Despite it’s short-comings, Super/System is a must read if you are a no-limit hold’em player. You learn several plays that will get more money in the pot when you want it in there and plays that will make your opponent fold when you want him to fold. Brunson explains that the fact you will bust a lot of players if you play a pot with them and that you so often refuse to give up a pot makes you feared by your opponents. They don’t want to get involved when you’re in the hand, so they do things like give you free cards, don’t raise unless they have the nuts, just call even if they have the nuts, fold their good hands, fold their great hands, fold, fold, fold, and fold. Sounds good doesn’t it?

Even if you play a more conservative poker game you should read Super/System because it will give you a glimpse into what other opponents are thinking when they play a hand with you. It will also keep you from slipping into weak-tight play. You don’t have to play a lot of hands to adopt Brunson’s strategy at least partially. Also, there are one or two examples of specific profitable plays you can make scattered in the no-limit hold’em text that instinctively make you say “why didn’t I think of that?” when you read them. Those are plays you can use five minutes after you read them.

Though not as priceless as the no-limit section, the limit hold’em section thoroughly covers how to play good hands. It can be summed up in one word: bet. However, the analysis of why a bet (or occasionally a check) for each of the sample hand is correct is very complete. The section teaches you how to defend against draws when you have the best hand, which of your draws should be played aggressively, which of your draws should be played passively, and techniques for reading your opponents’ hands. There is very little discussion of how to bluff effectively, but that’s okay with me, since bluffing without a draw is rarely correct in a nine or ten-handed limit hold’em game.

The non-hold’em sections of the book are for five-card draw, seven-card stud, draw and razz lowball, and high-low split games. The five-card draw chapter is extensive, but unfortunately the game isn’t played much anymore. It is still a good read though, because Mike Caro is the main contributor to the section and he includes several anecdotes about how his table image helps him get calls he would have otherwise not gotten. That easily applies to limit hold’em and seven-card stud, games in which you are often betting for value. The seven card-stud section is good too, teaching you how to get the most value for your hands. I don’t play lowball, except for every 15th or 20th hand on dealer’s choice night, but I think I can hold my own in the game now. If you have a good understanding of poker theory and read this section, you can beat a low-limit or medium limit lowball game. There are few to speak of in the casinos today though. The high-low split section is co-authored by one of the best poker writers on the market, David Sklansky, but it too is outdated. It assumes there is no qualifying hand, like an eight-low, for the low end of the pot in these games, when almost every game today is played eight-or-better for low. It still teaches lessons that are relevant today, most notably that you should play hands that have a chance to scoop (win both the high end and low end of) the pot.