Ryan Carter

Pot Limit & No Limit Poker
By Stewart Reuben & Bob Ciaffone The Bible for No-Limit Holdem Cash Games

A quick search of "poker" on amazon.com returns 963 books, 83 of these have No Limit in their title. Most of these 83 focus on No Limit tournament play. With new poker books coming out seemingly every week, and the popularity of NLHE, one would think that there would be a wealth of material on the subject.

The fact of the matter is that a player interested in learning or improving NLHE cash play will have a very hard time finding good material on the subject. While pretty barren, the NLHE material isn't a total waste land. Stewart Reuben and Bob Ciaffone's Pot Limit & No Limit Poker offers a great guide to not just Pot Limit and No Limit Holdem, but to any game that is played with this structure.

Bob Ciaffone has always been one of my favorite poker writers. He is able to articulate his points so clearly that after reading them you wonder how you could have missed it before. With the contrasting style of Stewart Reuben Pot Limit and No Limit Poker is able to paint a great portrait on how to beat big bet poker. The only downside to this book is that the section on No Limit Holdem is fairly short. If Ciaffone and Reuben could expand this book, there might not be a need for more NLHE cash game material. While reading don't make the mistake of skipping the non Holdem game specific sections. You may never play NL Lowball draw, but you will still be able to learn general NL principles that might not be covered in the Holdem section.

I have read this book more times than I have any other poker book. If I am ever feeling frustrated or think I might have a leak in my game, I sit down and read this book straight through. You might not have such an attachment to this book that I do, but if it is not part of your poker library you are missing out on some very profitable information.

You can purchase this book at the Poker Dynasty book store: Pot Limit & No Limit Poker