Phil Gordon's Little Green Book - Review

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Title: Phil Gordon's Little Green Book Author: Phil Gordon Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment Length: 320 Pages Date: October 2005 Rating: Intended audience: Geared for the introductory or beginning player. Available at: Amazon.com ($13.65 w/Free Shipping available) TightPoker Promotion: $50 Free Amazon Gift Certificate Reviewed by: Victor R. Dated Reviewed: 7/13/2006

If you have ever watched The Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo TV, you probably have seen Phil Gordon. He is one of the original Tiltboys from Northern California and has played poker for quite awhile. His first major win was in 2001, where he finished 4th place in the World Series of Poker main event. In 2002, Gordon had two WSOP final table appearances in Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha 8/Better. Over the last 15 years of playing the game of poker, Phil Gordon has taken down all of the notes, advice and insights that he has gathered from both experience and other players and complied it into this book.

Phil Focuses on No Limit Texas Hold'em Tournaments

If you’re looking for more advice on limit cash games or in-depth mathematical and theoretical explanations, look to Sklansky's Theory of Poker or Doyle Brunson’s Super System. Gordon’s book is strictly no limit texas hold'em with an emphasis on tournament play and best suited for beginners and intermediate players. While diminutive in size, its content is very dense and thought provoking. Gordon tries his best to get right to the point and talks about the basic ground rules of his style of play in no limit hold'em.

Specifically, Phil Gordon gives a comprehensive overview of the possible plays that he would make during the pre-flop and post-flop rounds in texas hold'em. At every betting round, he explains the most common scenarios, his possible plays and justifications for each decision. While he covers a lot of different situations, he scarcely talks about multi-way pot scenarios, which happen frequently at the low limit poker tournaments. His style is a semi-loose and aggressive, which is why a lot of the examples he states are already isolated into a one on one heads-up play.

Little and Green but doesn't skip on the Fundamentals

Phil Gordon's Little Green Book has a section on calculating pot odds and implied odds that is very simple and easy for the novice player. This is a good reprive for starting player who may have problems figuring out hand odds on the table. The "Rules of Four and Two" are simple tools (albeit not totally accurate) in knowing hand odds on the flop, turn and the river. Phil also provides charts on starting hands, possible number of outs, preflop probability and hand rankings.

The tone of the book is easygoing and very conversational as Gordon explains different aspects of the game. Phil Gordon has never stated that he is the greatest no limit player in the world, just a very profitable one. One would be hard pressed to argue with Phil, given he has won over $1.1 million in poker tournaments. It is a book that is best read little by little. Each section is a short essay that needs to be dissected and analyzed. It is best to read 1-2 chapters and apply them to the game to see what works best for your own individual style of play.

Final Review of Phil Gordon's Book

This book is recommended for beginners and intermediate level players that are looking to fine tool their no limit hold'em (NLHE) skills. Most of the books for no limit deal with too much mathematics and probability that can turn off many beginner level players. Phil Gordon's book is a good intro book for these people looking for tips and analysis that is not so convoluted in numbers. For the highest level of effectiveness, it is best to read this book as a complement to either Sklansky, Brunson, or Harrington’s books on no limit hold'em.

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