The Complete Idiot's Guide To POKER

"The world’s best poker writer does a terrific job preparing everyone from the complete novice to the hometown hero to play better poker."

—Phil Hellmuth Jr., 1989 World Champion,
nine-time title holder, and the all-time
leading money winner at the World Series
of Poker

Andrew N.S. Glazer, “The Poker Pundit”

* Expert tips on how to master the art of bluffing
* Winning strategies for the most popular games, including Texas Hold’em and 7-card Stud
* Idiot-proof techniques for guessing the strength of an opponent's hand

PUT ON YOUR POKER FACE—AND GET READY TO PLAY!

You’re no idiot, of course. You’ve tried your
hand at poker … without a whole lot of luck.
You’re a bad bluffer, a so-so shuffler, and a dunce in the art of knowing when to hold
and when to fold. You’re starting to think success is just not in the cards.

Don’t switch to Go Fish! Bet your chips on
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Poker—and
get simple strategies that will help you win
big. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide, you get:

* Rules and strategies for the most popular
poker games.
* Winning tips on playing poker online and
in tournaments.
* A foolproof primer on poker etiquette
* A list of poker-related books, websites,
and software.
* Advice on choosing games that suit your
current skill level.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ...

* The differences between home, casino,
and online poker
* The best ways to handle money in a
home game
* Classic poker personality archetypes
—and how to beat them
* How to handle winning and losing streaks
* Competing in satellite and super-satellite
tournaments
* How to bluff and read bluffs, and read an
opponent’s “gives” or “cues.”
* The nature and history of poker

ANDREW N.S. GLAZER

Andrew N.S. Glazer is broadly known in the poker world as "The Poker Pundit." He has written for virtually every major gaming magazine and website, including
Card Player, Poker Digest, and Casino.com.
In addition, he is the author of Casino Gambling the Smart Way (Career Press). He is widely considered to be the best poker tournament reporter and the only high-visibility writer who has as much writing talent as poker talent.
In 2003 Andy was the technical advisor for the seven very successful World Series of Poker shows that aired on ESPN. He has won many smaller poker tournaments, and has achieved "in the money" or final table appearances in almost every major tournament.

Dear Current and Potential Poker Player,

A great many poker books exist. I've read practically every one, skipping only
those authors who had
already demonstrated an ability to do more harm
than good. Happily, most poker authors don't fall into that category and most poker books are useful. If there are already many good books, though, why write another?
If you've read one good one, why should you read another? Why isn't reading one or two books and then adding playing experience enough?

Fortunately for you and all
the poker experiences awaiting you, poker is too fascinating and complex a subject for any one book to contain everything every player needs.

Poker books tend to be written either for beginners and intermediates or for advanced players. Reading "outside your group" risks either boredom or confusion and damaged self-confidence.

You can further subdivide those two skill categories into broadly- and narrowly-focused books (compare this text to one written entirely about seven-card stud). You can invent more categories and subdivisions if you like, but this breakdown is perfectly adequate for most discussions.

What you hold in your hands is a broad survey book for beginners and intermediates. If you're already an advanced limit hold'em player who wants a book that will show you how to become an expert limit hold'em player, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Poker will show you how to find such a book, but this isn't the book to give you the advanced lessons.

Writing this book was easy:
I just asked myself,
"What would I want to know
if I were starting out in poker today?" I wrote it all down and then cut everything that didn't have to be here.
I learned some of the lessons
33 years ago, some
33 months, and probably a few 33 days ago.
Lesson #1:
Never Stop Learning!

I haven't forgotten my training books, even the
very good ones, that didn't
do a good job of teaching:
the context that explains
how many seemingly
unrelated (or even apparently contradictory) concepts fit together.

People play poker for many different reasons and bring widely varying skill sets (both technical and emotional) to the table. This book examines that diversity. It's a collection of tools that will help you enjoy and profit from a wonderful game. Whether it's your first poker book or your twentieth, I'm confident it will increase your confidence and skills, and you will hope that your regular opponents don't
read it!

Good luck, and may the Force be with you.

Andrew N.S. ("Andy") Glazer, "The Poker Pundit"