Poker expert Ed Hardcastle's two books on how to succeed at low limit home and casino poker are now available from Las Vegas based Advantage Concepts. These analyses give the beginning to intermediate player the tools and strategies employed by top professionals. Hardcastle takes the methods and disciplinary techniques used by the best and shows the low limit player how to use those concepts against the typically weaker player encountered at the small stakes level. The books do not contain bogus get rich quick promises. Simply put, they deliver a teaching method that will give you the knowledge necessary to consistently beat the game. The games covered are Texas Hold 'em, 7-card stud and loball. The books are entitled: "Shredding Your Opponents in Low Limit Home and Casino Poker" and "88 Crucial Concepts." If you only want only one book, I would suggest "Shredding...".I ordered them & received them in about two weeks. I am very satisfied. As always, the books are only a form of self-discipline, and this whole program of discipline is what works, not the material in the books, so much. But the material is good in these books. It gets you thinking on a few key concepts, and as you begin to acquire these concepts, your game improves.
I have moved (over about 8 years of home games, after quitting bridge) from a reputably tight winner, to just a winner; noone would now characterize me as tight, but they would characterize me as a winner, and generally dangerous in any pot. Perfect!
(Casino note): although I really like the structure and ambiance of casino poker, I have very little skill there, and agree that most success for the "small-town-champ" will be at home, and that the casino is much harder to read, and therefore much harder to control (back to the main issue of the game). It would take days, I think, for the disciplined, thinking player like me, to achieve it in a casino; on the other hand; it can happen there (I favor Omaha high, 10-20, but all I could find in St. Louis was Omaha 8 5-10. I played only that table, and in one session, got control & won 700; next time I came, the locals at the table controlled me and I lost 1100 (two days) Sorry for the digression: the point is, these two books are mainly concerned with control & discipline in the home and small casino games: they were just right for me.
I attribute most of this to discipline and acquiring skills from books like these, and incorporating these skills (few of which are card- or odds-skills, but are mostly control- & (one's own) table image- skills.
I would also recommend Caro's Book of Tells; gets your eye on the other players, which is where the action is. (I now think most poker success is a proper read of opposing hands--that is the nuts of the game.) Good luck.
Oh: size: short, concise, insightful: 50 pages altogether, but packed with good stuff. Highly recommend both of them. A much better investment than an early call with 88.
