Book Review: Harrington on Cash Games Vol 1

Finished this book a few days ago. Time for the review.

Wow, this book rocks. I'm really torn on moving this ahead of NLHE-T&P its that good. Very comprehensive, very detailed, and the information seems really solid.

Starts off with a "Poker Basics" section, which is fairly light. Runs through what you need to know (to be honest I skipped most of it), but it obviously wants to be a book for people who already have some idea of how to play without isolating newbies altogether. It probably covers everything a newer player needs to know though.

Then we get into the meat of things. A really good overview of things you need to know about poker. This is really nice. By no means is this a "starting hands chart" book, its intended to actually teach you poker. Covers things like stack sizes, pot sizes, pot commitment, hand reading, meta-game, stuff like that. A lot of the issues covered in PNL but not as comprehensively.

The rest of the book is directed at teaching Tight Aggressive play preflop and postflop, with the postflop play split into HU and multiway pots. He uses the randomisation approach similar to HOH books, with a lot more examples. Its really nice, he'll go through an example where you raise PF with an example hand, then run through multiple types of flops, and multiple scenarios for each type of flop, with his suggestions.

He does set things out in a "This is what I'd do" kind of way, but mostly thats balancing his actions (eg: 70% call, 20% fold, 10% raise), but I dont think he really expects you to play exactly his way, just get an idea of situations where you'd mostly do one thing and how you'd mix things up a bit. Gives you an idea of how to think about spots and the things you should take into consideration.

After all the example scenarios he then does the Problems anyone whos read HOH would be familiar with. Sets up a situation, reads on relevant players, gives you a starting hand then walks through actions PF and Postflop (Both what he'd recommend and what actually happened in that example).

Finishes abruptly so its obvious that it really is one book split into two. Havnt even read the blurb on vol 2 so not sure what the split is, but looking foward to reading it.

On the whole I think this was a really comprehensive coverage of poker in general and TAG play in particular. Lots of useful concepts that can be applied in your game readily. I'm not sure there were any real "Wow!" eye opening bits in there for me, but there were lots of little nuggets that could all improve my game, and the advice was well explained.

I think this could be a first book for someone. Makes it hard when I already know so many concepts to picture how someone new to the game would go with it, but I think theres enough stuff in there to walk them through it. Definitely good for someone with a couple months experience looking to improve their game. I'm not entirely sure if I'd recommend this over NLHE-T&P but its pretty close. I suspect if you just want to buy one book get NLHE-T&P, but if you're prepared to buy two then get both volumes of HoC. I'll probably comment on this when I review (after reading) volume 2.

I really think you'd want to read this book again and again. You'd want your own copy rather than just borrowing someone elses.

On a sidenote, I heard someone say they've read reviews saying that the book recommends (too?) tight play preflop and postflop. I'd disagree. For advice aimed at FR (by the looks of it), his play/advice seems closer to 6-max ranges to me. If anything he encourages you to not give up too easily postflop (while still being aware of pot commitment and other issues when you may be behind).

I´m looking forwrd to reading vol 1 and 2 and i think, I`ll spend my PokerStars fpp on it ( still 2300 short of theese).
i would love to have more discussion on pokerbooks besides plain reviews.
for example PNL byFlynn/Mehta/Miller, which i`m studying intensly right now: everybody seems to be really fond of it and it has some usefull ideas, as far as i can judge. still there are some things that might be controversial.
its a great read anyways...

hags

No reason you cant discuss the books in these threads Wink

. I posted one a while back reviewing PNL, ask any questions or discuss whatever in that thread if you like.

I've read a few differing reviews for this book, but, having read it myself, I really like it too. Harrington explains the concepts very simply and clearly.

I've also read NLHE-T&P, and I agree with bjsaust. I think NLHE-T&P is the better book, but it's hard to compare the two, as they take slightly different approaches to the same subject.

I've just bought HOC Volume 2, so without reading both volumes, it's impossible to say what they are like as a whole. However, I think HOC Volume 1 would be an excellent choice if you are just starting to play cash, and NLHE-T&P is a must read as you learn and progress.

argh bj, dont get me wrong; enliven things a little bit, thats what i meant.

Almost done with one. My over all feeling was meh. Having read a lot of books and the great advice here, talked to people, blah, blah, blah it was nothing new or revolutionary. Clarified a couple small points, that's about it.

However, if you're new to cash, and playing micro-stakes this would be an excellent book. Easy first choice, just like HOH was for tournaments.

HOC books are gold mine for live cash players but almost worthless for online 100NL above aggressive cash games. Harrington didnt even give any advice about 3 bet/ 4 bet steal , resteal and squeeze play.

I have three of his books and they all ROCK!
Peace
FLOW

i read several books. i was thinkin about reading these, but knowing that i had to read two volumes i hesitated. i guess i wont mind pickin these two up.

I'm a beginner, and this is my first book im still reading (actually the 2nd time around). For those who have never read a poker book, it covers a wide range of topics. I have the 2nd book eagerly awaiting my perusal, but I know it picks up where vol 1. left off. It goes into TAGG turn play and river play. It talks a bit about tells and observations, then it delves into the LAGG style. After that it talks about Bankroll Management.

I haven't read other books so I can't really stack it up against them. But this book has taught me so many interesting concepts and ideas, and it was very easy to absorb.

book rocks

This is a great book!

I wanted to get this book as soon as I heard it was coming out as I have read HOH and HOH2 multiple times, and even HOH3 twice.

I was put off however when I was told that HOC focuses on deep-stack poker which of course plays entirely different to 100bb max buy-in online games. Is this the case or have I been mislead?

Also, to those who have read both, whats the better book for killing cash games, HOC or PNL?

Poker Forum

Join Our Poker Community!

Poker Forum Index

Tools Of Poker

Book Review: Harrington on Cash Games Vol 1

Poker Forum Index

Tools Of Poker

Book Review: Harrington on Cash Games Vol 1