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Stewart Reuben & Bob Ciaffone's Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker Review at a Glance
Overall Rating:
4
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# of Pages:
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224
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Year: |
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1999
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Suggested Retail Price: |
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$25.00
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About Bob Ciaffone & Stewart Reuben
Bob Ciaffone has played poker all his life, and has been a professional player and familiar Vegas face since 1980.
Ciaffone has an excellent reputation both as a poker writer and poker player. His book "Omaha Holdem Poker", published
in 1984, is still considered the defining work on that form of poker by the big money pot-limit Omaha players.
His book "The Official Rules of Poker" is the first comprehensive poker rulebook ever written on the game.
He has had a popular regular poker column in "The Card Player" magazine since 1989. Ciaffone has extensive experience
at no-limit hold'em, no-limit ace-to-five lowball, pot-limit Omaha, and pot-limit Omaha high-low split 8 or better.
He was once voted as number three in the world at pot-limit Omaha in an informal readers poll of the top
players at each poker form. He has competed in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship (no-limit hold'em) seven
times, with a 3rd place finish in 1987.
Stewart Reuben is a familiar face for big-bet poker players on two continents. He has a home in a suburb of London,
and is a regular player in the big pot-limit Omaha and London lowball games of that city. During the "World Series
of Poker" tournament he is normally found in Las Vegas for several weeks of highstakes action. Stewart has played
poker professionally for the last 30 years. He is also one of the world's leading chess promoters.
Stewart may well be the earliest-ever poker columnist, having written for Mayfair magazine back in the 60's for a couple
of years. Reuben's main experiences lies in pot-limit Omaha, pot-limit London lowball, pot-limit seven-card stud,
and also limit seven stud. Stew prefers money play rather than tournaments; more intimidation. He has a
swashbuckling poker style that mke him a much-feared player. Opponents frequently leave the game losers, scratching
their heads, and opining that a player who takes so many chances ought to be broke. But Stewart keeps right on
winning.
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Inside Stewart Reuben & Bob Ciaffone's Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker
This book explains the proper concepts and strategies used for playing pot-limit and no-limit poker, as given by two
top-flight professional players. The forms of poker discussed include hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud, and several
varieties of lowball.
The vast majority of top-level poker players prefer pot-limit and no-limit poker. There is greater opportunity to obtain a
nice result through the exercise of skill, because good decisions offer a greater reward, and bad decisions invoke a more
sever penalty. There is much more that a good player can do to triumph over weaker opponents.
The book starts of by describing why a player should consider pot-limit games. It even recommends that limit poker
players should try to learn pot-limit games. Limit poker often requires you to have the best hand at showdown.
"A pot-size bet offers the would-be caller only 2-1 odds. This contrasts with limi play, where pot odds of
5-1, 10-1, and even 20-1 are commonplace." This concept is put into perspective, "The good players love pot-limit
poker because they can use their skills to the fullest extent. Limit poker is a fight between combatants who have
to wear handcuffs; pot-limit poker is open warfare. If you are 6 and a half feet tall and weigh 270 pounds,
wouldn't you rather play tackle football instead of touch?"
The next chapter describes Ciaffone and Reuben's eleven commandments, with brief descriptions:
1) Never play with money you can't afford.
2) Always know the rules of the game.
3) Don't steam.
4) Never play when off balance.
5) Run your profits and cut your losses.
6) Don't be a calling station.
7) Don't give or receive aggravation.
8) Don't get tricky against a weak player.
9) Don't get involved where you are either a small favorite or a big dog.
10) Don't play in a game unless you figure to win.
11) Vary your play.
The next few chapters discuss playing styles, betting, drawing hands, and psychology. Ciaffone mentions the amount of money in front of the players
has a profound influence on the betting. The deeper the money, the greater the implication that a player has a strong hand when he
raises. There is some good advice and insights within these chapters:
With regards to calling raises, "The general rule of thumb that professionals seem to use for
such a call is you want the potential to win about twenty times the current bet you are facing."
"With drawing hands, the top players are strong about not building a draw up front out-of-position."
The next several chapters discuss reading your opponents, the art of bluffing, playing against the bully,
and general no-limit play.
The reading your opponents chapter has some interesting information on poker tells such as shaking hands usually
means excitement over a strong hand, a player who reaches for his stack before you finished placing your bet
would have actually preferred that you didn't bet, and some other nice tips.
The next set of chapters describe specific poker forms: hold'em, Omaha, seven-card stud, and lowball, with quizzes to
test your understanding.
Reuben and Ciaffone then discuss general poker information: poker history, rules, ethics, and cheating.
The final set of chapters provide probability concepts, odds, and charts.
While it's nice to read a book focused on big bet poker, I would have preferred a book more focused on the game
of hold'em, since that's all I play. However, some of the general chapters still provided relevance and I found
those concepts to be solid.
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Reuben & Ciaffone's Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker Reader Reviews
Overall Rating:
4
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|
 “Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker” by yeltzen, 18 Jan 2005 |
Limit:  No Limit:  Tournament: Other Highlights: Overall Rating: |
This is definitely a thinking man's
book. It discusses a lot of theoretical
aspects of big-bet poker rather than
specific hands or situations. This is
similar to Sklansky's tournament book
in general, but the advice presented
here is far more specific and actually
is geared towards No-limit cash ring
games. However, the suggestions can
obviously be applied to NL tournaments.
The book addresses some problem
situations that a lot of people find
themselves in during No Limit play, such
as playing draws, beating a bully,
reading opponents, and how deep the
money is. The second section addresses
specific games, but it still does not
give you specific advice on how to play
specific hands. It simply applies the
concepts to various situations.
I would like to address 2DollaBets
review. Obviously, this guy bought the
book solely for it's NL Hold'em
section, which is NOT why you should buy
this book. You should buy TJ Cloutier's
book for specific advice on Hold'em. He
also doesn't seem to understand any of
the concepts being put forth by
Ciaffone. The quotes he brings up are
describing a situation in which you may
want to make a play at a pot without
having value. He does not recommend
bluffing at JJ3 with nothing regularly.
Nor does he recommend moving in on a
flush draw regularly. However, he brings
up the fact that a flop like JJ3
unsuited can only be won by one or two
hands (JJ, J3, or 33). You will probably
see your next birthday before you find
yourself looking at JJ3 without a made
hand and having outs. So, there are
times when you can make a play and get a
fold. As for moving in with a flush
draw, Ciaffone only suggests this when
you have to act first. Why? Because, if
your opponent suspects you are drawing,
and a blank comes on the turn, you are
totally out of position and are going to
get put all-in with only one card to
come. If you put it all in on the flop,
position is taken out of the equation
and you have a strong chance to hit your
flush. Additionally, only very strong
hands will call you, meaning most of the
time you will make your opponent fold.
As for the quote about going all in as a
dog, this happens far more frequently
than going all in as a favorite. The
reason for moving all in as a dog is
that skill has now been removed from the
equation. You are now going to get to
see all of the cards (which is what you
want), and you will win a huge pot if
you hit your draw. If you only play
Hold'em to show down the best hand,
then limit is probably a better game for
you than No Limit.
In general, though, the concepts
provided in this book are very strong,
and apply to every form of poker, not
just Hold'em. There are specific
sections for Omaha, Stud, Lowball, and
Hi/Lo split. If you read this book and
then want more specific information
about Hold'em, get TJ's book.
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