Paul Mendelson - The Mammoth Book of Poker: The Most Complete Guide Ever to Taking up Poker and Winning

The Mammoth Book of

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The Mammoth Book of

PAUL MENDELSON

Constable & Robinson Ltd
3 The Lanchesters
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2008

Copyright Paul Mendelson, 2008

The right of Paul Mendelson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

The author and publishers cannot guarantee financial profit from playing poker after reading this book. Please play responsibly. The use of he and him throughout is intended to represent both male and female players.

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

UK ISBN 978-1-84529-807-4

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

First published in the United States in 2008 by Running Press Book Publishers All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher.

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

US Library of Congress number: 2008923886
US ISBN 978-0-7624-3381-0

Running Press Book Publishers
2300 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371
www.runningpress.com

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www.runningpress.com

Printed and bound in the EU

Outline of A Texas Hold Em Game

NO-LIMIT HOLD EM (incorporating Pot-Limit)

LIMIT HOLD EM

Nick-the-Greek Nick Dandalos one of the biggest gamblers of all time, always said that his favourite thing in life was gambling and winning; the second-best, gambling and losing. Over a lifetime of poker, casino card games and dice, he won and lost several fortunes, reputedly ending his days searching out low-stake poker games just for some action. This book is about gambling and winning... a lifetime of winning!

The massive explosion in the popularity of poker at the start of the twenty-first century, ignited by television coverage and the possibilities of endless games online, has made this the gambling game of choice for anyone who wants to enjoy the vertiginous thrills and spills, the adrenalin rushes and sustained high-octane pressure and to win! Because there are hundreds of millions of people who play poker these days, just for the fun of it, just like on TV, there is now an unparalleled opportunity to play to win: to turn a hobby into a fine source of income, from modest pocket money to full-time serious earnings.

It is no coincidence that the form of poker that has been at the forefront of the games explosion is Texas Hold Em. Its been described as the Cadillac, or Rolls-Royce, of poker variations and it certainly does combine skill and luck and plenty of action. The vast majority of poker hands being dealt right now, as you read this, will be Hold Em. This is the form which allows the skilful player to make slow but steady progress up the rankings, be they tournament results or profits in cash games. It is the game the WSOP World Series of Poker reserves for the final championship of over a month of poker action. Some experts feel that there is, perhaps, just too much luck in Hold Em to ensure that they make the final tables and big payouts regularly. Some think that the game has become too popular; that anyone can play and that the skill element is reduced. They favour HORSE tournaments, which feature five alternating forms of poker, to truly challenge them. The games are Hold Em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Eights or Over. Intriguingly, at the time of writing, all final table action (where the really big payouts are proffered by bikini-clad beauties) is exclusively Texas Hold Em, acknowledging that this is the game which you have to master to make it big. The professional players move away from playing exclusively Hold Em is great news for the serious amateurs theres more chance of hitting it big if some of the pros are staying away. For these reasons well be concentrating on Hold Em in the Mammoth Book of Poker: its available everywhere an international language. If you can play Hold Em successfully, given some practice, youll be able to adapt to any variation of the game to which you put your mind. Play Hold Em decently and youll be a winner. Your hobby will finance itself: meals and hospitality will come your way, trips to Vegas, Europe and Australia, and the opportunity to treat yourself or a long-suffering loved one to a gift or two from your profits, be they large or small.

To sum up: the world is full of people who think they can play poker, people who have watched the game on TV, seen it featured in a James Bond movie, but they will be, almost without exception, losers. If you study and master the key elements, know how to recognize the game for you, and you have the patience and discipline to make yourself into a winning player then, with the help of this book, you really will be able to play poker not just play at playing. Youll win and win consistently.