Poker: The Real Deal [Hardcover]

I bought Phil Gordon's Real Deal because, as a beginner to the game, I am overwhelmed by the amount of information out there on my new favorite passtime, and, watching Celebrity Poker Showdown, I have come to really appreciate Phil's explaination of hands and the game in general.

This is an EXCELLENT book for those unfamilliar with the game or new to playing but with superficial knowledge. Phil doesn't go into alot of nitty gritty about hand percentages, tells, etc. He gives you a very good, concise overview of poker playing, how to improve your game by understanding percentages, online poker, how to plan for a potential career as a poker player (it's not a ringing endorement, however. But might discourage those who assume it's an easy living from quitting their day jobs.), and he gives you tons of advice and resources as to where to look for more information. In short, Phil doesn't pretend to be the be all/end all for information. It's a refreshing change of pace from those who represent themselves as the all too often guru's of a popular trend.

I have to also commend Gordon for writing in a very easy-to-read style that doesn't get bogged down in poker lingo or condescending tone. And he writes with an amount of wit one might not expect. It's a very easy read that doesn't require a level of knowledge on par with Doyle Brunson to understand.

I can highly recommend this book for the beginning poker player. If you are very familliar with the game, it might bore you to a degree or you simply would find nothing new to the advice Gordon dispenses.

There's no debating that poker is a hot topic these days, and because of it, there's a lot of interest in learning about it. In this quest, lots of people will head straight for the "... For Dummies" series because it's familiar - they'll be making a bigger mistake than going all-in on a 2-7 offsuit.

"Poker: The Real Deal" is a well-rounded, very informative, easy-to-read and immensely entertaining book for the poker newbie. It covers a wide range of topics on poker, from the development of its variations throughout history, to the basics of strategy, to the lingo and customs needed to not look foolish at a casino or home game. This breadth of topics make it worth reading even if you're a moderately experienced player, but the true value is held for the novice.

Strategy is what most people will be looking for, and the strategy section is a definite strength, discussing the calculation of pot odds, the importance of position and the basics of valuing your hand strength vs. your read on that of others at the table. Does it cover strategy as in-depth as Sklansky and Malmuth's books or the classic "Super/System"? Of course not - that wouldn't be appropriate for the book's core audience. But the great thing about this book is that it contains very helpful passages from those books and points you to them if you'd like to get more information. Let's face it - most of us are just looking to keep up with our home games and occasional casino vacations, and this book works as a single-volume bookshelf that more than fits the needs of such a player. But again, if you envision yourself flipping the boss the bird and staking your claim as the next Greg Raymer, then "Poker: The Real Deal" will help you find all of the additional information necessary to start.

Online play is also covered, and while it's a good chapter, it's also (understandably) rather biased toward's Phil's affiliated website.

Many will buy or give this book based on Phil Gordon's recognition from Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown", and that's fine. His personal anecdotes add a lot to the readability of the book. Finally, it's even a physically attractive book printed on quality paper, even if it is a screwy size (very tall and narrow, making it more difficult than usual to hold open at the very beginning and end). Do you really want to host your first home game and have someone spot that atrocious yellow-and-black "Dummies" book on your shelf? Of course not.

If you're among the many who recently discovered poker via TV or the Internet but are buffaloed by the numerous books on taking your game to the next level, then your search is over - this is THE one book for you.

This is not a highly technical guide for advanced players. If you think that's what the statement "Insider Tips" on the cover means you'll be disappointed. I can count the number of good advanced poker books on my fingers, and most of them are by David Sklansky or Doyle Brunson.

As far as good novice books are concerned this is among the best. I've seen beginner books that just plain give bad advice, and this isn't one of them. As far as semi-amateurish books by pro players are concerned, this book and Barry Greenstein's book are both good reads. Greenstein's book is more advanced but also mostly deals with meta-game aspects. Gordon's book is a good amateur book and also a fun read. It's certainly better than Phil Helmuth's book which tells you to only play the 10 best hands (AA-77, AK & AQ suited or unsuited) and then spends the rest of the book mindlessly promoting Hellmuth and his online site UltimateBet.

I find Dennis Littrell's "leader of the Tiltboys" review rather arrogant and ... well ... wrong. If you're going to point out "slips" in the book, make sure you're right.

First, I've never seen any solid explanation for why Q-7 offsuit is the Computer Hand, but it's not because it's the "median" hand. At least Gordon's explanation is plausible. Some people say that in a flawed simulation Q-7 was dealt more than any other hand. Some say it was incorrectly listed as the median hand in a flawed simulation. If you list the 169 starting Hold'em hands by heads-up strength vs. a random hand, J-4 suited is the one in the middle. If you're looking for the hand that is closest to even money heads-up the answer is J-5 suited with 49.99% equity (Q-7 offsuit is 51.77%). The hand that wins closest to its share in a random 10-handed showdown is is 6-3 suited (Q-7 offsuit is near the bottom with 8.015% win share).

Gordon can't really be faulted for saying Chris Moneymaker hadn't set foot in a real cardroom before. Moneymaker has made a point of saying essentially that several times, and ESPN certainly tried to make him look like a guy who hadn't seen a deck of cards till he showed up at the WSOP. In truth, the 2003 WSOP was his first live tournament, but he had been in a cardroom before, and he was a long-time blackjack player and sports bettor.

Gordon's stories about crooked games in Vegas in the 70's, factual or not, are something that many people have talked about. Barry Greenstein talks about staying in California to play because the middle-stakes games in Vegas were so full of cheats.

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