I am really not much of a book reviewer but I would like to share this with you. While visiting Amarillo Slim’s new website http://dewapoker.org I came across Amarillo Slim’s new book All In: An E-guide To No Limit Texas Hold’em, I believe it to be the greatest and most educational book on poker yet. With so many E- guides on poker out on the market, I was wondering if this was the real deal.
Texas No-Limit Poker is still poker as the “ol’ timers” know it, but having the knowledge to play in a tournament is definitely different. Playing in poker tournaments is very different than playing in cash games. Players are in a hurry to get the tournament over with, which is much faster then watching and waiting. Texas hold em can be stressful as all of your focus needs to be on the game. Everyone asks Would it be worth it if I played this tournament? I say Yes, it is definitely worth it.
The first strategy I picked up from All In was patience. I really couldn’t stress patience as it is one of the most important factors of the game. Realizing that the hand you are playing could go in any direction possible makes it imperative to be patient. If you are impatient and play a hand like it is something, you can very well lose the hand. The biggest mistake people make is not being patient. They think the more time they spend on a hand the more they should be doing it wrong.
Another mistake is playing too many hands. This is usually the biggest mistake people make and costs them way too much money. The old saying ” seen it once, it can happen again” is so true. The key to not playing too many hands is to be incredibly selective and yet be willing to play any two cards if you feel you have a have a chance.
A great poker quote by Doyle Brunson is “The Game Of Poker is a game, sets are temporary friends, and sets are permanent enemies.” This is so true, yet the regretful thought that you could have saved more money by not playing, nearly always turns into “I would have won if I played more” which isn’t going to solve anything and just puts you in more debt.
One of the best ways to win at poker is to be extra patient and win the ones you have before you lose the ones you don’t win. One of the worst things you can do is to get frustrated and play stupid and you will almost always lose on the ones you didn’t really need to lose. If you want to be a winner always remember, it is going to take time to build yourself up. If you are already used to grinding in poker freerolls and tournament freerolls, you are not going to suddenly win 8 big blinds and get an amazing at the table drawing from you pocket 8’s.
Playing the now betting with hands such as A-A or K-K should really only be attempted by very experienced poker players, those who also have enough confidence in their hands to know that at the end of the hand they will still be winning. If you are very new to poker, I would suggest you stick to the starting hands beginners and play in the beginning using the big cheap flops like 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 6-6, and peek for a crude yet semi-bluffy hand to play in the beginning. All the novice poker players and even the poker players who have a lot of experience should avoid the all-in or fold high stakes games until they learn how to play the game better and handle themselves better in high stakes games.