Poker Book Reviews

Little Blue Book
By Phil Gordon

Review by John Carlisle

Poker superstar Phil Gordon follows up his popular "Little Green Book" with this work, "Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book, More Lessons and Hand Analysis in No Limit Texas Hold'em." The true strength of this book is in its excellent presentation. Gordon's approachable and likable personality shines through with each written word. While some poker books drag on with boring, lifeless lectures, Gordon's book is as entertaining to read as any well written drama. Essentially you are along for the ride as Phil leads you through each moment of 70 plus individual hands from heralded tournaments to forgotten charity events.

Phil gives us full access to his thinking with each card, each tell, and each action. Unlike other poker books, the reader is given the complete and clear picture of the hand in question including the position, game, level, bet increments, blinds, chip stacks of opponents, the circumstances leading up to the hand, etc. Far too many poker books leave the reader questioning the build up to the hands or instructions they expose. Gordon is sure to answer all of those questions before they arise.

With the intricacies and deeper-level poker thinking that Phil details in this work, I doubt that a complete novice could process the information. Instead, more studied amateurs, intermediate players, and even advanced players would be more likely to benefit from delving into these pages.

An example excerpt shows how Phil's writing seems to speak directly to the reader, making it as if he's simply sitting in your living room telling you about his game.

[With Gordon holding 10-7 off suit in Big Blind, he checks for a free flop with one opponent, an early position limper. The flop is 9-8-6 rainbow.]
Phil writes,

"Hi-ya! I resist the overwhelming urge to karate chop the table, and I start to think what to do next. Check my straight and hope for some action, or bet out and hope for a raise? What would you do? While the desire to slowplay is strong, I think it's a mistake here. What kinds of hand is my opponent likely to be holding? A tight intermediate-skilled player who limps under the gun generally has a very big hand - aces, kings, or possibly ace-king - and is hoping to re-raise a late position raiser. Or he has a hand like a middle pocket pair or medium suited connector and is hoping to see a cheap flop. In either case I'm certain to have the best hand and want to put him in a position to make the biggest possible mistake: I want him to raise with an overpair or a set. Betting seems clear. How much would you bet? I want to make this painful on him ...." pgs.204-205

The readability of the book makes it a great pick-up, but it also makes it susceptible to being passively read. A reader can leaf through this text with the mind on auto-pilot, enjoying the fine writing and compelling stories with each hand. In doing that, though, the poker player misses the wealth of valuable poker insights that are capsulated with each play and each ploy. The Little Blue Book is a hybrid: an entertaining book and an informational work. With that in mind, this work should be studied and enjoyed.

All poker players would love to have the chance to sit down with a poker superstar to pick his brain about the great game of poker. Essentially, this book provides that chance. In the Blue Book, Phil gives us the play-by-play thinking and actions that drove these real-life poker encounters. This latest book from Gordon is sure to be a winner which helps to produce winners at the tables. It gets away from the boring preachy style of many other poker books to give us the true picture of top-level poker action.