Play Poker Like the Pros

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My comments relate to the Limit Hold'em content of the book, although I suspect it is fairly consistent with the book in its entirety.

I make no pretences about the fact that I am an average Hold'em player. I play limit anywhere from 3/6 to 10/20 and make a nice profit over time, but I am definately not the kind of player that walks from a table to a round of applause :)

Phil on the other hand needs no introduction. His reputation (great at cards, shocking at manners!) is known to anyone who takes an interest in the game.

Like many players though, I rushed out and bought his book when it hit the shelves, and like most I was hugely disappointed... It's a story of "I'm Phil Hellmuth, I'm great, and I'm gonna keep telling you I'm great, and now I have your money for a book full of rubbish!" I threw it the corner with the same feeling you get when another player draws to an inside straight and hits - bad beat!

Let's face it. What seperates Mr Hellmuth and other big name players from the rest of us is an instinctive ability to accurately read a player, to the extent that they can almost read the suit of your cards, let alone the value. From there they pressure you when you're weak and back off when you're strong.

For us mere mortals we need to rely more on the technical aspects of poker that make the foundation of any good player's game. Play Poker like the Pros is extremely light-on here. In fact more information can be found for free in an hour searching a few online forums.

If you want to actually improve your game, any books by Sklansky, Malmuth or "Middle Limit Holdem" by Ciaffone & Brier and the like are the way to go. If your new to the game and need a solid introduction, you can't go past "Winning Low-Limit Hold'em" by Lee Jones. Just don't waste your money with Hellmuth.

So how am I making a killing?

Well, there seems to now be a wave of new players, "Phil Hellmuth's Pheasants" I call them - the sixth animal not discussed in his book - and they're just waiting to be plucked.

Invariably there seems to be at least 1 at every table. You'll see them three betting pocket 5's pre-flop and raising on the flop with second and middle pair "to see where their at". These players are the ones that were never good enough to begin with, hence they actually believe the diatribe, and have not improved with their latest book purchase.

Once identified these muppets can be targeted so easily, because they become so predictable pre and post flop and almost all of them have zero talent on the turn and river play. (Interestingly, areas that are hardly touched by Phil's book.)

In the 12 months prior to the release of "Play Poker like the Pro's" I averaged a profit of $57 per hour. Like I said at the start, fairly average for the stakes I play. Since his book and the adjustments to my game to target the Pheasants that average has risen to $74ph.

All I can say is "Hurry up and release your next book Phil, so we can both get rich!"

Before I give my review I want to make something clear. I have nothing against Phil Hellmuth he is a very talented tournament player, and is probably one of the top 5 in the world. Now with that said I'll begin my review. Phil's advice is very straight forward play only his top 10 hands and you're going to win more times then you will loose. This is probably the worse advice you can give for a ring game, where being unpredictable and aggressive is the most important factor. He advices players to be tight and aggressive, but he offers no advice on how to actually achieve that. He doesn't go into great detail post flop, and almost completely neglects the play on Fourth Street and the River. Another nuance with this book is his constant bragging of how great he is, players didn't purchase the book to hear how great you are Phil! They bought it to try to improve their game. Now the only upside to this book is the chapter on no limit play, there are some good ideas presented here which is why it earned those two stars. However, that's not enough to make this book a buy. Overall, I wouldn't waste my time on this book.

Phil Hellmuth has created quite a readable book with some interesting insights into pre-flop card values and exceptionally aggressive play pre-flop. However, there are some scary gotchas in the book that I wouldn't want a novice player to read as the gospel truth. All in all, he has come up with a book that is most useful to the intermediate-level hold'em player that is able to sniff out what will and will not work at the skill level of his local game.

In the 90's, a great deal of statistical analysis was done on the relative value of pocket cards. As a result, a whole group of books were published that ranked pocket cards into tiers of value. Based on what tier your cards fell into, you were supposed to bet in different ways. Hellmuth still uses the tier system, but he has re-arranged what cards go into what tiers. His perspective is that while certain hands are statistically more likely to be winners, some hands are more likely to pull down big pots, making them of greater value than a statistically superior hand. In particular, Hellmuth values pocket pairs very highly. His point is that you don't often flop your set, but when you do, look out- here comes a very profitable hand. After playing with his system for a while, I must say that I agree with the inflated values of pocket pairs, given one simple rule. If you don't flop your set or have top pair, fold. It's pretty simple, but really tough to make yourself throw away your pair when you just raised pre-flop. Have some discipline and this system will work.

The other main benefit that Hellmuth's aggressive pre-flop play brings to the table is the ability to buy a hand with a single bet after the flop, especially from early position. If you come in raising pre-flop from an early position, you are pretty much representing either a high pair or a suited ace or ace/king. If the flop comes without a high card, you will be shocked at how often you can just buy the pot with one bet after the cards come out.

Finally, your aggressive pre-flop play may allow you to isolate yourself against the maniac at the table. By pushing up the pre-flop bets, you can often drive out marginal hands, but a maniac will almost always call you down. If you know you are up against this type of player, your odds of taking down the pot are good if you are heads-up.

The trouble with Hellmuth's system is when you are up against tight players. Lots of tight players will just allow you to build up the pots and simply call you down with the best of hands. It becomes difficult to read other players when they simply call you down all the way. You have to have the discipline to throw away a hand that might be a winner. Hellmuth says that in order to win at poker, you have to be willing to fold some winners. How true.

The same warnings are true for games that are very loose. If you can't scare anyone out of the pot, and you get called down on every hand, your best strategy is just to tighten up and raise the nuts and call the nut draw when pot odds allow. Not too complicated, but if you are lucky enough to find a game that loose, than you don't need this book.

Lastly, Hellmuth's system is very dependant on your table image. You have to really vary your play depending on how the others at the table think you play. If you come in raising and get called down with a looser, don't expect to drive out players post-flop. So, you had better tighten up. That way, you'll get more action on excellent hands. On the other hand, if you have some nice hands early, get even more aggressive as you will be able to buy many a pot.

So much is dependant on what your table image is that it takes out much of the true mechanics of typical systems. While this can make the game much more fun, and if you're good at it make you more money, it can crush you if you do it wrong. Hellmuth warns that while you should take down more money in the long-run, your swings will be much greater. I'll vouch for that, especially if you are not aware of your table-image.

I was disappointed with Hellmuth's chapters on tournament play and Omaha and Stud. You'll do better elsewhere.

All in all, I recommend this book to someone that is experienced in the sound fundamentals of Hold'Em play, and is capable of varying their playing style based on table image. If you're not to this point yet, try Winning at Low Stakes Hold'Em by Lee Jones and the "Theory" books by David Sklansky.

Four Stars,
HawkeyeGK

Hellmuth, a seven time world champion, and all around smart guy, provides a book that assumes the reader knows nothing about poker. The basics are explained with clarity. Then Phil discusses the math, game theory, and strategy in various poker games with an emphasis on Hold 'Em, the most complex (most interesting) and most popular form of tournament and casino poker. If you're already an Eagle (Phil classifies players according to type, such as the Mouse, the Elephant, the Jackal, etc. Eagles are birds capable of feathering their nests with millions of dollars from poker) this would be an interesting book for the insight it provides into the mind of another certified Eagle. If you're a beginner or intermediate with Eaglelike aspirations, this is the best primer around. It's not the only book you'll need to read, but it will teach you the language and strategies of poker. Then the manuals written for advanced players will make sense and you'll gain much more from them than if you just jumped in to one of them. One caveat: before you jump into a game for real money, finish the book. Don't get fired up after a chapter or two and hit the poker room at the Bellagio expecting to clean up. In poker, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. FINISH THE BOOK before you open your wallet.

This book was definitely an interesting read. However, the tone is for beginners (although more experienced players will probably pick up a thing or two). Unfortunately for newbies who read this, the playing strategies outlined within will get them killed. Read on...

I really enjoyed the stories about him aggressively raising with weak hands, and pulling down pots. Unfortunately, many of these stories were in the "Beginner" sections. The type of aggression he advocates DOES NOT WORK in a low-level game which has either clueless opponents, or even a couple of better-than-average players. For example, reraising pre-flop in hold 'em with a pair of 7's, and then betting into a scary flop in a multiway pot will absolutely get you killed! Phil is a masterful tournament player, but he would get crushed in the $-$ games that I play in if he followed his own advice.

Throughout the Hold Em and Razz sections especially, he advises players to get a lot of money into the pot early, giving them a reason to stay in the hand later, even if their cards don't improve (specific examples were Ace-King in Hold 'Em and solid low-draws in Razz). What kind of thinking is that? In the Pot Limit Omaha section, he gives the advice, "Look for a reason to fold." Guess what, Phil? That is how any beginning player should think for ALL games.

My last main beef is that the "Advanced" sections preach a change in playing style, but it all revolves around his ability to read other players. Easy for him to say since that ability is what makes him a world-class player! But there's no in-depth discussion about how I can get better at reading players.

As I said above, it is an interesting book, and I'll probably read it again and catch some things I missed the first time. Still, newer players should start elsewhere with books by authors like Lee Jones, Mason Malmuth, and Mike Caro.

Phil Helmuth has a lot of poker knowledge and talent. His temper is probably the only thing keeping him from being a real factor in any game he plays.

This book is great for beginners because it provides the bare basics for each of the popular games in a very easy to follow format. His advice is concise and understandable, making this book a quick way to get you started right in poker.

For people with a good hold on the fundamentals, there are better books. This one really stops at basic strategy and you have to pick it up from there. I was able to glean a few nuggets of wisdom, but try Super System if you are looking for advanced information.

Until I saw this book I didn't know Phil Hellmuth from Phil Donahue, but his book was several stitches more helpful to introducing me to Poker in general (and Hold'em in particular) than "Poker for Dummies". I've been playing on UlimateBet.com for a while, while holding his book in hand, and have had a blast learning the particulars of the game, and now I'll soon feel confident enough to start playing "real money" games without feeling like I'm about to get fleeced. Of course I deviated a bit from his strategies when I found that his first initial advice (bet only from first top 10 hands in his book) didn't seem to work for me, but when I re-read the ENTIRE section the "Top 10" made perfect sense. It was my own naive, impatient play that got me into trouble.

In any case, if you don't know poker, this is the REAL "Poker for Dummies" you should look into. The instructions are clear and concise, and take you through a game in baby steps. I wouldn't have begun playing (and thoroughly enjoying!) poker if it weren't for this book.

I was really looking forward to this book and have to say I have been rather disapointed with it. There is little that is new, interesting of even accurate in this book. The player types are well known to all experienced players, just named after animals in this case. He does introduce a new type, the "eagle" or expert, which did intrigue me but says "Learning to play like an eagle ... is beyond the scope of this book" (Page 35). Thanks a lot.
The chapter on online play is mostly devoted to promoting his website and that of his sponsor, UltimateBet.com. The reason he likes "UB" so much, besides the fact they pay him big bucks? "UB's game is the only one that will let me concentrate." What the heck does that mean, really slow software perhaps?
The only good thing about this book is that I might get to play against players following his maniacal advice. See you online.

There are a few good points in this book, but the writing style is absolutely horrific (did they even use an editor?), and I just can't believe that many of these pointers would ever work in low- to mid-limit hold-em games. Nevertheless, some reviewers here have said that they've used these techniques with success, so more power to them. If you already have a number of poker books (Sklansky, Brunson, Cloutier, etc.), and already have a solid knowledge of poker, then you might want to borrow - NOT BUY - this book for some light reading. On the other hand, if this is the only book you ever read, then you're welcome to play with me any time.

This was the third Hold'em book I had read, and by far the easiest to read and comprehend. I've been playing for 4 years in home games, but it wasn't until I read this book that I knew what starting hands I wanted to play, why, and how to play them. For those wanting to play in the low-limit casino poker games, or home games where everyone calls you down, then this is a great book. It teaches you to play "super-tight" and tells you what hands are the best to play for those situations.

It also teaches you how to categorize your players and helps you put a read on what they have by how they made their bets and when. I've started trying to guess people's hole cards before they turn them over and they are shocked how often I'm right. My game has completely turned around because of this book. In fact, I played in a No-limit tourney at Caesar's Indiana in September and finished in 2nd place out of 50 players and took home $1434.50 by using much of his strategy in his book (though when you watch him play on TV, you see he plays much more aggressive)

His No-limit/Pot-limit section builds on his limit strategy and adds more playing hands, and other hands that advanced pros play, how they can give you an edge, and how they can take you to the felt.

Sure Phil Helmuth is the biggest baby in professional poker, but he writes a very fluid, easy to read, and understand poker book.

I can't comment on the other games he writes about because I'm only interested in Hold'em.

Mr. Hellmuth having won so many tournaments must surely know his game. The problem is, is he sharing it with us?

I must admit that I only read the holdem sections, he has very little to say about position accept to mention a couple of times that it's always nice to have! Very little at all about odds.

Overall his tone is very condescending, as tho he and fellow pros are great poker players, you're a wannabe so it's ok to give you partial information. Wouldn't want to burden a small mind with more than it can handle.

At one point he talks about cards that help a player to win the pot and goes on to say, "pros call these cards outs". Instead of telling us how "pros" talk wouldn't it be better to tell us how to figure outs?

Before I say why I gave 2 stars instead of 1, I have one more gripe and it may be nitpicking . To further set the tone as if he were talking to third graders, where most writers refer to player types as rock, calling station, maniac, solid player etc, Mr. Hellmuth prefers that we learn: mouse, elephant, jackal, lion and eagle, I have no idea why. Eagles by the way are the super pros like him, you can't hope to be that good.

Having said all that, the strategies are still likely to make for winning poker sessions. Even though he doesn't stress position his play is so tight and agressive that it is unlikely that you'll be playing out of position very often. Good book for beginners
not much for intermediate to advanced.

I can definitely see the motivation for Phil Hellmuth to write this book: There's a growing number of poker players out there and this could be a moment to make some fast money with yet another poker book. (Not that Phil's hurting for the cash, but who couldn't use some more?) The problem with that is that this book is just that -- just another poker book.

For 400+ pages, you would think that Phil would tell us something really new and original. He is a world-class player after all and, despite some accounts, a pretty nice guy. (I had the chance to meet him at a tournament in Minneapolis once.) He has brought intimidation and image to a completely new level and although he has made great attempts to control or modify his outbursts in the past, that's not the Phil that everyone has either come to love or hate.

Is this is a good starting place for beginning poker players? Maybe, but there are far better books for beginners that here. Again, for as long as the book is, you would really think that you would get more out of it. As an interesting experiment, lay this book down flat on its back cover and then stack up next to it Sklansky/Malmuth's first Hold 'Em book, Lee Jone's Low Limit book and T.J. Cloutier's Limit Hold 'Em book. Hellmuth's book alone is about as thick as those other three books, but covers about half the material as the other three combined. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

The good news is at least it's cheap. If the person reading this book is someone that's really young (but not too young, this is gambling, after all), someone easily distracted and likely to not be playing poker in a few months or someone that's not ever really going to play but wants to sound like someone that plays, this is a cheap entrance to the game. But if the person buying this book REALLY wants to become a great player, there's better starting points than this.

On a personal note, I'm a huge Hellmuth fan. He could have done all of us and himself a greater service to write a book compiling his "Hand of the Week" columns or about his major tournament hands like T.J. and Tom did. I've recommended a lot of poker books to a lot of people, but I really don't think I've ever recommended this one to anyone.

My exposure to Texas Hold'me having been watching it on ESPN2, I found myself at a 27-man tournament. For two weeks prior, I had done nothing but read the beginner and intermediate strategies in this book. I took notes, I highlighted passages, and, oh yeah, I took first place. Why? Because Phil's advice works. Who am I really going to listen to? A bunch of guys here on Amazon, or someone who's won seven WSOPs? Exactly.

A common complaint I see is that he doesn't tell you what to do on the turn or the river. Well, in fact, he does. If you're a sloppy reader, you might miss it. But for top ten hands, small pairs, K-Q, A-x suited, and suited connectors he explains how to play them pre-flop, post flop, on the turn and on the river. I mean, if you can't figure out pot odds and that if you've made it to the river you should probably call, then you might not be that good a poker player.

Anyway, I see a lot of reviews for people who delved into the book winning a fair amount of money. Then I see a lot of whiners who don't like his "arrogant"(?) style, and they review it poorly. Sorry for the hurt feelings, ladies, but Poker is a man's game. Anyway, the anecdotes are relevant, they illustrate the point he's tryiung to make, and they're very interesting, to boot.

Loved it, took first place, won seven-hundred dollars, and can easily say it's worth the money. Period.

If you are interested in improving your poker game, then do not get this book!

I found this book to be a complete waste of time. The majority of the book was Phil trying to inflate is already large ego.

The basis of Phil's book is to only play the top 10 hands. In his opinion you'll win more than you'll learn. But in reality within a few hours everyone will have pinned you on what you play and you'll get no action when you do go in.

Phil advises you to be "tight and aggressive", but gives nothing to demonstrate how you should do this. He gives little information on post flop play and practically ignores fourth and fifth street play.

I found virtually nothing useful in this book. My advice is do not buy this book!! You'll only be sorry you did.

Try any of David Sklansky's books instead, you won't be sorry.

Hellmuth's book was the first book I've read. Since then, I've read Brunson's and Slansky's. I took this strategy to a low limit game, and it worked well when I was playing GOOD players. I could bluff and take pots because my table image was tight. When I got into tables where people played loose and called everything down, it was over (i.e. low limit games). I got slaughtered. However, I really reccommend this book if you play tournaments. This book really will get you KILLED if you 1) play low limits, or if 2) you don't understand what is being said in this book.

It really pays to be aggressive. Betting is your most powerful tool, after folding. The key here though is SELECTIVE aggression. Being aggressive wins you your lions share of uncontested pots, and increases your odds of taking down pots because it increases the chances of going heads heads up in a pot with someone (by virtue of betting everyone out), where you can proceed to destroy them, or fold if you sense they're strong.

I think the reason why some players didn't like this book is because they're misinterpreting what agressive means. Its very EASY to learn how to be aggressive, but selective aggressiveness is DIFFICULT to learn. Being aggressive just means raising all the time. Being selective means knowing when to raise, and knowing when to FOLD and back off when sensing strength. The ability to know when to back off is a reading ability, but this can be learned, but is only learned through EXPERIENCE.

Like Hellmuth says, you NEED to play in order to make this book useful. Experience gives you the understanding of two key ingredients to winning poker: 1) selective aggressiveness and 2) understanding the importance of table image. Get the experience, and keep referring to this book, and it'll all make sense eventually.

I considered myself an average poker player, until I read this book. Since reading "Play Poker Like the Pros" and "Super System", I realize that only NOW am I an average player and have so much more to learn and have an insatiable desire to do so.
Just reading the first couple chapters changed my game overnight. Phil breaks different players into animal types. Jackal (agressive unpredictable) Elephant (enters too many pots) mouse (enters too few, but to be respected when he does) Lion (best at table) and eagle (one of best in world). My first impression was to skip this chapter thinking how ridiculous it was to sterotype players into such a narrow mold. However the next home game however I was amazed to see players falling almost precisely into the animal types Phil talked about. I could almost immediately peg 4 jackals, 3 elephants and a mouse. Phil hit the nail on the head. After all as Matt Damon says at the beginning of "Rounders". "Here's the thing, if you can't spot the sucker at the table in the first 30 min. then YOU ARE the sucker." Phil's first chapter will help you spot the suckers and then when you have a hand you can take their chips.
The next chapter talks about what hand you can play with confidence. He calls it his "top 10 hands" they are as follows....AA,KK,QQ,AK,JJ,1010,99,AQ,88,77. If you have one of these hands you can play with confidence. (He later talks about other hands to enter with and strategies to play them after the flop). I realized after reading this chapter that I was indeed an "elephant" I played in entirely too many hands, and over time was losing money due to entering with weak hands.
Once I began applying Phil's strategy that not only is tight, right; but TIGHTER is right. If you enter pots with the hands Phil recommends, you will be folding a lot. However the hands you do enter, the final result will often be a lot of chip coming your way. This is even more pronounced when there are a couple "jackals" at the table who are willing to call your raises or may even try to re-raise you. (In low stakes play there usually are more than one jackal at the table too)
For any poker player(esp. limit/no limit hold 'em) I recommend this book, for any beginner I HIGHLY reccomend this book. (for intermediate players I reccomend Doyle Brunson's "Super System") Phil's text flows in a way that is both easy to read and understand. I haven't lost money in a home game since reading this book. Thank you Phil!
For this price this is the best poker book I am familiar with. BUY THIS BOOK FIRST!

This is a book that is very, very dangerous for beginners at texas holdem. (If you are beginner, the book is a 1 star book)

Hellmuth tells you to play only a few, very good hands preflop. That is good.

Then he tells you to play them all the same: VERY AGGRESSIVE. And this is not a good advice if you are playing low-limit holdem.

To use his own language: there are to many elephants (callingstations) at lowlimit.

A lot of players will stay even if you play aggressively preflop and on flop. If you are sitting with 77, 88, 99 (hands that Hellmuth tells you to raise and reraise) or something like that, you will lose a lot when you dont hit a set.

This aggressive strategy only works if the other players fold, and in low limit they dont.

This book explains Hellmuths style, and that style is not something to use against elephants. If you want to learn how to play, buy for example Lee Jones: "Winning Low Limit holdem".

Why all the carping and snippy reviews of this book? One only needs to read the forward by the late Andrew Glazer at the beginning of Play Poker Like the Pros to understand the value of this book. This is one of MANY poker books that are worth reading. There is never any claim that this is the best or the only book on the subject.

Smart poker players read from as many sources as possible and try to learn from different perspectives. Arguing about whether this book is better or worse than Brunson or other books is a waste of time. Instead of arguing about it, read them both and learn a little from every author you can. Most importantly if you think there is any book out there that will make you a winner without having to utilize your own judgement and ability, then I hope to see you at the casino so I can take your money.

As with any guide on poker, there are some parts of this book that are helpful and other parts of the book that I don't agree. The strength of this book is in its strategy discussions for players who are fairly new to playing in casinos, online or in tournaments. It's a big jump from playing in someone's living room to playing against strangers. Hellmuth's basic tight/aggressive strategy is bound to be instructive to any poker newbie.

Where the book tends to be lacking is in its discussion of subjects other than limit hold em and seven card stud. You can tell that the game of Omaha 8 baffles Hellmuth as it does most players and the chapters on Razz and regular Omaha add little. The other shortcoming is in the discussion of No Limit Hold em. Many more casinos are offering this as a cash game along with tournaments. You won't learn a lot about that particular game with this book.

The good news is that if you are new to competitive play, you will probably end up playing in a small stakes limit cash game. This book will help you. If you are a hardened, poker veteran who wants to improve your game, there are probably other books that you can find to suit your need.

It seems many of the reviewers are having trouble separating their disdain for Phil's antics and ego from the way his book teaches poker. I'm a fairly beginner poker player who is pretty good at reading other people and players. After reading this book, I have not left a low-limit table down money once, which is the entire point behind his theory on beginner strategy (I'm speaking entirely of hold-em, haven't focused on other games). Is his thinking entirely correct? In some cases, no. But he openly acknowledges that poker is a game of feel, and to write a "playbook" on what to do in every scenario would be foolish and impossible. That being said, I found his "animal" characterizations of player types, though a little silly and simplistic, very helpful in giving me a context or mental ladder for me to easily sort players at the table. Within 10 minutes of playing tight and aggressive, while observing other players play, I've found that I'm usually able to peg the under cards of 6-7 of the 8 players at the table. How many of those players I'd be able to peg without reading the book, who knows, but I do think about the player types in similar terms to how Phil analyzes player moves.

The other benefit of his "tight and aggressive" beginner strategy is that, even as a rookie, I've found that it enables me to develop a table presence that I might not have otherwise. This is the key: if I only played top ten hands literally to Phil's beginner strategy, you might be right, I'd become predictable. But if you're a least a little better than the average Rounders-inspired schmo, you can use the table presence you've established to bluff off weaker players and semi-bluff your way to big pots. Pretty simple in low-limit, lesser sophisticated games. I can't say I'm qualified to review the book relative to the merits of its application to higher money games.

Lastly, I also like the way he provides numerous options for each scenario in a very concise and understandable format. Very quick to read and understand. Again, if you're looking for a playbook, this isn't it. If you're looking for some solid principles that you can combine with your other learning and your natural ability, this is a good read. Just accept the fact that Hellmuth has a massive ego and don't let it distract you from what he's trying to say. Although it is heavy on self-adoration, I did not find that it distracted from the lessons in the book. And heck, if I won as many tournaments as he had, I'd probably be positioning myself this way also. You have to realize that while much of his perceived hubris might be real, a good portion of it is simply solid marketing. Dennis Rodman's fame didn't come from simply being a good defensive sub. Like it or not, he's made money off of being a pain in the arse. Same with Phil.

While this book is a decent read, it will not improve your play. I find it hard to recommend this to a player of any level, as his advices are dangerous and often plain wrong for beginners and useless for other players. This book barely touches math side of poker at all, offers nothing new and all the information is available in other books in bigger amounts and better presentation. There are far better books out there that i could actually recommend to people.
Bottom line : by books by Sklansky instead.

It's a decent book though there is some sketchy advice regarding post flop play. Like raising with an underpair to the flop to "see where you are at." That kind of jazz will cost you big in the typical holdem game where someone has top pair and will go all the way with it. It's more apt to be good advice in short handed, higher limit games. But those players don't need this book do they?

And of course he says if you get reraised your hand is probably no good. So expert players will pick up on this shorthanded and reraise you with nothing to "see all your chips come their way." Plus he tells you to look for body language but doesn't give any concrete tips. We know he is a great body language reader so why doesn't he give at least something away in a book you pay $20 for?

The condescension and shameless plugs for UltimateBet were a little much for me. I only reread it to get a better handle on how other players use the advice. For a better beginners book try Lee Jones or Sklansky/Malmuth.

There is no denying he is a great tournament player. But as an author he leaves much to be desired. His editor should be fired for allowing this disappointment to go to print.

This is a review of Play Poker like the Pros by Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (The first paragraph below introduces the game and the author, so you can skip that if you are already familiar with them.)

Poker has always been a popular game, but there has recently been an explosion of interest in it (especially No Limit Texas Hold'em poker), since channels like ESPN and The Travel Channel started broadcasting the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Phil Hellmuth (pronounced HELL-myooth) emerged as the "enfant terrible" of No Limit Hold'em when, in 1989, he became the youngest WSOP World Champion ever. Known as "the poker brat" for his abrasive personality (during play -- he seems nicer away from the table), Hellmuth has won a total of nine WSOP championship bracelets. (Only Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunsen have ten.) He is currently the expert commentator on Bravo's entertaining Celebrity Poker Showdown. No Limit Texas Hold'em is often called the "Cadillac of poker games." It's like chess in that you can learn the basic rules in a half hour, yet never exhaust the nuances of the game no matter of long or how often you play. I was intrigued after watching the game on TV, but I had never read a book about it before. There are several books out by Hellmuth, but two appear to be largely reprints of this book, while a third (Bad Beats and Lucky Draws) is more like a poker-hand autobiography.

Play Poker like the Pros is an introduction to Texas Hold'em poker (in its Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit versions), Omaha Poker and Seven-Card Stud. There's a very good Foreward by poker writer Andrew Glazer on how to get the most out of reading the book. (I'm a teacher, and Glazer's advice is good advice for reading books in general -- read thoughtfully, read slowly, re-read and apply what you read.) In Chapter 1, Hellmuth explains why skill is often more important in professional poker than in "kitchen table" poker. (With small amounts or pretend money, people call almost all the time. Try bluffing when $10,000 is on the line for real!) Chapter 2 is an explanation of the basic rules of Texas Hold'em. If you are completely clueless about poker, Hellmuth probably goes too fast. But if you have played poker of any kind, and have watched a few hands of Texas Hold'em on TV, you will find Chapter 2 clear and informative. Chapters 3-5 are beginner, intermediate and advanced strategy for "Limit Hold'em," the version in which the amounts of the bets are strictly controlled. If, like me, you're more interested in No Limit, you may be tempted to skip to Chapter 6, the one on No Limit and Pot-Limit Hold'em strategy. Don't! Much of what Hellmuth teaches in the Limit chapters is important in No Limit as well. (But I really wish Hellmuth had made it clearer when the examples from Chapters 3-5 do or do not apply in No Limit cases.)

It looks to me like the basic, beginner's strategy of No Limit can be summed up in a paragraph. Before the flop: If your hole cards are AA, KK, QQ or AK, then raise, re-raise and re-re-raise. Even with these great hands, Hellmuth recommends that you not try to "trap" someone (by checking or calling to get them to bet more later), because you might lose the hand on the flop. If your hole cards are JJ, 10-10 or 9-9, then raise and re-raise, but if someone puts in a raise over your re-raise, fold (as painful as that may be to do). If your hole cards are AQ, 8-8 or any lower pair down to 2-2, either call a small raise or make a raise the size of the pot.

What you do on the flop depends on whether you "hit it" or not. If no one else has bet since the flop, you may "bet out" (bet first) to "represent" (bluff) that you hit the flop. (How's that for lingo?) But you should be ready to fold if someone raises your bluff. There are lots of complicated situations that can arise, of course. Here are two examples Hellmuth gives in the Beginner's LIMIT Strategy chapter. Suppose you have J-J, the flop is A-K-4, and the two players before you bet out and then raise. Since there are two "overcards" (cards higher than yours) on the board, and it is unlikely that both of your opponents are bluffing, you should probably fold. On the other hand, if you have J-J and the flop is 10-7-4 (with mixed suits, so there's no chance someone has a good "flush draw"), you should raise or re-raise, to scare off anyone who may be holding an A or K (and might hit it if they get to see the "turn" card).

Hellmuth uses the cutesy device of "animal" types to describe playing styles you'll encounter. Jackals bet and raise on anything. They may win a lot in the short run, but will lose to solid play in the long run. A jackal is difficult to bluff. You should not be intimidated by the Jackal's raises, but take advantage of it when they simply call or don't raise. A mouse folds any but the strongest hands, so when he bets, watch out! A lion is someone you have to really worry about, because she bets sensibly, but sometimes bluffs to keep you from just reading her hand from her bets. The book describes how to adapt your playing style to these types.

Because of my own interests, I just skimmed the chapters on Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. I've never played Omaha or seen it played. The description of it makes it seem very complex, but Hellmuth claims that it's actually fairly simple once you play a few hands. He also observes that most people think they know how to play Stud, but they don't. After reading his description, I know this is true of me! It turns out that I didn't even understand the basic rules of Seven-Card Stud.

The book offers several general pieces of advice. "Tight is right": fold or check all bad hands (except for the occasional bluff). You have to be patient enough to wait for the good hands, and disciplined enough to fold a good hand when you think your opponent has a better hand. Be aggressive, though, when you think you have the "nuts" (best hand). Hellmuth is generally against going all-in, or trapping. But don't just play the cards, also play the people. As Hellmuth puts it in the book's best line: "No matter how much you may want to think of Hold'em as a card game played by people, in many respects it is even more valid to think of it as a game about people that happens to be played with cards" (32).

For the most part, this book is a quick and lively read. The book could have been better organized in some ways. (Again, my main complaint is that I wanted more clarity about whether the examples in the Limit chapters applied in No Limit games.) And I would have liked a clear discussion of betting strategy. (He mentions in passing that it is generally a good idea to "bet the pot," i.e. call and then raise the total of your call and the previous pot. But this just scratches the surface of betting strategy, which is a major point, especially in No Limit.) Overall, if you're an "advanced beginner" at No Limit Hold'em (like me), you will probably learn a fair amount from this book. But if you're an intermediate or advanced player, I doubt you'll find it very useful.

When I bought this book, I was a mediocre player.

And now, after reading this book, I'm still a mediocre player. Thank you, Phil Hellmuth!

This book covers hold'em in limit, no-limit and tournaments. However, it only devotes one chapter to no limit hold'em, which is what everyone playes. Instead of that, we instead get chapters on omaha and omaha-8, stud and stud-8, and razz. Razz! Who on earth plays razz? Who knows what razz is? I sure didn't.

Let me be frank. Low-stakes hold'em players are awful. It's as if they hate money. With a little practice and knowledge they are easy to beat. Instead of giving us the techincal details required to beat such players, Hellmuth gives us such wonderful advice as "you shouldn't fold hand X at stage Y ever, unless, of course, the other guy has hand Z, the only hand that beats hand X." So we shouldn't fold hand X, unless we should. Thanks for that gem of wisdom.

Hellmuth then describes how he has only folded hand X twice, and both times, he was right. Thanks, Hellmuth, we needed to know that. No, you idiot, we didn't buy a book called "Play Poker like the Pros" to read about you! We bought it to read about how to play poker!

He does this all the frickin' time. Half the book is spent on these stupid stories and anecdotes, which often completely contradict the advice he gave earlier (which is usually wrong anyway). We don't want to read about Phil Hellmuth and his pro poker friends, we want to read about how to win poker. Right?

Hellmuth jumps from subject to subject. He'll interrupt a discussion of limit hold'em to tell us a story about a no-limit holdem tournament. NL tournament holdem is Limit's evil twin. The cards are the same, but the strategy is completely different. The two games should not even be mentioned together in a beginning players' book. What little advice remains is incoherent and often wrong for a small-stakes player. It may be right for a tournament pro, but not for small-stakes, where you get fools who will play any two cards they're dealt and are too oblivious to be tricked.

Holdem is not a game with which you can play according to a detailed system, but Lee Jones' book "Winning Low Limit Holdem" gives the closest thing available to such a system. His advice is clear and insightful yet idiot-proof. Buy his book. Don't buy Hellmuth's waste of trees.

First off, ONLY buy this book if you are a complete and total novice to Holdem (which I was). Though not terribly well written, it gave me the basic concepts and the understanding of "Top10 hands." That's where the usefulness stopped, though, because Phil doesn't really talk much about strategy. Either he doesn't have it or he's not going to share it, and I doubt that his style of play would work for most people...especially amateurs. Remember that "reputation" goes a long way in Poker -- Phil has it, you don't.

All that aside, if you really are a total beginner and choose to buy this book -- read it, play a couple hands (not too many), then go buy a couple of the better books out there. Look at the reviews on Amazon and you'll know the authors you should be reading -- such as Slansky and Malmuth, etc.

BTW, one thing that turned me off about Phil's book are the shameless plugs for UltametBet.com. I originally got the feeling that this book was just a way for Phil to earn some more cash through royalties and pushing people to this site. However, I did try UB and I have to say that I like it pretty well. And now that I've read a few OTHER poker books, I'm actually making decent returns on Tournament play.

Anyway, good luck all...and have fun.

I can't imagine any pro, let alone Hellmuth playing this way! This book is of marginal benefit to the complete neophyte, and useless to anyone above the beginner level. By stressing an extremely tight style of play, Hellmuth will keep you at the table while you learn the game. You will NOT earn any money, but you will not lose much either. There are many better books out there.

His "animal types" are a bit silly, but help to explain playing styles to the new player. Al Schoonmaker's "Psychology of Poker" is a much better text for this topic.

Read Jones' "Winning Low-Limit Holdem" if you've never played poker before, or Miller's "Small Stakes Holdem" if you have played before and want to take your game to the next level.

I've made money since reading this book. The basic stradagy is easy to follow and the intermediate is good when you get the basics down. Since buying this book I have only left the tables down one time! A must for new hold-em players. Thanks Phil!

While Phil Hellmuth has a spectacular tournament record and is doubtless one of the very best, this book is NOT going to make you either a good player or a winning player at a casino. It is simplistic, and the "rules" are far too simple to be applied. If interested in Hold'em, a much more useful book, thoughtful and detailed, is "Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Ciaffone and Brier -- that's really the good stuff.

I've been playing professional poker for 24 years. This book is close to the worst poker book I have ever read. Buying this wont help your win rate at all, furthermore, readings this book will MAKE YOU LOSE MONEY.
By something by 2+2, or Hilger's book, or a Ciaffone instructional.
Joe Bellz

Even first time players would be disappointed here. Summary of first part of book: AA, KK, AK are really good hands LOL.

Summary of last part: Get a 'read' on your opponents if you can. A lot of that is just 'sense' and 'feel.' more LOL.

Almost a complete bust... there was one really cool story about a hand he won ... and another really good one about a hand he lost.

Phil simply ain't gonna give away his livelihood like some say super/system did to some extent for Brunson's 'easy' money.
I agree with others here: at least teach us how to figure outs correctly for the price of the book. Jeeesh.

"Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?"

The information in this book will get you killed in a real game. It is horrible advise for the low-limit player/game where almost nobody folds. Phil has been playing tournamtent poker for so long, he seems to have forgotten how to play a ring game. There are much better books out there.

Phil Helmuth is probably the best poker player in the world today, however, this book won't put you on that same level. This book has been hyped everywhere in the poker world, but I found it to be way too superficial. Yes, there are some good plays shown within the book, however, Phil gives you no explanation as to why they are good plays. If you want a good poker book to explain the plays and why to make them, buy Slanksy and Malmuth's "Hold'em for Advanced Players." It is by far a superior book.

I mean come on people who has more credentials to teach the games of poker then the now 9 time Gold Bracelet winner at the WSOP. OK, now that I've completed my praising of the very worthy author of this book, let's move on to the review. I bought the book about a month and a half ago, shortly after it came out. I was looking for a quality book that offered hand analysis, as well as elemants of the Psychology of poker. This book was a perfect match for what I was looking for. After reading 70 or so pages of the texas hold'em portion of the book, I began intertwining elements of the Hellmuth like strategy, into what I thought was an already existing sound strategy I had. Indeed before I read Hellmuth's book I had the backround information that I needed to win on a regular basis, but the advice took my game to a different notch, and gave me added convidence. Now I rarely find myself on the loosing side of a poker game at the end of the night. When I do it's usual a direct result of bad play by my counterparts, not bad advice from Phil. So to end my review I have just three words to tell you, if you want to win on a regular basis, and if you take playing cards seriously, Buy This Book!!

This book has very little quality content. There isn't much revealed here that isn't found in virtually every other poker book out there. If you have read any poker books at all, don't bother. In fact even if you haven't read any poker books, don't bother. There are far better books out there.

I read the Holdem' section and was left with a feeling that I had been robbed.

Look at Phil Gordon's books and pair them up with Doyle Brunson's Super System if you are serious. Phil Gordon provides a solid playing style while Doyle's books provide the details behind the decisions.

Phil Helmuth's 'Play Poker Like the Pros' is a book that I would recommend for someone who is relatively new to the poker seen. When I read the book, I had been playing poker on a regular basis for about 1 year. I do not play no limit Texas Hold'em exclusively and this book does not focus on no limit Texas Hold'em. Even before reading the book I was a good poker player and won money from my buddies on a regular basis. After reading the book, however, I won a live no limit hold'em tournament with over 100 players, the vast majority of which I had never played against. I have to attribute some of that success to the book.

That having been said, I think more seasoned players might be better off selecting a more advanced book on strategy or on reading players "tells". Highlites of the book include sections on playing pocket pairs and suited connectors, Phil's Top 15 hands for no limit and how to play them, the four (or five) types of players, strategy for playing no limit holdem tournaments as opposed to limit or no limit cash games, explaination of terminology and basic rules of poker.

The book was easy to read and contained interesting anecdotes from past WSOP tournaments and from tournament players. The price is right also. I think the book was well worth the money.

I started playing poker about 6 months ago, and decided to buy this book to learn some new strategies. I am very disappointed with the book. Yes, Phil likes to compliment himself quite a bit, but that is not what bothers me about the book. I like to play No Limit Hold'em and Phil barely talks about this game in the book! It is the most popular game out there right now, and he mainly talks about Limit Hold'em.

I mainly play tournament games, and he had a whole chapter on Limit Hold'em tournament strategy, but NO information on No Limit Hold'em tournament strategy! I feel like I just completely wasted my money.

This book provides a very rough introduction to how to play Hold 'em, Omaha, and Stud, including simple and easily memorizable strategy which is sufficient to beat players more clueless than you.

Other reviews I've read say that the book is strongest in its coverage of Omaha and Stud and weakest in Hold 'em, which is currently by far the most popular poker game in casinos and online.

I have little experience with Omaha and Stud, primarily playing Hold'em in AC casinos and online. This book lays out a simple and conservative Hold 'em strategy that I've found to be a consistent, if relatively small-time, winner in low-stakes games.

There are better and more thorough books available to teach winning Hold 'em strategy such as Hold'em Poker by Sklansky or Winning Low-Limit Hold'em by Jones. I would recommend these to players looking to play semi-seriously. This is a decent book, however, for casual, novice players looking to learn simple winning strategy at Omaha, Stud, and Hold'em.

Look, Phil is an annoying guy and some of that comes across in this book. But Phil is a great tournament poker player and that also comes across. And the reason I bought this book was to get an insight into how Phil plays and why he plays that way and to maybe find things I could use myself. In the two months since I've finished the book I've tinkered with using different strategies Phil suggests with good success. And on top of anything else I have now finished 1st in a 20 player tournament and 7th in a 30 player tournament at Luxors and 5th in a 300 player tournament at an online site. I honestly feel that my tournament play has gotten a lot stronger and I'm still improving. Thanks in large part to things I either read in this book or things that this book made me think about.

This is definitely a must have book for all Poker players. It is by far and away the very best book on Poker I have ever read (and I have read more than a few). Phil's writing style is very "easy to read" and the many strategies he speaks about are very straightforward and concise - no BS in this book. A great book by one of the best (if not THE best) Poker players in the World. Highly recommended!

This book is not a "how-to" in any sense of the word. Its not a book like "winning low-limit holdem'" or "Holdem' for the advanced player". Phil gives a certain approach (His own personal approach, for the most part) and gives sound advice on playing the hand from there. He explains tells, slowplaying, and even bluffing in a basic way that any level of poker player can understand. He even has a section on No Limit Poker, which I personally liked the best. He tells the reader about some hands that he played himself to either victory or defeat. You basically cannot go wrong if you buy this book, it's both informative and entertaining.

This is an excellent book and an enjoyable read. However, when I think of Phil it's his expertise in reading his opponents that I most admire. Unfortunately, while he mentions the importance of this skill throughout his book and states that this skill can be learned by anyone, there is little content about this aspect of the game. Of course there are many other books covering the psychology of poker, common tells, etc., but I was very interested in Phil's insights.

Though I'm just an amateur and use the Wilson Tournament Hold'Em software for practice, I've already observed improvements in my hold'em game. My tournament statistics and earnings with the Wilson software improved dramatically by applying the concepts within this book. I'll be in a couple games this weekend and look forward to seeing how my opponents react to my revised image.

Yes he's great. He wins alot and is possibly one of the best Hold'em players of all time. I dont know if he did it on purpose but he basically tells you just enough that you understand he can do it but he doesnt offer any help on 'how' to do it. I think maybe he doesnt want to actually help anyone get better at poker. He just wants to advertise he's awesome.
He says things like "then you have to figure out how to win the most money" after building up a whole story of a hand that you are going to win.
Sklansky and Harrington books tell you HOW to get the most money into the pot when you are going to win.

The title of this book should have been "I'm Phil Helmuth, The Greatest Poker Player Of All Time And You're Not!!!". This book is a glowing tribute to the author as he continually tells you how great he is, how much money he has won, and why when he loses it's not because of his mistakes but because of other players having luck on their side or him always taking a bad beat. Is Phil's ego that apparent?

Yes, it really is.

Now I picked up this book hoping that I would get some sound advice from Mr. Hellmuth, and I did get something out of it, but if I was to pick this book up today and read it again I doubt I would get much out of it that would improve my game. I feel it's a sound read for anyone wishing to learn the game of poker (and specifically Texas Hold Em), but if you are looking to pick up this book and learn how to roll over the competition you are going to be greatly disappointed.

Now I understand that not everyone has the ability to play poker on a nightly basis and that many may not have the resources to play online (online poker is a story in itself), and that those players will use their time to read up more about the game. This is a sound course of action and one to be respected. Anyone that wants to learn the game of poker needs to read everything they can get their hands on, as some article or piece of advice might bring forth a new facet of a person's game that they didn't use to have. For that reason I think Phil's book should be read (I am not saying he isn't one of the best poker players in the world, his record speaks for itself), but unless you are a total beginner, this isn't the kind of book you are going to be able to continually pick up and learn something new from.

** NOT RECOMMENDED

I win a good chunk playing hold em online at the $1/2 NL tables and have won my share of multi-table tournaments.

This book isn't even good for a beginner. Phil talks about different styles vaguely w/o going in depth about them. Want to learn poker? Go grab Doyle's Supersytem and you'll see things differently than you did before (assuming you're a begineer). If you've been playing for a while then this book even becomes a bigger waste of money. STAY AWAY from this book. waste of money. Doesn't want to reveal his true thoughts at the poker table like the whiney guy he is.

This is regarding the no limit part of the book: Considering Hellmuth is perhaps the greatest no limit player of all time, his discussion of no limit is lackluster at best. In fact, it is all but worthless but to the most inexperienced player (someone who has never played). Even for the inexperienced,however, there are much better books on the topic. I highly suggest buying super systems 2, whether you are a beginner or an experienced player. Super System 2 is well worth the money. Play Poker Like the Pros is hardly worth the paper upon which it was printed.

These negative reviews are out of place. Phil Hellmuth proposes some essential strategies, while letting us know that they will not work at all times. The key idea he presents in this novel is that there are many different approaches to Poker as well as different games for poker. He takes us through NL and PL Hold 'em, Omaha, and 7 Card Stud.

This is a good book for beginners in that a lightly takes you through the basics of Poker. At the time of my purchase, I had already been very familiar with Texas Hold 'em, however hadn't yet played Omaha or 7 Card. His guide taught me how to play these games. There is some great analysis for how to take control of a hand with certain cards, stealing the blinds, smooth calling, Jamming the Pot, bluffing, Reading your opponents, suited connectors, protecting your hand etc. I have certainly improved, however some of these strategies I have found difficult to adapt to since I play alot of Play Money online poker where it is much more difficult to steal blinds and bluff.

Nevertheless, I think it is a great poker book written by one of the best players in the World, and he gives very insightful passages on the game, as well as excellent examples of certain hands he faced against opponents and what happened. I will recommend to beginners, and intermediate poker players like nyself. For those who are advanced, it could be a questionable buy.

First, there is hardly anything worth noting in this book about online play. As with most poker books, the author is overly general and employs a vague typology for different games (like whether its loose or tight or aggressive), which is not too informative. The message for no-limit is basically this: only play pairs, and if you get AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, well, just go all-in.

To me this is basically the superficial way to play the game. And while you may create some big pots and wins with this strategy, in the long run your going to find yourself almost concretely bound to this strategy, and missing the deeper repertoire which makes a very solid player who can last.

I'd recommend Hold Em for Advanced Players by David Sklansky. This is a much more critical text (though it has a lot of faults too), comparatively Helmuth's rag is a comic book.

BTW, I brought it back and exchanged it, don't let this warp your mind, he's trying to weaken the next generation of poker players. Above all, play your own game!

I have read a bunch of poker books and play regularly. There are a lot of good books out there, Dan Harrington's the very best, but this isnt one of them. Too much ego here and not enough helpful information.

Phil Hellmuth has probably put out more books and DVDs than any other poker professional, while his work has been ridiculed by critics at times, he still puts out some quality stuff. Dubbed the "Poker Brat" for his seemingly endless tirades to card room managers and other players, Phil Hellmuth leaves an impression. Either love him or hate him, there is no disputing his excellence in the poker world. "Play Poker Like The Pros" was released in 2003 and was promoted as one of the greatest poker books ever put into print. While I personally do not think this is true, I will say that this book definitely has its place in the poker world. This book in my opinion is an excellent place to start for those who have played poker a few times and are looking to begin learning more about the game.

If you look at the consumer reviews of this book you will get a very mixed picture of its quality. Some people have blasted this book stating that it is yet another money grab for PH. I disagree. Sure it made him some money but your also getting a book that is put together very well.

"Play Poker Like the Pros," starts of with general poker concepts such as starting hand requirements, the ideal of positional advantages and identifying the texture of the board. These are all critical skills to have in any poker game which lower limit players generally do not understand. Pot odds are also discussed rather well during the first few chapters.The book suggest learning one lesson at a time which isn't a bad ideal for newer, inexperienced players. The chapters also include a number of examples that are real situations that often arise during game play.

After the basics are covered, PH discusses player personalities or playing styles that are ever present at most games. He separates them into four categories:

The Mouse, the rocks who only play the best hands or close to it.
The Elephant, AKA the calling station
the Jackal, the maniac raiser.
the Lion, the solid, aggressive player.
the Eagle, a world class player.

The player personality section of the book is actually pretty decent and I highly recommend all newer players to give it a read. Many of your opponents will fall into these classifications and the advice given is pretty solid. PH gives guidelines to help you know how to play against each player type.

While the majority of the book concentrates on Limit Holdem, Razz, No-Limit and Stud are also addressed briefly.

PokerJoes Take:
Very good book for the average to beginning player. The book originally had a cover price of under $16 and can now be found for less than $7 on amazon and ebay. I recommend this book and "Winning Low Limit Holdem" by Lee Jones to my friends and family who ask me where they should start. This book concentrates on the starting hand requirements, board textures, player personality types and beginning strategies that will dramatically improve your game

Phil Hellmuth is a freak. How he has managed to go without being assaulted for so long is a mystery to me, and he might just be the worst poet on this, or any other, planet.
But this is a damn fine poker book for someone who wants to learn to play.
I think the people slamming this book are missing the point. I've read quite a few books on poker and this is the one I'd recommend for someone just getting started. It's easy to read, concise, suggests a streamlined and easy to follow manner of starting out, and the ideas are well communicated.
As you advance, you're certainly going to need to read more books, but the ones that are going to make you great (Sklansky and Brunson's, for example,) are just going to intimidate and drown a normal person if they read them when they are starting their poker career.
You want to learn to play? Do yourself a favor and pick this up, play a few hundred hours in five and ten dollar online tournaments, and study the more advance texts on playing position, players, and specific situations when you have mastered the fundamentals of staying focused, playing your cards, and identifying other players attitudes.
And remember: if you never give up, and never stop learning; nothing can stop you from winning!

This book was a good introduction to poker for someone who never played before. Setting out the rules in Omaha Hi/Lo, for example, was very explanatory. The book mainly consisted of Fixed Limit hold em, only one chapter on no limit which wasnt of much help. Although you can apply alot of the FL guidelines to NL, things like calling an opponent down just cant be done in no-limit. I was also disappointed on the ''Phils game-guess the exact two hole cards of you opponent''. This sounded like it was going to give some insight on how to read people, instead it basically goes; 'I was playing, and said, gosh, i bet you have 2 Queens' the guy flips up 2 queens, and says 'how in the world did you do that ?'. How in the world did i do that(modest) [he goes on to explain], well i looked at how the betting went etc put him on 2 queens.. Not much insight ! I was disappointed at that, coz he keeps saying throughout the book, read, read, read, and i presume he means read your opponents. Other that that, and the lack of No limit hold em in it, it was a pretty okay book. The only other thing i found is it deals mainly (in hold em anyway) with pre flop theory. About 50% of fixed limit hold em chapter is on pre flop theory, there is a little less in the advanced and No limit chapters. Theory on the flop he generally says 'pump it or dump it' or 'hit it or fold it'. there are some situations, eg hitting second pair with KQ or a flush draw with Ah7h, that he gave useful info on. I reccommend the Intermediate chapter for practical play, the beginners chapter (in a nutshell, says, only play the top 10 hands (AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, 1010, 99, AQ, 88, 77) is too hard to use practically, and the advanced chapter is useful but doesnt give a full repertoire. So I would pick the Intermediate chapter, and bits of the Advanced on NL chapter for Texas Hold em. Other than Texas Hold em, the Omaha chapter seemed good, but i dont have alot of experience in Omaha so I cant comment fully. I think the whole idea of animals representing certain players was a good idea, it is important to know the players your playing and phil emphasises that alot in his book, and explains what type players youll meet. Obviously he cant cover every possibility but i think hes covered most peoples poker charecteristics. On the whole, i think its a good book for players who have played a tournament or two but need a helping hand to put them in the right direction. I rate it 3/5

I found this book to be quite well rounded.

It delivers everything is promises, but not much more. It covers a few poker games - limit, no limit, stud, etc but not in great detail.

While i enjoyed this book and found it to contain some good content, it is a begginner to intermediate players book. It is however still a good read if your an advanced player looking to read everything you can on this great game.

Don't make the mistake I did in buying this book aswell as Phil Hellmuth's Texas Hold'em. Phil Hellmuths Texas Holdem is simply a smaller version of Play Poker like the Pro's - it has all the material from Play Poker like the Pro's in it that has to do with Hold'em (only the hold'em chapters), with the addtion of one chapter on no limit hold'em tournament play.

If you want a solid and broad book on poker, buy this book, if you are only interested in Hold'em get Phil Helmuth's Texus Hold'em. Both are good, but not great.

No one can deny Hellmuth's talent. His bracelets speak for themselves.
But, he's not much of a teacher. There are some valuable lessons in this book, but playing Phil's way will cost the average player a lot of money, especially if they follow the Limit Hold 'Em section's advice.
Hellmuth has superior ability to read opponents. But, those who try to play like him -- and don't have that ability -- are going to lose tons of money.
You should read this book because so many others have read it, and you should know where they may be coming from. But, especially at the low and middle limits, don't follow his advice.
If you do opt to play his 'Top 10 Hands' strategy (always raising and re-raising what he defines as Top 10, and folding everything else), you'll be bored most of the time, since you'll be folding so much but you won't lose your money as fast as most beginners.

Regardless of what you think of Phil Helmuth, he is unquestionably one of the greatest poker players on the planet. He is still the youngest ever to win the World Series of Poker, and has more bracelets than anyone else in the world. He comes from fantastic stock, as his dad is a genius and holds a Ph.D. and a J.D., and Phil breezed through school with little effort, as he too is a genius. That said, he has personality flaws that manifest themselves at the poker table and can annoy and anger just about anyone. He is possibly the poorest loser I have ever seen in any sport, and one of the biggest crybabies when things don't go his way. he actually said during the 2004 WSOP after being knocked out, "If luck weren't involved, I would win every time." Talk about unadulterated arrogance and ego.
That said, the book itself is decent, not great by any means, but also not terrible by any means. It is a much easier read than Sklansky's "The Theory of Poker," and not as mammoth and intimidating as Brunson's "Super System 2." However, it also is not as good as either.
Thats not to say it shouldn't be read at all, as you have to respect his talent and I am one to think that people who excel at anything often have at least some good advice, commentary, and analysis at whatever it is they are good at.
Helmuth has some useful descriptions of player-types (jackal, elephant, mouse, lion), and does offer strategic advice for a variety of games (limit & no-limit hold'em, seven card stud, various omaha games, razz), so there is some degree of breadth in this book that is not in others. But do look elsewhere for the best books on poker, this one is only average.

I don't find anything of unique value in this book. It has some decent material, but nothing you can't find in greater detail elsewhere. Phil does not even cover pot odds here, but seems to find plenty of time to tell us all about his famous tournament moments. As a beginner, I found Lee Jone's Winning Low-Limit Texas Holdem much more helpful.

Poker pro, Phil Hellmuth is a bit of a crybaby on the poker circuit, but he's without question one of the world's greatest players. Hellmuth shares his poker wisdom on Hold 'Em and other poker games in this book, which is well worth the investment for any serious player.

I only read the portion of the book which dealt with Hold 'Em, but I was very impressed by what I read. It sounds so easy, yet it's an extremely disciplined approach to the game which most players find impossible to consistantly maintain. Hellmuth relates not ony which hands to play, but how to play them, depending on what type of players you find yourself up against.

If you are a beginning poker player, or even intermediate, you must read this book, which will be paid for by the first pot it enables you to rake.

I did not know anything about Texas Hold'em before this book. I read on week before going to Shrevport. I won 160 dollars in 5 hours. I just played the top ten hands and limped in with marginal hands when i had position. True when i jumped in alot of people folded and that was fine with me becuase alot of people tried to limped in before the flop but i would not let them. However there was always one or two I was able to get action from betting on a draw and of course the majority of the time they would lose.

Then I played in 2 games with 6 other friends and won 100+ each time. I think it is a good book easy to read for beginners. I also feel I had definate advantage over my friends (beginners) that have not read it. One guy I know (thats claims to play no limit games for years) I consistently beat. I really like the book alot. I have read the Texas hold em section a few times.

I spent around 15 dollars on his book and won over $300 hundred in my first 3 games. If I learn nothing else from his book, I think it was a good investment.

I know what cards are good, marginal and risky.
I think that is the most important part. (I surely dont think anyone would have told me)

Of course get more konwledge from other players. Take advice from many players and customize your own style. Thats what it is all about. I am reading TJ Cloutier's book now.

Beginner a must buy.
Intermediate players I think it will make your game better. (for 15 dollars, You cant beat the price)
If you have been playing for alot of years dont buy it.

Hellmuth is certainly an accomplished tournament player. However, his tallent must truely be otherworldly to overcome his ego. The book deals almost exclusively with examples of how successful Hellmuth is, and is extremely light on the "mechanics" of improving play for the beginning or intermediate player. Likewise, advanced and expert players will find little of value here.

Considering Hellmuth's well-documented ego and contempt for "lesser" players (watch/read about any major tournament in which he makes an early exit), the one redeeming quality about the book is that it reads like a talk straight from the horse's mouth--if there was a ghostwriter, he did an admirable job of capturing Hellmuth's hubris.

First off, learn your facts before reviewing this book, Mark. Phil boy hasn't won the World Series of Poker 9 times! Hey, he's an excellent player, but to give him that kind of credit is a joke. His book is okay for any beginner, but Doyle Brunson or Sklansky go more into detail. If you are already familiar with the game and play it even occasionally, this is not the book for you. You'd be better off buying Doyle, Sklansky, or even Ken Warren. They all have better books than this. If your an absolute beginner like Mark, this isnt a bad buy.

There is nothing new here in this book. Mostly play tight and raise often. Spends more time telling us about how great he is and less time giving any real insite into how to "PLAY LIKE THE PROS". He jumps back and forth too much and even forgets what situation he is refering to on occasions. In one part of his examples, Phil has you playing poker on the internet with a pair of jacks in the hole. His opponent, Jerry,checks. But, if Jerry does bet, then you must,"look for body language that might show confidence or fear". How can I check for body language when I`m playing over the net? Phil spends too much time having you develop your instincts rather than giving sound poker advice. A waste of money!!

I'm not sure why there's such a negative attitude towards this book. I should say up front that I'm a no-limit player and have been for 90% of my poker career, so I'm not qualified to judge the limit Hold'em portion of the book. The no-limit Hold'em section is a great strategy for beginners because it makes it easy to decide how to play the flop. As a beginner I was getting my butt kicked with hands like KJs, JTo, and even AQo. I implemented Phil's 'Top 15' strategy but played even more tightly: I folded AKo and AQo. I was only playing AA-22, AKs, and AQs. I cleaned up while playing 9 tables at a time, and I still fall back to this strategy when I'm having a bad run of luck. Never fails to turn me around. Phil did fail to mention, however, another reason why it can be good to play this tight: the usurious 5% rake charged at the low limit tables. Playing Phil's way, you're letting the other players pay the rake and just waiting for hands where you are a large favorite. Taking advantage of a rakeback program, where you get money for folding hands, makes this super-tight strategy even more effective.
I also like the Omaha chapters in this book. I think the problem most players have is that they don't have the discipline to play as tight as Phil recommends. Therefore, they dismiss this book as garbage. That's fine with me: let 'em keep playing loose and I'll keep making my [...] per hour playing online. Those players with an open mind, who don't care about Phil's ego displays, will find this information quite useful.

One of the best poker players of all time but one of the worst poker books of all time. Written for player that are new to poker and it has no real depth of substance in its poker theory. Reading this book will help a novice to better understand the game but will leave you a long way from "playing like a pro".

This is the way Phil wants you to play poker, so he beats you....

This is a typical Hellmuth book, lots of words, very little insight, very little clarity, zero new concepts. His chapter on Omaha will have every Omaha player around drooling at the mouth to get into a game with him because he clearly knows nothing about the game. I'm just hoping everyone everyone will follow his ace-deuce strategy in Omaha or AA, KK, AK strategy in holdem so that it'll make it that much easier for the rest of us.

No one who plays poker respects Phil, or thinks Phil is a net winner at poker, and his books seem to support this. I've been at the table with Phil and the guy literally has the EQ of a little kid. I'm sorry, make that a spoiled little kid because it's not fair to little kids to put them in Phil's class. With this book and his other books, I now know he writes books like the whining crybaby that he is. If you want a book with 10% teaching content, 40% filler, and 50% of whining, bad beat stories, then this book and other Hellmuth books are for you.

I think that it is a good book for when you do first start out. I had read other books and had gotten an okay feel for the game. I picked up this book and I learned a lot. If your an advanced player this book probably wouldn't be useful but when you first start it helps. The "Top Ten Hand" strategy is one that when you start out in Hold 'Em helps you to start winning consistently. Of course having to fold a lot of hands can get boring and playing that way makes you too predictable, a point that is made in the book. You have to play other hands to mix things up and win. The section on Omaha hi/lo was useful in that it showed that Hellmuth had to go to other pros to get help with strategy, so that if at first you don't seem to understand the game that you not alone. I learn a lot about Omaha Hi/Lo but not as I learned about Hold 'Em but it was a start. Besides if your buying this your probably buying this book for the Hold 'Em.

this is a great book for beginners and intermediate level players, and as a resource for dipping back into from time to time.
Don't worry about the negative reviews this book may be getting because Phil has some kind of "ego". I actually didn't think his ego came across in the book at all and certainly not anymore than any other poker book author!
The great things about this book is that it is clear and phil explains everything from scratch. I mean he clearly explains the basic set up and dealing procedure and bet procuderes on each round for all the games, which none of the other top books do and he also spends a lot of time making sure the reader understands the lowball concepts and rank of hands so you know for sure without any confusion what a low ball hand means/ how to arrange hands in hi-lo split games and more than enough basic strategy to get you going.
The section on internet gaming is a bit soft and really could have been one sentence thrown in another chapter.
This is a good solid book that will get you into a good game and keep you there. Obviously as a reader you should be taking the best parts of the best books so as not to play predictably by any particular book, and this is at/near the top of the list!

When I bought this book, I was a intermediate player. I bought the book in hopes of getting advice on how to play the game better - not reinforcing what i already knew. Phil's "top ten" hands are too generalized, his betting strategies are too linear, and I severely doubt this is how the "great" hellmuth really plays. To get down to the point - the reason phil is one of the top players in poker, is because of his superior ability to read opponents (NOT because "i only play phil's top ten hands, etc")

The information in this book, although good for a complete beginner, is not good if you even remotely know the game. The strategies are too basic, simplistic, and it seems like hellmuth just wants to "lure" new blood and easy targets (Phil's Pheasants) into tournament poker.

For a much better information book on poker, i would suggest the following (in order of importance):

Caro's Book of Poker Tells by Mike Caro - learn from the madman
Doyle Brunson's Super System by Doyle Brunson - the godfather
Dolye Brunson's Super System 2 by Doyle Brunson - the godfather 2

this article is in reponse to the earlier article titled "thanks phil, im making a killing!". i bought this book hoping that it would help my poker skills, a valid reason. i read through the pages on no limit several times. as apbruce stated, play on the turn and river are hardly touched on. after reading apbruce's review, i realized that i was one of his "phil's pheasants", using phil's advice and losing consistently. i played much better using my own personal system. the book has more examples of great hands phil has won than fundamental strategy. the section on no limit was very disappointing.

This is a VERY bad book written by an exceptional player.
Phil shares very little and has produced a book really only useful to beginners or players who don't have a clue.
The only reason I can imagine Phil would write this book is because of all the attention poker is getting these days, and I guess some people will just buy anything. Unless you are a complete novice playing against even more inexperienced players it is doubtful this book will help to improve your game.
If you are interested enough in studying poker to buy a book then there are much better options out there to get you started and give you things to think about that *will* improve your game - Warren, Sklansky, Phillips, etc.
A good tip, take the money you were going to spend on this book and put it in play. You'll learn much more that way.

Yes, Phil Helmuth, Jr. is a ... er, unlikeable guy, and his writing style won't win any awards. On the other hand, this is simply the most understandable book out there for the fundamentals of playing the most popular poker games in the world today, limit, pot-limit and no-limit Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha Eight or Better, Seven Card Stud and Razz. Helmuth presents beginner, intermediate and advanced strategies for each, including which starting hands are playable, when to play aggressively versus when to toss it in, and how to play position. There are, in my opinion, books that are better for improving a particular game (T.J. Cloutier's and Tom McEvoy's book on tournament pot-limit Hold 'Em, for instance, gets in-depth on playing this particular game), and books that are better for general poker theory (Sklansky's books, for example), but this is just a great starting place and one of the few books that gives solid "how to" advice. Get over your opinion of the guy -- he's a great player and has written a really useful book.

I started playing seriously in January after reading this book and I turned $200 into over $7,000 in four months. The numbers speak for themselves. The strategy is simple to understand, but requires patience to follow. Super System is considered to be the poker bible, but it was a hard read for me, early on. Play Poker Like the Pros took me less than a couple of days to read and I refer to it once a week. YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF PATIENCE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING TIGHT STRATEGY. This book is very clear and very easy to follow, but most importantly, it has made me a fearless successful poker player.

I've read several other people who have read this book and complained about how Phil doesn't teach anything, and I beg to differ. For most of the people they don't understand that reading a book isn't gonna make you play suddenly better, you need to play poker as Phil constantly points out in his book. He also states at the beginning that you can not read this book in a day and expect to absorb it all. You need to read a section, maybe a chapter at most and play and play until you have adapted his consepts to fit you game, after all each of us plays different. Lots of play will improve you ability to read you opponents, play Phil's guess the opponents hole cards game. This book also does not focus on one type of poker it explains Texas Hold'em Limit/No Limit, Omaha Limit/Pot Limit, Omaha 8's or better, Razz, Stud, Stud 8's or better and Internet Poker. Althought Phil does not dive into the mathmatics (I'm an engineer and sometimes the fourth street mathmatics can be quite complex) the basic ideas of pot odds and pot value are constantly taken in to account. Finally this book is about Phil and he will talk about big hands that he has won and lost.

I've read review after review about how this is such a terrible book and it doesn't work. One reviewer claimed that he's done nothing but lose since using Phil's strategies...I don't see how. I've more than doubled my bankroll since playing with his strategy. I'm in no way a professional player; I'm barely a serious player. I've just seen no other methods from my studies and reading that work better than Phil's. I think the biggest problem with this strategy is it requires a lot of patience that most people just don't have. If you can't be patient and wait for made hands then you will not succeed with this strategy. I start every night when I get home from work with $5.00 and am consistently quitting with $25-$30 in a .25/.50 holdem game(like I said, I'm not an expert or a big money risk threat...I play for fun). I bet it will work for you if you apply it as I have. Great book.

I have only played in six small tournaments but have read several books including Phil's. I also use Wilson software.
The last two tournaments I entered(100 to 120 players) I made the final two tables. This is exactly what Phil predicts if you play tight like a mouse. I got there with just a few chips;exactly as predicted(I also didn't make the final table as he predicts WOW!). His sections on Hold'em are excellent. He tells you when to play tight,when to steal blinds and when to loosen up. The book has many examples of specific situations;a method I like when tackling a new subject. He covers limit,Pot limit, and no limit tournaments. These sections are very well written and logical. I recommend the book to any hold'em player novice or seasoned vet. Oh yea,there is a section for advanced players but I think it was too early for me to benefit from it.

If you've got the credits that Phil Helmuth has, then you've every right to write a book. I just figured it should be good. Great player, horrible teacher. The one thing i learned from Phil is to be a total jerk at the table. Ask how many chips a player has, feint at huge bets by grabbing larger stacks of chips then betting less, and take your time. I learned all that from watching him on ESPN, and nothing from this book.

This is the stuff it takes to learn poker. It is not going to make you a pro overnight, the title is just a common saying do not let it confuse you. The book goes through strategies and examples of how to play for all of the common casino poker games. The book focuses on Texas Holdem. For the causal poker player or a player dedicated to improving their skills, this is the book for you. Along with the "bible" of poker you have a lot of force in your book learning. I highly suggest this book, its not going to make you a pro, but its going to prepare you for it. People who think this book is bad have not read it fully, give it a shot.

I wish I had read this before the vastly more complicated books on Texas Hold Em by Ken Warren and (especially) Mr. Slansky. For anyone wanting to fully understand the basics first then build upon them without being overwhelmed, this is the way to go. Hardly condescending (though his table image is well-known for that), Hellmuth's text is inviting and fun to read. The examples of various situations are more educational and are deeper than one might expect from such an approachable presentation. I am learning things here I have read nowhere else. The lessons are broken into levels of play, beginner, intermediate, etc. The lessons only build steam as you go. But don't expect to read this in one sitting. It is by no means a fast read...it is chock full of analysis and details so a deliberate approach is best. More than exceeded my expectations. And a great value, to boot. And the book covers more than Hold Em...which will be enticing to those seeking education on other games. The war stories are fun as well.

I have been playing poker since I was 8 and this is most detailed and easy to follow poker book I've ever read. I've never been able to figure out how to win some of the harder games, but this book really has made me know how to be a pro. I gave it to my neice who wants to learn how to play--so it's great for beginners too. Thanks Phil Hellmuth--there's a reason you're the champ!

Phil Helmuth is as annoying in his writing as he is around a poker table. The book is part infomercial for various preferred casinos and web sites, part instructional manual for novice to intermediate players, but mostly a vehicle for Phil's ego. Hardly a page goes by without Phil reminding us what a great poker player he is. A psychologist could have a field day w/ his overinflated ego. As far as the content on poker play goes, it's better than most books for novices on the subject.

I suppose this is a good book for someone who is just learning how to play poker. I didn't have much faith in the book when I purchased it. It's cheaper than alot of poker books, so I figured Hellmuth would at least share a couple of good nuggets of information. If you have never played poker and want to learn the rules of the game, and starting hand strengths, you will benefit from this book. If you're a thinking player looking for insights from others, look somewhere else.

I'll make this short. I've been playing poker for about nine years now and I know a good poker book when I see one. This is not one of those books. Phil probably wrote the book to market his ego and not his knowledge. He saw other greats defining themselves in the literature realm and decided he was going to do the same. His book lacks proper play with a lot of garbage telling you, "dont play it this way unless your really good." If I wanted that advice, I would have read a book written by dead money. I expected more, and got less. He rants about playing styles and how great his moves were in the past. Great Phil....good for you, Chan is still better than you.

This was the worst poker book I have ever seen (and I've read about 15 cover to cover). Phil may be a great poker player, but he has no place writing a book. His book offers no more poker strategy than what's written on the backside of a deck of cards. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

Best poker book I have ever read. It made me realize how differently different players play the game and to always gauge how strong I thought my opponents are, instead of only analyzing bet size and specific cards.

This was the first poker book I purchased but after comparing with other 'five star' books available, it does lack structure and substance. It is not a terrible book but definitely not the best book for a beginner.

I can't believe Amarillo Slim recommends this book with a compliment "Play Poker... is the best poker strategy book ever written. I only wish this book had been available to me forty years ago."

Endorsements work because I purchased it after seeing that on the backcover of the book, but never judge a book by the cover. Believe me, it is not THAT great of a book. They must be really good buddies...

The other downside is, the thick book covers only 1/2 on Holdem, the other half is Omaha, stud etc.

A book that is more about self promotion than about teaching, it is poorly written in many parts and has no continuity. There are many other MUCH more intelligent and informative books available. Skip this one as it can't possibly teach you what makes Phil Helmuth a great poker player, his ability to read his opponents.

Clearly fold this one preflop.

I am looking for a new one. I was slightly better than my poker group of friends and nothings changed since I have read this book. I hope I find something a little better next time I buy a poker book.

Phil is a great Player. I love to watch him on the WPT. It was nice to just read a book from him and try to get into that poker brats mind

I started playing Texas Hold Em poker a couple of months ago and this was the first book I read on the subject! It is awesome and has helped me win over $400 already! Hellmuth breaks this down and makes the game simple to win! If you are a beginner like I am, play tight and you will win! He's right too. Most players play too many hands and if you play tight (only go in when you have good cards) you will win most of the time. After reading this book and playing once or twice a week at a local casino (5/10 limit holdem) I have read other books, but this is by far the best. Again, I highly recommend it!

This is a great book if you've played a bit of poker and are looking to take your game to the next level. You will find certain sections are terrific references that you will go back to over and over again. If you are very new to the game I'd recommend Ken Warren's, Sklansky & Malmuth or Lee Jones for a more basic introduction to poker.

This was a very Enjoyable Book. It provided important and useful concepts about the game of Poker. I learned new concepts, which identified some leaks in my game. Leaks in your game can come from anywhere!!! Leaks can originate from lack of aggression, overcalling raises, misreading opponents and any other number of ways. So this book helps. Many people look at poker the wrong way. They think to win they need to do all of this super fancy plays and mindblowing stunts. Well folks...there are not that many options in poker...you fold, call or raise. So its really hard to do thinks that will just fool your opponents all the time. To win at poker it is mostly limiting your mistakes and getting all that you can from winning hands and minimizing losses on losing hands...that's it

Ive been playing for about 5 years now and love the game. Ive read many poker books and found this one to be very good. So I would suggest you buy this book and maybe a couple others and get to playing. There's really no excuse anymore - since anyone can access the internet.

(...)

This is a very good book if you want to learn how to play all of the different sorts of poker games; however, the book offers little advice that is not in many of the better poker books.

I grabbed the book quickly while in an airport, so this is probably more my fault, but seeing Hellmuth's name, I thought that the book would offer a lot more - - it didn't. I am not sure if it's because Hellmuth is a new age poker player or if it's because it has so many different game focuses, but I did not come away with a "must have" book feeling.

If you are a beginner or want to know the rules for the games, this would be a recommended book.

Hellmuth is a fine player, but this book is not appropriate for advanced players and there are much better books for new players, i.e., Lee Jones, Winning Low Limit Hold'em.

If you follow Poker, chances are you've seen Phil Hellmuth on TV, whining about some 'bad beat' where he had the initial mathematical advantage but ended up getting beat. I think Phil's whiny public persona may have resulted in some bashing in the other reviews of this book.
That said, Phil's book will help beginners get a clue and become players who can win at low-limit tables. I just think that Phil doesn't give quite enough respect to the chance factor. Poker math is only reliable if the odds are overwhelmingly (like 2-1+) in your favor. Otherwise, you can't really whine about a 13-10 'bad beat'.

This is not a bad book for beginning poker players, but honestly, there's not much in it that you couldn't cull from a little online searching. The most useful part of this book dwells on pre-flop and flop betting; for the turn and the river, you're on your own. He's also much more detailed on betting in Limit hands than in No Limit hands, and wastes a number of pages just explaining low hand in Omaha H/L. I'd expect a book on playing poker like the pros to not really have to explain the very basic rules of said game. In any case, the gratuitious stories about his wins (and losses) could have been replaced by some straightforward information on betting through to the river and other tidbits you might have found useful in a book about, well, poker - but overall, it's a good place to start for the novice.

I was hesitant to read this book because it was not well received by several boards/newsgroups. I think it is a mistake not to read this book, partially because Phil Hellmuth can be a great player when his game is on. But more because I think there is some useful information in the book and the book is cheap compared to other poker books.

Be prepared for self glorification from Phil and try to read past it for some useful, but not earth shattering, poker info.

World Champion poker player Phil Helmuth is a great author and this book "Play Poker Like the Pros" is very clearly written. I have read it about 3 times now... it is not boring by any means. Don't expect it to make you play like a pro though, you need a lot of practice and need to read more than this one book! Anyways, above all, i think it is a really good book and I recommend it... the only thing i would like to see is a little more... it doesn't go in depth very much.

The high number of exclamation points was very annoying to me, but I blame that on the editor. I enjoyed reading Phil's book. The book supplies the reader with a beginning-level fundamental strategy. Follow Phil's Top 10 strategy and you will win some hands, and maybe even some games if you slowly add the other strategies he mentions. But, you will definitely be around the game long enough to learn how to play and practice reading others. It will take A LOT of patience to play this strategy, especially when you see other players taking pots with hands you could have beaten them with had you played your cards.
I enjoyed the examples of his tournament experiences and I think they helped the flow of the book (it is not a reference book). The stories are not all just him bragging (wait for his autobiography for that) - in one example he lost $100k on one hand and was eliminated from a tournament.
Remember, no book is going to make you a great Poker player. This book, however, can help turn you into a solid one.

I am new to Texas Hold'em so I bought three books on the subject. I like this one the best because it is easy to read and has interesting references to Phil's poker pal's and personal experience. The poker strategy seems to work for me but I am also incorporating information learned from the other books as well as playing for a couple of hours every day on the computer before hitting the tables. If you like watching Phil Hellmuth on TV with the rest of the pros you will enjoy this book.

First off, like many of you here it sure is funny to watch Phil lose. Now that being said I read the novice and intermediate chapters before I got in my first Live Tournament ($50 dollar buy-in, 49 players) and I Took 3rd place ($200). So I can say that this book paid for it self. I think its a good book with easy strategy to follow and I would recomend this book to the beginers, seeing thats me, a beginer. thanks Phil for giving me $200 return on my $15 investment.

This is a pretty good book to pick up. I enjoyed it and it was my first book to deal with poker strategy. For me, it was helpful in outlining some of the factors that can affect your success at the table (your hole cards and the types of players you are up against). For me, I was aware of these factors, but not to the extent that each figured into your odds of winning the pot. As a beginner at looking at poker theory, I thought it was a good starting off point, but by no means the end of the journey. I have since looked at books by Sklansky and others which go into more detail with these concepts. But, I feel that the Hellmuth book did help me to have a background mindset in place for handling these more in depth books. I think that Phil had beginners in mind as the target audience as much of the material would be a rehash for people who had already spent more time reading about poker theory and concepts than I had when I bought this book. So for you advanced and intermediate players, I can understand the frustration or let down feeling. I would've felt the same way if I had read this after some of the other books, but I think it is a good place to start to increase your thirst for knowledge about a complex and great game. My rating would be five stars if this was the first book you had read about poker, but probably lower if I had thought this was an advanced strategy guide. Plus I can't bag on the book too much, I met Phil at a book signing and mine is autographed!!!!

The other reviewers need to get a grip. Phil Hellmuth IS great and "it ain't braggin' if it's true". I am making money using advice primarily from this book, Brunson's book, and Mike Caro's Book of tells. If you are a beginner, buy all three.

Phil Hellmuth has quite a reputation in the world of professional poker players. His multiple WSOP and other tournament championships in addition to his 'lively' personality at the tables makes him an exraordinary character. So, I was anxious to get this book when I heard it was out.

WOW! What a mind for poker this guy has (especally texas hold em). I have read a few books now on probablities and statistics. They were all good for helping me choose which hands to play... which is very important, but its really only half the game.

Hellmuth filled in the second half with this book by teaching my how to bet. I play a much more aggressive (and profitable) game now that I have both read and taken some time to think about the information in this book. If you are serious about improving your game, read this one a few times, and take some time to think about the lessons therein. You will benefit no little.