Poker Book Review: Antonio Esfandiari, In The Money

Intro by Marty Smith - This is a decent review from Amazon but I have read both WPT books previous to this, and found them to be too commercial for me. As well, any poker book that offers a chapter in chip tricks cannot be taken too seriously.


A rising star of the World Poker Tour™ and one of professional poker’s best players presents championship strategies for winning Texas Hold’ Em cash games. At this very moment, thousands of poker lovers are playing Cash Games, a non-tournament style version of Texas Hold ’Em, in casinos, home games, and online.

In this follow-up to New York Times best seller World Poker Tour™: Shuffle Up and Deal, poker professional Antonio Esfandiari provides the next level of poker strategies and insights for players of Cash Games, the most commonly played version of Texas Hold ’Em. Other stars of the World Poker Tour™, the most popular show in the history of the Travel Channel, offer their tips as well. This indispensable strategy guide is a must-have for any player who wants to know how to win his or her next hand and be ""in the money."



Review-
This book is easily worth buying IF have a decent poker library going already. If you're just getting serious you'll want some heavier strategy books. If you're more into the entertainment side of poker, I'd go for Doyle's "Wisdom of a Poker Champion" for a fun read.

Only about half of this book, if that, is actual poker strategy... and much of it is beginner to intermediate level. Still, there are some great nuggets tucked away, and Antonio gives many VERY specific examples of what he does in particular situations, and goes into both limit and no limit play.

I can only give this four stars, but i still think it's an excellent value. This book is NOT jam-packed with amazing poker instruction from cover to cover. A beginner would need a lot more info than this book has, and advanced players will only get a small to medium amount of fresh ideas here. Still, to me, ANY insight into a successful player's game is useful, if for no other reason than to get a different perspective from someone who knows what they're doing. I mean, for less than $11, too.

**I also reviewed the Erick Lindgren WPT book... that one's very similar to this book in layout and feel, although this replaces a little of the garbage with beginner content.

And last, this book also comes with a "how to do chip tricks" DVD, which is pretty neat, and adds a little more value. There's only a few basic tricks (like the chip shuffle), but it's neat anyway. It's only like a 5 minute DVD.


Erick Lindgren
Dan Harrington
Phil Hellmuth
Howard lederer