Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1: Strategic Play, Written by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie

In my mind this is a book no striving Texas Hold’em player can do without. Actually, it’s a masterpiece and definitely comparable with classic poker books like “Super System” and “Hold’em for Advanced Players”. The book focuses on No Limit Hold’em tournaments and is an almost complete guide to this complex form of poker playing. Pot odds and hand analysis, betting before and after the flop and betting on fourth and fifth street are just some of the topics covered in this very well written and pedagogical book.

However, the section I like the best is the one on the many different kinds of playing styles. Harrington’s advice to inexperienced players is to adapt a conservative approach since aggressive play demands either great talent or vast experience. I’ve seen Harrington in action a few times and he’s undoubtedly one of the tightest players in the game. But, as every poker player should, he studies his opponents carefully and thus is able to thoroughly describe the pros and cons of other playing styles in the book.

“Action Dan” Harrington is a prominent figure in the poker community. A lot of people were stunned when he 2004 reached the final table of the WSOP for the second year in a row. That was truly an astonishing achievement by a man who became world champion back in 1995.

This book is the first volume of two and the early part of tournaments is in focus. In volume 2 the later stages of tournaments is addressed. They’re both very good.