Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments; Volume I: Strategic Play

Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play author: Dan Harrington Bill Robertie rating: asin: 1880685337 binding: Paperback list price: $29.95 USD amazon price: $19.77 USD

This is Dan Harrington's first book, and it was instantly recognized as a classic of poker literature. HOH1, as it's called, covers "Strategic Play," in other words, play in tournaments when you have more than a handful of big blinds left and are not forced to either move all-in or fold. There are two follow-up books in the series, HOH2 (The Endgame) and HOH3 (The Workbook).

The book mostly focuses on multi-table tournaments, such as the WSOP/WPT events, but there are a number of examples that specifically address Sit & Gos. There are numerous hand examples in the book, which follow a question and answer format that leads you through the play of a hand street by street.

The authors cover all sorts of tournament topics, including a comprehensive guide on how to play all starting hands, in Part Five. They refer to Sklansky's Gap Concept (that you need a stronger hand to call than raise) frequently to illuminate discussion of hands. There is also discussion of various playing styles and how to employ and counter those strategies.

It's hard to say what the best part of this book is, but the many hand examples, complete with a World Champion's detailed reasoning about each situation, has to be one the major strengths of this book.

If you are playing poker tournaments, this is a must buy. There is a ton of concrete, useful information that will help almost any player.