Hey everyone!
So I thought I would do another poker book review since I have been on a HUGE reading kick lately.
I bought some books last summer at a discount book store and came across two poker books I have never read or even seen. They were called The Illustrated Guide To Texas Hold em and The Illustrated Guide To No Limit Texas Hold em. Sadly those books went in my closet O' doom and never saw the light of day until about eight weeks ago. I first started off with the Limit hold em book and thought it was more or less accurate. I didn't agree with EVERY play but I thought it was reasonable and user friendly.
So then I moved on to the No Limit book. I will just guide you through how I approached the book. First thing I always like to do is look at who wrote the book, if it's a well known pro I tend to take the advice a little more seriously than when it's by someone I don't know. The book was written by Dennis Purdy. Doing a quick google search of his name only brings up his books from sites like amazon, barnes and noble, stuff like that no personal website or anything that shows accomplishments in the world of poker.
So I flip the book over and find an "about the author" section. Here is what is says:
"Dennis Purdy, author of The Illustrated Guide to Texas Hold em, left the "working world" and moved to Las Vegas at the age of 35 to become a professional gambler. He became an expert card counter at blackjack starting in 1978, eventually forming, teaching and leading several "teams" in Las Vegas, achieving a winning session rate of 86 percent. Although he retired from full-time gambling in 1983, he still uses his skill to supplement his income."
So the first thing that jumps out at me is the fact that poker is not mentioned anywhere in this blurb. Now that doesn't fully discredit him, look at Andy Bloch. He was a BJ card counter and all that jazz but then went on to play poker very well and has written some amazing things including a well done piece in The Full Tilt Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition.
So being a little skeptical about this book I go to open it up. There is an acknowledgement page and I came across something worth noting:
"Once again, I'd like to thank Robert "Doug" West, a true poker professional who took the time to read every one of the 150 situations to make sure they were as accurate as possible. Many times he has stayed up until the early morning hours helping me to meet my deadline. He didn't find as many things to nitpick over in this book as he did in my first book on poker but that's because over the last year I've gotten better...largely because of him."
So doing another quick google search brings up even less than Dennis Purdy. So I a little more faith has been drained out of me when it comes to the quality of this book.
I'd like to show the book is layed out http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Gu...der_1402207247
This should bring up some pictures of the book and if you click on the back cover it shows you how each page is layed out. I like this idea, I really do. I like how it has the table spead out on one side with the question and the answer in detail on the other. That's about the only nice thing I have to say about this book. The advice given in this book is absolutely terrible esp. when you consider a "true poker professional" helped him with this book.
So I would like to give you an example from this book on how bad the advice is:
This is situation #5
"Blinds 300-600 Pot Size 900
Seat 9 (You) 2600
Seat 10 - 3600
Seat 2 - 1500
Seat 3 (button) 1000
Seat 5 (small blind) 300 (after posting)
Sear 6 (big blind) 3500
Paid Entry: 40 x $25
Starting Chip Stack: 1000
Players Remaining: 22
Places Paid: 5
Your Current Standing: 6th place overall, 3rd at your table
Time Left In Round: 12 Minutes
Rebuys Allowed: No
Next Blind Level: 400-800
Question: On the very next hand after folding your pocket 4s you catch an Ace-King suited. Seat 7 has folded and it's now your turn to act with five players yet to act after you. Should you fold, call the 600 chip big blind bet, raise to an unspecified level or go all-in?"
So I have AKs, less than 3 M the blinds are coming within three hands, this should be the most easiest decision in the tournament and should be an auto shove. Being so far away from the money being on the bubble (6th place with 5 getting paid) means virtually nothing. The chance to steal 900 chips should be appealing since that represents 1/3 of my stack. The chip leadeer only has 4 M and I would draw a conclusion that since everyone is so short stacked they are all waiting for bingo hands. So at a tight table I am even more inclined to steal from further away and this would be a long distance steal for sure. However this is NOT a steal this is a value raise. People might be inclined to think you are on a steal if you have given them a reason to.
So in short I can find no reason to do anything but shove in this situation,
Here's the "answer":
"Ace- King suited is a very nice beginning, but you're not there yet, so in spite of how pretty your hand looks, you can't go crazy and go all-in yet. You obviously are not going to fold this hand either, so it's a matter of what move you make that's between all-in and folding."
Oh I love where this is going....we have 2600 chips and shoving is "crazy" and folding is a bad choice so we're raising to somewhere between 1200-2599....
"Ace-King suited means that you have a shot at both an Ace-high flush and Ace-high straight. You also have a shot at top pair whether it ends up being Aces or Kings, with a great kicker."
Yeah top kicker usually is "great"....
"The problem is, it doesn't always end up the way you want it, so the best move now would be to make a raise that will discourage the stupid hands from staying in (i.e. A-9 or lower, small pairs, mid-range suited connectors such as 9-8 of diamonds, etc.)"
First off that probably won't happen any more often than you would if you were to shove because the table is so short stacked. If they were going to play the hand they are going to play the hand. A raise doesn't drive anyone out. Due to the fact that no one has a deep stack implied odds are in the toilet.
"If you don't hit your straight or flush, which will probably be the case you're going to have to pair up your Ace or King in all likelihood. If you don't hit any of the hands possible for you, you're going to want to leave yourself an out in terms of chip stack so a raise to 1200 chips seems to be in order here.
A min raise? Are you freaking kidding me? Let's think about this. We've now made the pot 2100 with this raise. Anyone ahead of is now getting 1.75-1 odds. The small blind is getting 2.3-1 odds, the big blind: 3.5-1. So all of those hands you were going to be "protecting yourself" from you are actually inviting esp. from the big blind.
"If no one raises you, then you can see the flop before committing anymore chips. If you get raised in this situation however, you'll be faced with having to fold and lose 1200 chips or calling, putting your tournament life on the line"
Wait, wait wait. So going all in is "crazy". Folding is bad. But min-raising and considering folding to a raise is totally ok. Esp. when the raise to you can only be for another 1400 with AKs.
This is just ONE of the many many pieces of bad advice this book gives. It is also littered with typos and other misprints. Things such as your hole cards of 7c7h and the flop comes Ac 7c Js. ...does my set get bonus points for being the same suit?
So if you come across this book. Please don't buy it. Please don't accept it as a gift. Please don't re-gift it to someone you hate because that's just rude and cruel.
If someone comes along this Dennis Purdy or Robet "Doug" West. Please, for me, stab him in the eye with a really hot french fry.
Love and life,
BG
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lol Thanks for the review! Always nice to get your poker perspective. 
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