Summary

Poker is hotter than ever. Tens of millions of people shuffle up and deal, log on and play, and tune in to watch televised tournaments on a regular basis. No Limit Hold'em, known as the 'Cadillac of poker', is widely considered to be the purest form of the game and is by far the most popular, given that it is featured in the World Series of Poker and on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown. In PHIL GORDON'S LITTLE GREEN BOOK, world-class poker player and co-host of Celebrity Poker Showdown Phil Gordon does for poker what Harvey Penick did for golf, sharing both his technical expertise as a seasoned veteran of the game and his insights as one of poker's most visible teachers. He provides players of all levels with invaluable tips, expert advice, and bits of poker wisdom. Gordon's accessible explanations, conversational approach, and easy-to-read diagrams make LITTLE GREEN BOOK a must-have reference for anyone interested in learning No Limit Hold'em as well as the millions of players who have already gone all-in.

Author Biography

Phil Gordon is a world-class poker player and teacher with two World Poker Tour championships and seven final table appearances at the World Series of Poker. Since 2001 he has earned more than $3 million in tournament prize money. He is the author of several bestselling books, including Poker: The Real Deal, Phil Gordon's Little Green Book, and Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book. Alongside his teaching and commentary on forty-two episodes of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, Phil is one of the preeminent poker teachers and writers in the world. Phil currently resides in Newport, Washington with his wife and two young sons.

Foreword	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Poker Truths	p. 5
Decisions, Decisions	p. 6
Consequences	p. 6
Getting It In with the Best Hand	p. 7
The Fundamental Theorem	p. 8
It's My Turn to Bet....Think!	p. 9
I Don't Have to Be the Greatest	p. 11
Common Mistakes	p. 12
Observing My Opponents	p. 14
Value of Aggression	p. 16
Position, Position, Position	p. 16
Money Flows Clockwise	p. 17
Blinds Have a Negative Expectation	p. 18
Have a Reason to Bet	p. 19
Changing Gears	p. 20
Learn from Better Players	p. 21
Big Hand Big Pot, Small Hand Small Pot	p. 22
Before the Flop	p. 23
Study, Then Look	p. 26
When First in the Pot, Raise	p. 26
Limping	p. 28
Raise the Right Amount	p. 31
Calling Limpers	p. 32
In Position, Smooth-Call a Raiser	p. 34
Playing from the Small Blind	p. 36
Raising from the Big Blind	p. 39
Raise the Limpers	p. 40
The Chip-Sandwich Play	p. 41
Steal from the Cutoff	p. 43
Preflop Domination	p. 44
Playing Great Hands When They Raise	p. 46
All-in Before the Flop	p. 49
The Fourth Raise Means Aces	p. 50
Know When a Player Is Pot Committed	p. 52
Re-raise to Isolate	p. 52
Pocket Pairs in Multiway Pots	p. 54
After the Flop	p. 56
First to the Pot Wins	p. 58
Heads-Up Postflop	p. 59
Against Multiple Opponents	p. 65
Betting to Slow Down an Opponent	p. 68
Double Gut-Shot Straight Draws	p. 69
Hands to Bring to War	p. 70
Board Texture	p. 72
Bet Good Hands	p. 74
After Flopping Two Pair	p. 75
After Flopping a Set	p. 79
After Flopping Trips	p. 82
After Flopping a Straight	p. 85
After Flopping a Flush	p. 89
After Flopping a Full House	p. 91
After Flopping Four of a Kind	p. 94
After Flopping a Draw	p. 95
When I Bet and a Good Player Calls	p. 98
After the Turn	p. 99
When I Improve My Hand	p. 101
When a Scare Card Hits	p. 104
Calling with a Draw	p. 105
Semibluffing	p. 106
Taking Down the Pot	p. 108
After the River	p. 110
Getting Paid with the Nuts	p. 112
Betting Medium-Strength Hands	p. 113
Bet or Check-Raise	p. 116
Tells	p. 118
Caro's Great Law of Tells	p. 120
Beware of the Speech	p. 120
Varied Bet Sizes	p. 122
The Out-of-Turn Bet	p. 122
Big Chips, Small Chips	p. 124
Chip Stacks	p. 125
When They're Busy, They're Tight	p. 127
Suit Check	p. 128
Quick Bet, Slow Bet	p. 128
Changes in Demeanor	p. 129
Leaners and Slouchers	p. 129
Shaky Hands	p. 130
When They Look at Their Chips	p. 131
When They Look at My Chips	p. 131
The Quick Call	p. 132
The Slow Call	p. 132
When They Reach for Their Chips	p. 133
Toss vs. Slide	p. 133
Reverse Tells	p. 134
Tournament Strategies	p. 136
Staying Alive	p. 138
Build a Tight Image Early	p. 138
When the Pot Is Big	p. 139
Take a Time-Out After Significant Changes	p. 139
Know Their Stack Size	p. 141
Get Lucky...at the Right Time	p. 141
Target the Average Stacks	p. 142
Play Small Pocket Pairs	p. 143
Don't Go Broke with One Pair	p. 144
Sample Tournament Payout Structure	p. 145
Playing to Win Tournaments	p. 147
Money Means Something	p. 148
Making a Deal	p. 149
Steal the Blinds!	p. 150
When Stealing the Blinds Doesn't Work	p. 153
Steal or Re-raise?	p. 155
Keep the Average Stack Size in Mind	p. 156
Be Comfortable at Thirty Big Bets	p. 157
Playing the Big Stack	p. 158
When the Antes Start	p. 162
Short Stacks	p. 162
Super Short Stack Strategy	p. 163
Wait for the Blinds to Increase	p. 166
Rebuys and Add-Ons	p. 167
Bubbles	p. 168
Last Hand Before a Break	p. 169
Implicit Collusion Late in a Tournament	p. 170
Sobering Math and Bad Beats	p. 172
Some Percentages and Math	p. 176
The Rules of Four and Two	p. 178
A-K, A-A, K-K	p. 180
The Value of Suitedness	p. 181
Preflop Matchups	p. 182
Slight Dog, Big Favorite	p. 184
Interesting, Unexpected Matchups	p. 184
Pot Odds and Implied Odds	p. 186
Psychology	p. 192
Big Laydowns	p. 194
Bury Them	p. 198
After a Bad Beat	p. 199
Superstitions	p. 200
Rushes	p. 201
Watch for Betting Patterns	p. 202
Beating Tight and Passive Players	p. 203
Beating Loose Players	p. 204
Beating Calling Stations	p. 205
Beating Overly Aggressive Opponents	p. 206
When to Change Gears	p. 207
Seat Selection	p. 209
Forming a Game Plan	p. 209
Showing My Cards	p. 211
Tilt	p. 211
Implied Tilt Odds	p. 214
Game Selection	p. 214
Timing of Bets	p. 215
Bluffing	p. 216
Making the Big Bluff	p. 216
Miscellaneous	p. 222
Stakes and Bankroll	p. 223
Session Length	p. 224
Stop-Loss or Win Goals	p. 225
Advance Scouting	p. 226
Chopping the Blinds	p. 226
Don't Tap on the Aquarium	p. 227
Practice Makes Perfect	p. 228
Sick Gamblers	p. 229
Sunglasses at the Table	p. 230
Staking and Getting Staked	p. 231
Aggression Is the Great Equalizer	p. 232
Tournament Structures	p. 233
Online Poker	p. 235
Player Profiles	p. 238
Gus Hansen	p. 239
Dan Harrington	p. 241
Phil Hellmuth Jr.	p. 242
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson	p. 243
Howard Lederer	p. 244
John Juanda	p. 245
"Biggest Online Winner"	p. 245
Rules of No Limit Hold'em	p. 250
The Basics	p. 250
Rules of Etiquette	p. 257
Tournament Rules and Procedures	p. 259
Charts and Tables	p. 260
Starting Hands	p. 261
Outs	p. 270
Preflop Chances	p. 271
Hand Rankings	p. 274
WSOP Tournament Structure	p. 276
FullTiltPoker.com Sit & Go Tournament Structure	p. 277
Further Study	p. 278
Books	p. 278
Periodicals	p. 280
Web sites	p. 281
Shameless Plugs	p. 282
Afterword	p. 284
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpts

Introduction

No Limit Hold'em is a very tough game. That's the bad news. But here is some good news: You can learn. How do I know you can learn? Because I was not always a winning player, and I learned. If I can go from "dead money" to World Poker Tour champion, there is no doubt that others can as well.

The greatest poker players in the world share five qualities:

They are invariably aggressive. Aggressive poker is winning poker. They apply pressure to their opponents with bets and raises.

They are patient. They wait for situations at the table that are profitable.

They are courageous. They don't need the stone-cold nuts to bet, call, or raise.

They are observant. They watch their opponents during every hand.

They are always working on their game and want to be even better players. They talk about the game with other players. They practice. They read poker books. They analyze their play and work to plug "leaks" that have developed.

These five qualities are all that are necessary to be a great, winning player. The first four qualities you can learn and develop. You already have the fifth quality -- you bought this book so you're working on your game.

There are many ways to win at this game. I intend in this book to write exactly how I play. You may disagree with many of the plays that I recommend here. Good. I want you to approach this book not as a definitive guide for how to play, but as a catalyst for thinking about the game.

In short, the following pages are, to the best of my ability, how I play No Limit Texas Hold'em. I'm not the best player in the world. But I'm a winning player, and I win playing exactly the style that is described here.

Throughout my poker education I have read nearly every book on poker ever written. I owe a great deal to the poker authors that have come before me. Sklansky. Brunson. Cloutier. McEvoy. Malmuth. Cooke. Harrington. Caro. Without their work I wouldn't be the player that I am today. Most of the things I know about the game I owe to these authors.

Harvey Penick, arguably the greatest golf teacher that ever lived, wrote a great book, Harvey Penick's Little Red Book. In that book he recorded his thoughts and musings on the game of golf. Not once in his book did he profess to know the only way to play. I drew inspiration from Mr. Penick's book and his straightforward approach to teaching a very difficult game.

Take your time with this book. No matter how thoroughly you digest the contents, you'll need to play thousands of hands against all kinds of competition before things will really "click" for you. Take your time. Your bankroll will not be built overnight. Grow it slowly. There will be setbacks. There will be bad beats. But, there will be endless amounts of joy as your game improves.

Excerpted from Phil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em by Phil Gordon
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.