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Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies by Terry Borer and Lawrence Mak with Barry Tanenbaum D&B Publishing 2007 366 pp, $24.95

Online poker has introduced many new developments to this beloved game.

One of these is the advent of intentionally short-handed tables. Despite the popularity of these games, few books have been devoted to examining the special circumstances surrounding short-handed play. One of the few to do so is Limit Hold’em: Winning Short- Handed Strategies by Terry Borer and Lawrence Mak, with assistance from Barry Tanenbaum.

The book begins with several chapters that serve as an introduction to the topics it covers. The authors discuss differences between online and live play, as well as general differences between short-handed and full games. They also go into considerable detail about using statistics and online player-modeling tools as playing aids.

After the introductory material, we get down to it. Around half of the book steps through each hold’em betting round; explaining how to play at each stage assuming the game is fi ve or six handed. Following this we have chapters that cover “super short-handed” situations, defi ned as those with fewer than five players.

The book concludes with several chapters on miscellaneous topics, including bankroll management, tilt, poker ethics, and personal development. One of the things I really liked about the book was its use of supplemental software to help profi le online opponents. Instead of poker book hand examples characterizing opponents as “loose/aggressive,” “tight/ passive,” or the like, the authors’ metrics were calculated from hand histories.

The chapters on each betting round contain mostly good advice. I’m sure these techniques make the authors winners in the games they play. The suggestions are thoughtful and aggressive, just what I expect you’d need to beat short handed games. The supplemental material at the end of the book is again, good advice, but all stuff that has been covered in more detail in other places.

I have to admit that I did have a problem with an overarching theme of the book, though. The authors state that playing in a three handed game is different than playing in a full game where everyone folds to the player on the button.

Does their rationale have anything to do with the possibility that the folders in the full game may have had especially poor cards? No. Their claim is that the game is different because it plays differently. Since the game plays differently, they focus on how their opponents play and don’t consider why it is that these situations are different.

They don’t consider whether it is the full game, short game, or both types of players that are playing poorly. Apparently, they don’t think it’s an important question. Well, I do think it’s an important question, and it’s one that I wish the book had addressed.

So, while I think this book is likely to be valuable to those looking to improve their short-handed online play, and I while I think the way they parameterize opponents is nothing short of outstanding, I don’t think the authors did such a good job of providing a strong foundation that justifies the way they play. As such, I fear that the fundamental techniques described in this book will not have as wide an applicability or as long a shelf life as one might hope.

Despite this, I do expect that those who presently play in the sorts of games specifically discussed here will find Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies quite beneficial.

Limit Hold’em: Winning Short-Handed Strategies by Terry Borer and Lawrence Mak with Barry Tanenbaum D&B Publishing, 2007 ISBN: 978-1-904468-37-0 366 pp, $24.95

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