Poker Book Review: Killer Poker Online 2 by John Vorhaus

John Vorhaus is unlike any other poker author in that he is first and foremost a writer, but even more, a philosopher about the game of poker. His Killer Poker Books have all stood out from the competition in a way that other writers cant really touch and nor should they try. For doing so would be like Montel Williams emulating Plato. John Vorhaus is different. His writing about the game evokes self discovery as opposed to hand-to-hand combat, ala Harrington. Vorhaus approaches this angle with an introspect few of us players would have delved into otherwise. The thing is, you can know all there is to know about NL Holdem, but to be ultimately successful, an understanding of yourself is critical to that end.



Enter Killer Poker Online 2. This is the 4th book in the Killer Poker Series that focuses primarily on no limit holdem and tournament online play. Now focusing on these games doesnt mean chapters of hand analyzing and what would you do next scenarios. It means uncovering your desires, emotions, greed, fear and other factors that propel you into such confrontations. In effect, Killer Poker gives you the power over such emotions to make the right decision in a game critical intersect. Does this sound confusing? That goes with the territory of discovering yourself as a poker player and a human.

I am not saying its a tough read to understand, but you surely will find yourself rereading numerous segments of this book as if you were about to complete a huge puzzle in your mind and were only a few pieces away. In fact, In Killer Poker style, the writing goes back and forth from philosophical statements like "Deception is what you do to others, delusion is what you do to yourself" then to chat box ignorance like, "can u be my bich?", all the while keeping you entertained, entrained, and thinking about your game like never before.

Killer Poker Online 2 includes some really intense chapters on sit and go tournaments, multi-table tournaments, and heads-up sit and go tournaments each of which were the value of this book alone. Now I dont mean cookie-cutter strategies. Vorhaus advocates your own strategy for each and every situation, but by adding his own humility, skills, and experience to these topics you leave each chapter with a frame of mind about yourself and your competitors that you absolutely know will give you an edge.

Killer Poker Online 2 is an advanced strategy book to be used with others in developing yourself into a consistent online poker winner. By giving this entertaining, but deep thinking prose a chance to come into your game, it will certainly lead to a better bankroll. Mr. John Vorhaus, please, dont stop!

I can also add here that Will Wheaton's foreword was as interesting as many other poker books in their entirety, and can easily envision a great piece of work from him in the future.

by Marty Smith @PokerStrategyArticles.com

Poker Book Review: Killer Poker No Limit by John Vorhaus

No limit holdem cash games are about the toughest games to crack. No sooner than you have a couple winning sessions under your belt and confidence abound, that the game yeilds a thrashing strike directly into your psyche leaving you and your bankroll demoralized and humiliated.

Ah yes, the mind game involved in poker, specifically no limit cash poker which is the main subject of John Vorhaus’ latest Killer conquest of the mental and strategic inner journey series.

You see, Vorhaus is no ordinary poker writer. In fact he is one of those unique authors that having succeeded in other writing endeavors, brings a creative flair to the straight-up poker world combining poker, prose, and psychology that just makes you go … hmmm.

For some, Killer No Limit will be a tough read as in typical Vorhaus style a lot of self searching is required here. There isn’t a chapter where JV let’s the reader get off easy, and with most other chapters in the Killer series, rereading is not only reccomeneded, but required. Of all the poker books I have around the house reading on and off, this one my wife just came right out and asked, “Are you still reading that same book?”

I did find this Killer book somewhat more practical than others as there were several chapters with hard edge realism that you could take to the table immediately. Nearly a third of the book is a profiling section called Us and Them. In it John Vorhaus explains some of his creative note taking strategies where he tags everone at the table using a mental grid in short order. For those of us so used to to using online poker assist software this chapter will help you re-adjust to live cash games by teaching you how to concentrate at the table again.

In typical Vorhaus style, his penmanship sweeps the reader into the kind of self analysis that makes you think about your day as a poker player and how your mindset is a critical tool for consistently making the right decisions at the table as well as away from the table.

There is a tournament strategy section in this book, but don’t let this confuse your quest for cash game strategies here. In fact, I think Vorhaus should have kept this book focused on cash games because NL tournament strategy deserves a whole book on its own.

Poker Book Review: Killer Poker by John Vorhaus

In a word - RAISE! The first of John Vorhaus' Killer Poker series sets the tone for the whole series - shortly to include the 4 th instalment. Being selective aggressive, and maniacal "like", this book takes the standard book player, a level higher by employing an aggressive mind set and thus taking over the table. Focusing on ring games, JV explains how to force other players to make poor choices against you when you have good hands. A big part of this aggressive mentality stems from position and hand selection like any other writer will tell you, but JV seems to be able to make a case for aggressively playing less than stellar hands - such as J9, K10, QJ, 66 and the like. Suffice to say that knowing your opponent here is key and JV takes that into account as well, descriptively explaining most of the personalities you're going to see at the table.

Through layman style psycho-analysis, JV gives you the tools to play the cards AND the opponent. While supporting the position that playing this way will result in higher earnings and more winning sessions, JV puts his reader to that very task by questioning your motives and emotions with some hard hitting self check subjects.

This is definitely not your ordinary poker book and NOT a beginner's poker book to be sure, but one that you can build on AFTER you've learned the fundamentals of steady, profitable ring play. As JV writes, "Why wait for good cards when you can play killer poker and win no matter what kind of cards you get".

I like any writer who can make you think about yourself and your game because they surely are intertwined. Vorhaus is a breakthrough poker philosopher in that regard, and Killer Poker is on our TOP TEN list because of it.

by Marty Smith @PokerStrategyArticles.com

Poker Book Review: Killer Poker Hold'em Handbook by John Vorhaus

Poker player and author John Vorhaus takes the reader through a series of discussions and exercises designed to jump-start their approach (or improvement) of the game of limit holdem, the most popular card game in the world today.

One of my good friends in college once told me that the purpose of undergraduate studies in any discipline is to get the student to learn how to think. By this measure, Vorhaus gives us a very good undergraduate education in poker. While he doesn't ignore the specific nuts and bolts strategy that we would expect, of much greater value are the lessons that he gives us throughout. They could be summed up briefly as "keep your head in the game", and "always think about what the other guy is thinking about;" of course, they run much deeper than that. To call this a workbook may be overstating the case; however, Vorhaus frequently invites us to take a break and generate our own ideas on the topic that he is currently instructing us on, with the goal of teaching us critical thinking skills that will translate into dollars at the poker table.

  By the end of the book, we've been exposed to some amusing anecdotes, some common situations in poker, and a look into the minds of some of the opponents that we will face, with lots of admonitions against becoming one of the less desirable stereotypes of poker players.

  The Good and the Bad:
  The writing in this book is very strong; while it may not win any awards for literature, it is miles ahead of the pack of poker books in terms of reader accessibility. Despite a frequent return to a couple of major themes (Don't tilt! Don't tilt! Don't tilt!), the book manages to move through most topics with a fair amount of clarity and entertainment. Vorhaus is not afraid to present himself as the horse's ass in his anecdotes, as long as it is in the service of showing us how to play. The approach of teaching critical thinking skills is also very much appreciated.

  On the down side, I wish that Vorhaus had spent a little more time on presenting situations that the player is likely to find him or herself in, and I would have liked a mention of how an online poker player might apply some of the lessons that he is teaching differently.

Another criticism has to do with the exercises. If Vorhaus expects us to do the exercises in the various sections, he should have put a little more into them (rather than just saying "when do you go on tilt"?). Also, the "diaries" of some of the players we're likely to meet (a clever approach to getting us inside the head of our opponents) are a little long; the space could have been better spent by giving us more practical advice on how to beat the player-types presented, or by giving us more player-types.

Matt Hetling, Chicago

Killer Poker Online

If you play K7o in early position (or don't know exactly what this means), this is not the book for you. Go buy Lee Jones's book on low-limit poker and read it about 10 times.

However, if you really know how to play, and you are frustrated on the internet, this might be what you need. He goes into the psycology of playing online. Talks about "What the hellism" - his concept for not assigning any meaning to the chips - and other self-defeating thought patterns.

Also read this if you are new to gambling period. Much of this "Self-control" type of stuff is what you learn from gambling experience in general. However, the author does describe some "Winning Tactics for online play" that I take issue with. He talks about "betting it up" - going into a game and raising all the time to make people unconfortable. This is great if you are playing premium hands or constantly catching cards, but if you are against a even one or two decent players, you will see a lot of reraises, then get beat by the premium hands - the author doesn't go into how to handle that situation ! Another thing. If the game is low-limit, there is not a lot of bluffing that can be done period. So maybe the author is good enough do to this in the right game and the right stakes - but it's irresponsible offer this as general poker tactic to everyone.

I also take issue with his advise to chat decitfully or annoyingly so as to take advantage of "weak-minded or naive player". Every respected poker author on the planet tells players to be nice to people - this helps the individual game, the player himself (despite what the author thinks), and poker in general. This poker boom won't last if we are not decent to each other - and to suggest otherwise is again, irresponsible.

So while this is not a classic by any means, I found it a good mental check-up on poker and gambling in general. Ken Bagwell

Poker Book Review: Poker Night by John Vorhaus

The book is geared for the home poker game and the goal is to teach you how to cream all your beer-drinking buddies and take their money. The first part of the book is a brief rundown of hand rankings, how to host a game, house rules and then a brief synopsis of the four major games - Draw, Hold 'Em, Omaha and Stud. Then the book goes into strategies for these games with a short section at the end on playing in casinos and going pro.

Overall I thought the book was ok and worth the money. I picked up a good dozen or so tips on strategies for playing. I coupled these tips with what I learned in Peter Arnold's "How To Play Poker" and I guess the tips are working because when I play online I win a lot (with play money of course). I liked the section on odds - no complex mathematical equations on calculating odds or memorizing tables of probabilities. Just a simple explanation on how to calculate card odds and then pot odds.

I would recommend the book to anyone who buys it. For $14 you can't go wrong. Plus it's funny too - I caught myself laughing out loud a few times at the humor Vorhaus put in the text.

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