Super System 2: A Course in Power Poker

Well, many years after Super System, Doyle did it again, offering a book with his recognisable name on the title and top class contributors to it. It is a book worth studying for anyone interested in learning to play various forms of poker and seeing how some top pros think about the game I won't give it five stars only because I think the weakest section (not poor or bad, just not as good as other sections or as expected) of the book is actually Doyle's contribution about No Limit Holden, not actually bringing anything new to the world of No Limit Holdem... And our reviews here have to be objective, while our admiration to the grandfather of today's poker revolution is unlimited.

SUPER SYSTEM is dated (one humorous line is author Doyle Brunson talking about scientists that make $35K a year but now of course mailmen make more money than that.) but besides the tested strategy of the legendary poker player there are many interesting anecdotes about his life as a poker player before it was a legitimate and celebrated profession. Though it is longer than it needs to be (was he being paid by the word?) it is a great starting point for new poker players looking to take their game to the next level. And his life from Lakers prospect (before they were in LA) to world champion poker player would make a great movie. What's the deal Hollywood poker players? Why haven't you made Doyle's story into a movie yet? Do it while Texas Dolly is still alive!

There is much debate on whether this book is simply an update to the old classic or a bona fide second volume and whether one should buy both (as the author recommends) or just the new one. For the majority of people (whose primary interests lie in various forms of Hold 'em and Omaha) you really only need to buy Super System 2. The chapter on no-limit is essentially the same and the section on limit in the original book is outdated because of the changes in blind/ante structure that have occurred over the years. The new book has chapters on pot-limit Omaha, Omaha high/low (Omaha8), Eight or Better (7 stud high/low), Triple Draw (2 to 7 and A to 5 lowball), tournament strategy, and Mike Caro's section on tells. If you get the new book and don't get the original, you're mostly missing out on a bunch of games that casinos rarely, if ever, spread (although you might see them in some home games). You'd miss things like 5-card draw (lowball and jacks or better), Razz (7 stud for low), etc. Probably the only meaningful (by that, I simply mean mainstream) chapter you'd be missing would be Chip Reese's section on Seven Card Stud. I personally don't think it's profound enough to warrant buying the original book just for that chapter, but great 7 stud books are hard to come by (compared to hold 'em). Yes, the book has its share of "filler" (preface, forward, intro, history, and plugs for his poker site) as you might expect from a book of this size, but you basically get all that "filler" at no charge, because the book is still reasonably priced for what you get. Even if you were only interested in Hold 'Em and Omaha, you'd be hard-pressed to take the same money and get decent books on limit Hold 'em, no-limit Hold 'em, pot limit Omaha, and Omaha8. You could probably find a single book on one or two of those four and have some money left over, but that's about it. If you're really interested in all of the chapters in Super System 2, then you could probably rate this book a 5. If you're going to ignore or gloss over half of it, then a 4+ is about right.