One stormy day …

I enjoy good books on poker. I like the strategy discussion, the tips, and the experienced insights but tend to skim over the sample hands. Poker hand analysis is deadly boring! Phil Gordon’s latest book is nothing but hold’em poker hands and hand analysis. Boring? Not! I followed every hand and thoroughly enjoyed Phil’s setup and analysis. Gordon wrote The Little Blue Book as a follow up to his successful book on strategy, The Little Green Book.

Where the ‘Green’ book lays out Gordon’s approach to hold’em poker and offers insight into his playing strategies; the ‘Blue’ book tells the same story through real poker hands that he has played.  Gordon sets up the situation for a hand, shows the table position of players and betting status, then takes us through his thought process on each card and bet decision. The situations range from tournaments to cash games to on-line games. Sometimes the players are nameless; often a famous poker pro shows up in the hand. Gordon makes each hand into a short story with a beginning, middle and resolution. There are happy endings and there are bust outs. Sometimes the strategy works and sometimes it doesn’t. Good or bad result, each hand teaches something useful to the aspiring poker player.  

Conclusion - Phil Gordon’s Little Blue Book is a great addition to the poker bookshelf.