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Mike Caro - Book of Poker Tells Seems like Mike Caro has been around for years - oh wait - he has! But we as players these days should be happy about that because he is one of the orginal poker (educator) pioneers and his book rated below was one that started a lot of players in poker. Poker Book Review: Mike Caro's Poker Book of Tells
The first time I saw this book was in the 1997 classic hold'em movie Rounders. It was face-up in Mike McDermot's drawer as he collected cash to make his run at the beginning of the movie. The cover looked intriguing, so I knew I should get it. Little did I know at the time that it was required reading for all poker players. I say this with particular mind for beginners, because there are two essential concepts that are discussed in this book. Firstly, to win at poker you should have a general idea of how players act when they have a strong hand, and how they act when they have a weak hand. Caro does a great job here of describing (photos included) these situations showing reactive and voluntary reads with repetition. Secondly, and just as important for players is to know if you are playing against actors or not. That being - Is the player acting tells, or are the tells advertising his hand. Under either scenario, you simply have to know the moves, and go from there. Critics of this book have often cited it as general information which essentially levels the players' field. Granted, anyone who has played 6 months should have read this material - but much easier absorbed than executed. As well, there isn't a lot of material here that will help internet players for obvious reasons. I have yet to get my hands on an updated video version of this book, but have heard some good things about it. A report will be coming soon. Caro remains one of the best poker teachers out there and created some nifty value per hour, and reliability charts for the reader of this book. Personally I didn't find them too useful, (somewhat convluted in fact) but certainly a thinking man had to come up with this stuff, so credit where due. If you are interested in learning more about tells, check out Beyond Tells by James Mckenna featured on this site. Some contrasting concepts are discussed and explained in a way that seem to be more effective in the world of poker today.
Marty Smith PokerStrategyArticles.com
Poker DVD Review: Texas Hold'em
Part of the value of this DVD is Mike Caro's comically entertaining charisma that brings excitement to just about anything he does. There is inherent value in the DVD as well, in particular for beginners trying to get over those live casino jitters. I feel too much time is spent on basic information that is available on any poker website, or simply watching an episode of the World Poker Tour.
It's easy to get the impression that Caro knows what he is doing as a player and firmly believes his strategies to be correct, but I find the specifics of those strategies rather evasive in this DVD. In the Own-The-Table-Section, Caro claims to make the viewer a Chip Magnet! Unfortunately, the tips here are really not all that profound. I get the impression that Caro is saving his best here for his seminars.
There are some valuable pointers to be sure. Like I said the beginner will benefit most from the sections that cover those aggravating player who seemingly raise every second pot, playing fearlessly while they do. as well, categorizing the hands in 4 major groups called power, probable, possible, and pathetic hands. Each of the hands in this group do serve a purpose and can be played in certain situations and this is the most valuable information on this DVD. As an added bonus there is a visual summary of some of the major visual tells. This section shows 10 of the most common tells that Caro made famous in the book reviewed above. Overall a decent production and a good poker library item.
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Poker Book Review Quotes:
If you’ve ever seen some of the hands from this tournament on youtube, you will see that Gus was actually using a personal recording device and whispering into a mic throughout the Aussie Millions Poker Tournament. You have to wonder if it was a self check system for Gus, or if he had actually planned to use the information for this poker book ahead of time. - on Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed" River rats courageous enough to raft down the Colorado through the Grand Canyon hire an experienced guide to navigate for them. Here are some tips that will help you steer your way through the rat bits of the Omaha River, starting with pointers for playing but not high hand, not low hands. - on Shane Smith's Omaha High Low at the Lower Limits
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