I'm always very cautious when I see a book with the name of Frank Scoblete on the front cover because he is the author of a lot of books, ostensibly on gambling but with little real content for serious players. Luckily this time he only wrote the foreword; the actual author of this book for low limit Texas Hold'em players is Bill Burton. Burton seems to be an honest fellow. Quite openly he tells the reader that he started playing low limit hold'em about a year ago before he wrote this book and that he is a winning player since then. I don't doubt that he is a winning player but the question is: Can someone write a reliable poker book with a playing experience that short? Has he fully understood and mastered the principles and concepts that form the basis of Texas Hold'em? As it turns out he hasn't.

Let's begin with the starting hand advice he gives. Burton admits that his recommendations are based on Sklansky's hand rankings. And what is Burton doing with Sklansky's hand rankings? He is tightening them! Of course this is nonsense – and will make for a really boring time at the tables. Remember, Sklansky's advice is aimed at mid limit games. Low limit games are normally much looser. In this case you should not play tighter, you should loosen your starting hand requirements. Burton tells you that you should only play pocket pairs of tens and higher in early position. Then he says, "in a very loose, passive game I might consider playing the pair of 9s or 8s in early position instead of the middle position." The truth is, in typical low limit games where constantly five and more players are seeing the flop you should play any pair from any position. With pocket queens Burton advices you to just call. Sure, you won't win that often in low limit games with queens but that doesn't mean you shouldn't raise. In all likelihood you will have the best hand before the flop, so make your opponents pay for the possibility to run you down.

There are two Sklansky concepts Burton mentions that he obviously hasn't understood: the protected pot and semi-bluffing. Burton thinks a pot is "protected" if there are a lot of players in the pot. "This means that you can be sure someone will be calling all the way to the end." But that's not what Sklansky understands by a "protected pot". This concept is only applied at the end when all the cards are out. Here is what Sklansky says: "A protected pot is a pot that is being contested by a number of players. The pot becomes 'protected' on the last round. By protected I mean that it is extremely unlikely that anyone will try to steal the pot from three or more opponents when all the cards are out. They know that there is almost no chance to get away with it." In the case of semi-bluffing Burton at least gets the definition right this time. "Unlike a bluff, when you have nothing, semi-bluffing is done when your hand is not strong enough to win the pot at the time, but does have the potential of improving to the best hand. If you bet, you are hoping that the other players will fold and you will win the pot without going any further. If you are called, then you still have a chance that your hand will improve to be the best hand." What Burton fails to to mention is that semi-bluffing is best suited for mid and high limit games, in low limit games semi-bluffing loses much of its value because someone will usually call you. That means you should only rarely semi-bluff and chose your spots carefully otherwise this technique is counterproductive. At the end of the semi-bluffing chapter we read the following:

"Occasionally you will come across a circumstance when the winning hand is on the board, although it is not the nuts. This could be when the board shows a straight or a flush. There are several players in the hand and it looks like it will be a split pot. The board is:

K♥J♥8♥3♥2♥

If you are last to act and everyone has checked, you can bet and possibly cause another player to fold. You are bluffing that you have the Ace of hearts. If any players fold, you will be splitting the pot with fewer players."

There are two things to be said here. First, this is not a semi-bluff because for a semi-bluff there have to be more cards to come. Second, this is a typical suckers play. Ok, once in a blue moon someone may fold and increase your share of the pot. But most of the time you just cost yourself (and the other players) money because someone will show you a low heart like 5♥ he was understandably afraid to bet. Without a doubt the correct play in this case is to check behind and hope for a split. Don't try to be too smart.

Even more irritating is the "Board Reading" chapter. "In Texas Hold'em, your ability to read the board is one of the most important skills you can develop." And then Burton continues: "Learning to read the board is just a matter of practice." I have no problem with that but what is really embarrassing is that out of the four examples Burton gives three are wrong! Let's just look at one example. The board is K♠Q♠T♠K♦9♣. Then Burton says that with KQ, KT, K9 you hold a full house and with Kx, QQ, TT, 99 you hold three of a kind. Obviously with QQ, TT and 99 you have a full house and not three of a kind. In the same chapter there is something funny. Burton gives an example of a hand he misplayed because he didn't read the board correctly.

"I was playing in a game at a casino in Tunica, Mississippi. I was in the big blind and held: T♣3♠. The flop was 3♦3♥8♣ and the turn was 8♦. I was ecstatic and I decided I would try for a check raise. I checked, two players checked as well, and the third player bet. Two other players folded and I raised when it got back to me. The two other players folded and the original better called me. It was now heads up. The river card was 2♠. I bet and my opponent raised me. What was he doing? I had a full house so I re-raised him. He re-raised me and I called. I turned over my T♦3♠."

What is this, magic? He was dealt T♣3♠ but he turned over T♦3♠!

This book makes me sad because it could have easily been the best written book ever about low limit hold'em. Burton knows how to formulate in a very easy to read way and he presents even complex facts very clearly. For instance I have never read a better and illustrative explanation why you shouldn't play ace rag before the flop. Unfortunately beside much right there is a lot of incorrect and misleading information in this book. In one word: a missed opportunity.

(Tristan Steiger)

Buy the book!