Opinions on Gary Carson's book?

Paul3221

Has anyone read Gary Carsons book on Hold'em?? I've heard some people say good things about it on RGP.
My cousin's boyfriend had a copy at the cottage, but a cat had urinated on it or something, and it stunk too bad to read (somehow, he hadn't noticed ). I tried to skim parts of it, and it looked interesting. Possibly a little more aggressive than some other books suggest.
Any info would be great...

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Unknown

I haven't heard of the book, but...

My cousin's boyfriend had a copy at the cottage, but a cat had urinated on it or something, and it stunk too bad to read (somehow, he hadn't noticed ).

ROFLMAO.

Thanks for the laugh!
all_aces

ScottyZ

I wasn't too impressed by this particular book.

In some ways, it's similar to Hellmuth's book. Not at all appropriate for beginners, and with the occasional bit of food for thought for a critical thinker.

Not a terrible book, but below average I think.

ScottyZ

Tilter

Paul3221 wrote:

I've heard some people say good things about it on RGP.

Carson is an AZZ on RGP. Whats up with him.

professor

I wasn't too impressed by this particular book.

Neither was the cat.

ScottyZ

professor wrote:

I wasn't too impressed by this particular book.

Neither was the cat.

I figured that trashing this book would just turn into a pissing contest at some point.

ScottyZ

Unknown

Cue drum fill and cymbal crash please.

Phred

I guess I'm the lone dissenter then. I found it helpful. Much like Hellmuth's book, it offers bits and pieces you can apply to your own game. Where it fails, I think, is in trying to be all things to all players without stretching the book to 1,000+ pages or so. Not enough details for the various player types/levels involved. You may not want to fork out the cash for something that is only marginally applicable to the level you play at now. But, as you progress, you will find other nuances elsewhere in the book.

Amy C

I actually like Gary's book. I think he does a nice job of taking you beyond the conventions of tight, positionally rigid, starting hands into the land where we know real limit players live.

True story:

I was playing at a local home game. It was a notoriously tough game and I was the newbie fish. I had only played there a few times when one night, a charming older gentleman was playing at my table. He was playing some really trashy hands that always seemed to turn to pure gold at the showdown. I encountered a tough hand where I had flopped top two pair and lost to a player that rivered a gut shot. The older guy seemed like an experienced and knowledgeable player, so I asked him how to avoid losing hands like that. He said, "Why that's easy my dear. Next time bring a gun to the game and shoot the offending player before they can scoop the pot."

At the end of the night I asked my hosts who the guy was. They said "Why that was Gary Carson, of course." Having read Gary's posts on rgp, I would never have taken the witty, friendly, and charming gentleman at the table for the often caustic poster that bears his name...but they were indeed one and the same.

Amy