i had heard lots of good things about gary carson, mostly through ed miller's famous 2+2 posts (see his microlimit collection, it's gold), but never really knew much of him.
i was at barnes & noble yesterday, looking for barry greenstein's new book (i like to browse the books and skim them for a half hour or so before i committ to buying them--this is especially important with the five million poker books on the market these days... *cough* hellmuth *cough*). anyway, no luck with the greenstein book, but i came across carson's "complete book of hold 'em poker".
i sat down and started reading it, and an hour and a half later, i got up and realized how much stuff i had just learned. needless to say, i bought it right away.
HIGHLY recommend it.
yeah, the first few parts are basic and geared towards beginners, but man, the rest of the sections are golden. great chapters include:
- theories of poker
- a theory of starting hand value
- the dynamics of game conditions
- table image
- player stereotypes
- womena nd poker
it also has great specialized sections on spread-limit games, double bet on the end games, kill games, shorthanded games, tournaments, and NL/PL poker.
all in all, it's a great read that really goes well with the other five-star books we all talk about, like SSHE, TOP, HPFAP, GSIH, etc. really, this book is as good as any other 2+2 publication.
sorry for the rant, but i was just amazed at a book i had heard so little about that turned out to be such a brilliant read.
go out and buy it if you like money.
aseem