anything else out there. If you read super systems and even Cloutier you get perhaps 5% of what Harrinton lays out. The logic behind this mans game is wonderful if you can comprehend it...this is a game of skill, and Harrington plays likes a computer with balls...I hope I never face him at a table.

But by all means, buy super systems instead and give me your money at the tables.

The truth is- this is one of the 1st paperback poker books that I bought.(the other being Little Green Book on same day) I've been playing with "play money" poker online for over a year now. Most of my NL poker knowledge came from playing Sit-N-Go(SNG), 900(Fulltilt)~8000(Partypoker) freeroll MTT, and information from various poker forums. I've won $2.00 on Fulltilt freeroll once and lost most of that balance by finishing 8th place through a SNG tournment.

I'm in no way experienced enough to make the jump from a freeroll player into a $500 N/L buy-in tournaments or $10/20 cash player. I do, however, know the importance of M and position, calculation of pot odds and implied odds. If the blinds are relative small, I play a lot of small pots and trust my post-flop skills when I play against weak players; I'll need good position to play against strong players, because I can't outplay them in the long run. Those are the things I know before I read this book.

Having said that, I scored a "448/591"(I scored "0" 27 times) on the Harrington's scoresheet, which implied I sould be "A very good player who should show a solid profit in big tournaments"---No, I don't deserve that.

I am amazed with the amount of trouble Mr. Harrington went through to provide detailed explanation for each example. One of my favorites is Daniel's 9h8h (from 3rd position, full table) Vs. Sam's 9s2s (button) in 2005 WSOP main event. The explanation of how to play 9h8h from pre-flop to river is 9 pages long, almost as long as my mid-term electromagnetics report. (and yes, it is much more interesting than my report) Before this book came out, I was very interested of how Daniel can lay down such a monster after river. Now I know Daniel made the laydown base upon combined information of hand strengths (his and Sam's) after turn and river, evaulation of Sam's style, and Daniel's stack relative to blinds(M was big). I think Daniel knows in the long run, if the exact situation comes up again, folding would be better than calling, and thus we saw an excellent laydown by Daniel. What an excellent example by Mr. Harrington.

On the flip side, the scoring system is not as good as I thought. There are some plays I'd like to do when I'm changing gears, or after I've already changed gears. For example, I'm in cut-off seat, and I flip my cards and see Ac10c, I might call, raise, or raise-big according to some other factors that Mr. Harrington didn't take into consideration. I've gained and lost a lot of scoring points just base upon the initial decision.

Bottom Line: Read the analysis carefully, don't worry about the scoring system. A great book for intermediate and expert players.

The workbook format really helped me fill some holes in my game. I was really surprised at the number of mistakes I made while going through these problems. If you like working on your game and enjoy analyzing hands, this is the book for you. I didn't agree with every answer but it made me think about my objectives in certain situations.

This book is a good supplement to the first two. Harrington is one of the best analytical thinkers in the world concering poker, and it really shines in this book. Like the first two, the most important thing about this book is not his recommedations on playing certain hands certain ways. The most valuable part is the way it makes you think about the hands, and the merits of different plays. The only problem I have with this book, is the amount of time devoted to internet sit n gos. I guess there is a large group interested in that, but serious players would rather have more insights on post flop maneuvering, instead of "what should you do on the bubble in a 5 dollar sit and go".

It must be difficult to write a book to a market of poker players of greatly varying skills, but I feel Harrington has done it masterfully. It educates without pandering, and amuses enough while making the reader think and rethink moves that he might otherwise perform on auto-pilot. Pot odds (a now abused catch-phrase amateurs spit out at the table tautologically to compensate defensively for their bad play) are gone into in depth from both points of view (the player and his opponent...i.e. pot odds given and pot odds offered), and rationally shows that no-limit doesn't have to be all about mindless chip-shoving. Looking very forward to his other books. Do me a favor and don't read it.

The workbook is beneficial if you have already read part I and II. The workbook has problems for a person to work, based on the knowledge gained from the first two books.

As a companion to the first two books, this completes the trilogy. A must read for all serious tournament and cash game players of NL Hold Em. I make a second living putting these strategies to the test in online and live poker tournaments. I have made a World Poker Tour final table using these books!

The Supersystems, the Harrington Trilogy, a few Sklanskys for flavor and "The Mathematics Of Poker" by Bill Chen.

Then end-all in poker books.

The third, and perhaps best, installment of the most informative poker series ever written. A must have.

If you aspire to not be dead money in No Limit Texas Hold 'em tournaments, then Harrington's three volume series is mandatory. No get rich quick schemes here (unless your last name is Harrington ;-) ), just a solid overview of No Limit Hold'em tournaments and some of the thought processes that it takes to succeed. You'll still be a fish, but at least now you'll KNOW it -- that's progress. Vol. III is one big quiz covering the material of the first two volumes. If you've already read Volumes I and II, what are you waiting for? If you're just discovering Harrington, get thee to Volume I.

Easy-to-follow workbook, but you should have read Harrington on Holdem before you go for the workbook. If you're serious about poker, and not a total beginner, then this is a terrific book for you. If you are a total beginner, then it might be prudent to start with for instance something by Tom McEvoy. Then Harrington.

Quite simply - the HOH series are the best I have seen out there on no limit hold 'em tournament play. This book takes you through a bunch of examples and in a similar vein to the previous two volumes, provides you with some new tools to help make optimal decisions in a variety of situations. I liked the real life examples and associated hand analysis - having said that, I don't think much would be missing from your game if you only went through the first two volumes.

By providing a series of case studies, Harrington provides readers with an insight into the thought processes of advanced tournament poker players. Even if you've seen some of these hands on television, Harrington's insights provide poker players with ideas and theories commentators and the likes would be unable to communicate. Essential reading for those who want to take their tournament poker to a new level.

The Harrington on Hold'em series is by far the greatest work on No-limit Hold'em ever written. Without a doubt, this series has changed my game and how I think about hands. The third series provides the reader an opportunity to test their knowledge and become engaged. The biggest things it did for me was to rationalize each decision I make at the table. By forcing me to justify each decision in the "problems", I found myself finding things at the table I did not see before. So far, I am 3 for 3 cashing in sit and goes since reading volume 3.

Without a doubt the third part of the best poker book ever written (Sorry Doyle) The extraordinary part III of a poker masterpiece. Don't buy this book or the first two either. I want to win all your money which I will if you don't read this. Tough luck fish!

This is a workbook of problems from actual hands that were played. This is not a quick read, and you need to think about what you would do in various scenarios and why. Harrington then tells you what he would do in those situations and why, and then gives you a "Score" for your answer. At the end of the book, you can evaluate your play. In general, you can total your score and see where you stand, but you can also categorize your errors, and see if you are too passive in certain scenarios, too aggressive preflop, etc.

Sometimes the reader may be tempted to choose a play he knows that Harrington thinks is right, just to get a good score, yet he wouldn't actually make this play in a real MTT. This is the only danger the reader must avoid when working through these problems. Choose the answer that best represents what you would actually do in the scenario.. that way, you get proper feedback when you finish the book.

This was a great book with real-life examples. Dan shows all points of views for each of the hands (not just what he would do). Talks about ramifications about different ways to play each of the hands. Good for the intermediate to advanced player.

Sometimes, Dan made a play that caused a loss and he would argue that one should not be result oriented (fair enough). Then in other examples, he made questionable plays that lucked out and he forgot all about being result oriented and score his own plays very high. I got the clear impression that this volume is not as carefully written as the first 2.

This book is the worst of all the others he tries to hard to explain and is ver difficult book to read i do not recomend it.,

If you liked I & II, you'll like this one just as much. I wish there was more than just problems to work through, but as the title says, it's a workbook. Thanks again Action Dan!

Unlike HoH 1 adn 2, this one is the "story problems" to go with the original text. This puts you in game situations how to play them. Although I don't think it's as necessary as 1 and 2, if you've read them, it's a logical next purchase.

This is the kind of book, that like Harrington's first two on tournament strategy, will change the way many novice/intermediate players view tournament play. Read this only if (like most players) you choose to ignore the lessons provided.
Another world class book from a world class player.

This series (I own all three) is very well written. Volume three is the workbook, which essentially a book-length quiz that you then grade yourself on, but it is very well done. I was able to identify weaknesses in my game and improve. Highly recommended.

I say spend the money and get all three volumes. Your purchase will pay for itself very quickly.

The first two books on No Limit Hold Em tournament strategy are the most helpful I've read. This workbook is particularly good at discussing post-flop play. I'm working through the problems - not done yet - but am looking forward to analyzing all the many flaws in my game!

With all the numerous poker books out there, Dan Harrington by far has the best set of books out there. The first one is amazing at covering all the basics to improve your skill, the second book is great with examples and how to handle the same hand differently, and the third is perfect to refine your game. Read the first one completely with understanding before moving on to the second and the third book. The workbook tests what you have already learned and will refine your decision-making. Highly recommended!

I had so much fun going through this book that I wish it never ended. You'll thoroughly enjoy testing your poker thinking against Harringtons extremely indepth comments. I've obviously read both of the other books but being forced to really think (in order to score points) is EXTREMELY helpful towards actually LEARNING the subject matter. If you enjoyed the first two. Buy this! If you dont have the first two, buy them, then buy this. Just do yourself a favour, study up and then attack this but write down all your answers to all the questions and number them (There's actually a score sheet in the back of the book). After I had gone through it I realised there is a section that categorises all of the errors you made so you can see where your game needs the most improvement but my answers were actually strewn about on bits of scrap paper so I couldn't make use of it...:S There's one or two questions where you might find yourself hard done by with Harrington not awarding points for what you may consider very reasonable plays but these are few and far between. For the most part he's pretty much spot on in his commentary.

I learned more about how to play no-limit hold'em tournaments from this exercise than the previous 10 books on the subject. The examples are clear and very well explained. The options are examined at every step and eliminated logically. One should probably have read his first 2 books before taking this test if you want to ace it.

good book, have brought all three now.
is all you will need to become a better poker player
allgood

This isn't a poker book, it's a final exam. The book is 50 hands/problems with multiple choice answers, followed by analysis of the choices, detailed explanations for the worst, better, best choices and grading. Sometimes tough grading. Few generalities. Instead, in-depth hand/position/stack/odds analysis as they apply to playing specific hands. Having studied Volumes 1 & 2, I was repeatedly surprised that Harrington would do something that appeared to contradict what he had previously preached. But, a shade of difference, perhaps position, pot-odds, number of callers, the types of callers or raisers (loose or tight) made choice A superior to choice B. His analysis is sometimes overwhelming. It can take five or more minutes to read his explanation and you obviously don't have that kind of time at a poker table. But, if learning to read the situation "correctly," understanding the options, and making the right decision are your goals, this book is unmatched. Harrington's writing is often colorful and always conversational. It's as if you have a private tutor. While I didn't always agree with Harrington's choices, I benefited from his explanations -- I know how other people might react to a given situation. Far and away the best book on poker I've ever read.

As the first 2 books, thos one is excelent. You must read the first two, so you will be able to understand this workbook with real life examples.
very good one

If you play tournament poker. This is the best.
If I was going to be very critical, I could say its a "Tight way to play tourneys"...but its hard to argue with Harringtons record..or his ideas on tournament play. ITS A MUST OWN POKER BOOK

A complete workbook that reinforces all the lessons taught in the first two. This book is outstanding.

Another Super Harrington Work!

Great workbook format!!

Helps organize the way one approaches tournament no-limit hold-em poker!!!

If you are tired of contradictory advice read this book.
The author gives an excellent tutorial with loads of real world examples.

Great book in term of evaluating your own game, it has not as much strategy as the previous two harrington books but it has a lot of education on how to think through the development of a complete poker hand