Cloutier and McEvoy are high among the ranks of poker stars. Perhaps they don't have the same TV time as some of the newer players but they make up for it in years of experience. Their book brings this perspective to the game of Hold'em and offers valuable lessons to the avid poker player.

Much of the information in Championship No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Hold'em is somewhat theoretical. Inevitably this leads to a bit of wishy-washy advice at times, but this is just par for the course in the world of poker books. It is quite difficult to give clear, explicit advice when there are so many unknowns. Nonetheless Cloutier and McEvoy do a respectable job of getting their brains on paper: You should have no problem shifting into their basic frame of mind.

It should be noted that the book primarily deals with tournament poker. In many examples a contrast with ring games is made to emphasize key differences. For somebody who plays a lot of cash games these constant reminders will likely be the difference between an early knockout and a deep run. This also leads to a noticeable absence of poker math in the book. Though not explicit, the theme is that expected value cannot be a key motivator in surviving a tournament: Rather the ever depleting stack takes the forefront.

I have a minor gripe about the use of first person in this book. Having the author speak of his personal experience is normally good; this brings a personal feel to the instruction. This is also the case here, but the trouble is the book has two authors and there is often no way to know which author is currently writing. Therefore each time you encounter "I" you can't be certain as to whether Cloutier or McEvoy is speaking.

That aside, the book is informative and helpful. Perhaps the flow doesn't quite demand non-stop reading, but it contains quite an extent of valuable information. As Cloutier and McEvoy do have somewhat different styles of play, this is perhaps a good read for those players used to a more popular looser play. And be sure to check out Cloutier's "Tales from Texas" chapter for some interesting historical poker anecdotes.

Book provided courtesy of Cardoza Publishing.