Book Review: Secrets the Pros Won't Tell You About Winning Hold'Em Poker

A worthy addition to any player's well-stocked poker library is Secrets the Pros Won't Tell You About Winning Hold'Em Poker, by Lou Krieger and Sheree Bykofsky ($14.95, Kensington Books). Before I go any further, I'll point out that I do know Lou and consider him a friend, and while I'm unfamiliar with any of Sheree's earlier work, I have three of Lou's books in my own collection. So take this mild "plug" warning to heart.

Lou's one of the old vets of poker-authordom, being a mainstay of the bookstore shelf since the days when one shelf actually held all the available poker titles. It's no surprise that this March 1 release from Krieger and Bykofsky meets the standards of Krieger's earlier works, offering up a capped pot full o' poker nuggets in a format that's both consistent in writing quality and easier to digest than many of its counterparts.

I'm one of those picky sorts that values quality writing (no matter the topic), because the better the writing, the easier it is for the reader to figure out exactly what the hell is going on. Compare this to something like the latest "Bluff Magazine" dreck from Antonio Esfandiari, and you'll understand the difference between decent word-work and random spewage from a player (Esfandiari) --- admittedly a wonderful player, too --- whose writing abilities stop roughly at the level of text messaging.

Woof.

Back to Secrets. Here's why you should at least consider adding it to your collection. Krieger and Bykofsky's effort is aimed squarely at the intermediate player (with an extra focus on ring-game action), and it's a book that starts with general categories of thought, then focuses in on a number of concepts that have the capacity to jump your game forward, a step at a time. The first third of the book, "Basic Strategies and Play," is in fact a primer of sorts, though it's well worth the read. Call it attitude correction --- this section will remind you what you should be thinking about, every time you sit at the table, rather than what you actually are.

From there the book delves into a number of topics, including "Tactics, Strategies, and Ploys," "Image," "Money" (about bankroll considerations), "Minimal Math" and more. The Tactics section is especially solid, as it offers up the second- and third-level logic behind certain types of plays that can help put some teeth into your desire to play selective/aggressive poker. The "Minimal Math" section, hamstrung a bit by the authors' needs to not get too arcane, nonetheless includes a couple of neat "odds" charts that might be worth photocopying and keeping near to your computer as you play.

(Digression warning here --- this reminds of me my older boat-anchor computer, still occasionally in use, which I festooned with all sorts of taped-on sticky notes as I learned my poker basics. My sticky collection still includes such gems as "You are a calling station," "Attack or fold!!," and "RELEASE on the check-raise, you damn fool!!" Which doesn't mean I always do any or all of the above, of course....)

Back to our review. I like to think of Secrets as a counterpoint to some of Sklansky's books, among the most seminal strategy guides on the market. Let's face it: Sklansky's efforts offer wonderful concepts but are as easy to digest as oh, a Metamucil sandwich. Secrets is the type of book that will help you take those poker concepts that you know about --- but haven't really taken to heart --- and help you implement then within your game.