Poker Book Reviews

Poker for Dummies

By Richard Harroch and Lou Krieger

Review by Tom McEvoy, 1983 World Poker Champion.

Poker for Dummies is an excellent primer for the novice player and it has plenty of insights for the more advanced player. The book was written by Richard Harroch, a noted attorney and avid poker player from the Bay area, and Lou Krieger, noted poker author of two previous books on hold-em strategy and columnist for PokerPages.com and Card Player Magazine.

The book covers most of the poker games currently spread in casinos across the country and some additional tips for the home poker games including wild card games. Priced at $15.00 this is truly a bargain. I enjoyed the many stories and anecdotes about famous poker players even more than the strategy sections.

The book is full of tips, warnings and reminders of how to trap opponents and pick up tells, as well as how to avoid the same. The strategy on when to bluff and when not to bluff is especially critical to the novice player. Most players are clueless in this area when they first start playing, and this book explains in simple and easily understood language what to do and not to do. The book contains poker slang which novice players are not always familiar with, and explains what these terms mean. Discussions and stories of famous players and famous bluffs were especially interesting to me personally, probably because I knew most of the players involved.

Summing up, I certainly do recommend the book for the novice player and as I mentioned earlier, even the more advanced player can pick up something useful. You get 280 pages of material, a bargain indeed.