Editor's note: Card Player Europe Bureau Chief Rolf Slotboom has read just about every poker book available, and in this series of columns, he analyzes the work of several poker authors, one at a time. He analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of both the person and his products - whether it's books, DVDs, or just articles. Extensive reviews and ratings of individual books and DVDs, can be found on Rolf's site, www.rolfslotboom.com.
When I decided to start this series of columns on influential poker writers and their products, there was no doubt in my mind that the first person to be analyzed should be Doyle Brunson. When he released his monumental
Super/System in 1978 (original title:
How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker), it must have been a shock to the poker world. Never before had a top player given away so many secrets. Not only had Doyle given away his own - remarkable - playing style in no-limit hold'em, but he also had recruited some of the other top poker players from that time to write about their specialty games. For instance, Mike Caro, Chip Reese, Bobby Baldwin, and David Sklansky wrote extensive chapters on draw poker, seven-card stud, high-low split, and limit hold'em, respectively.
Super/System has been called the "Poker Bible" ever since then, simply because the amount of first-class and in-depth information that the authors revealed was unparalleled at the time.
It needs to be said that as groundbreaking as the book must have been when it was released, it has lost a significant part of its value. This is because many of the games discussed are rarely played anymore (draw poker), or because the structure of the games has changed (limit hold'em with two blinds now instead of just one). This makes the strategic analysis less useful. Plus, many of the excellent concepts in this book have already been taken one step further, for instance, by David Sklansky and, more recently, Ed Miller.
The no-limit hold'em section by Doyle Brunson is still of remarkably high quality, though - precisely the reason why it appears almost unchanged in
Super System II, with just a few minor revisions in his initial strategy. Doyle's highly aggressive approach - for the most part, picking up lots of pots with nothing, instilling fear in his opponents, and having the appearance of being a very lucky player - is absolutely delightful to read. I always love it when an author doesn't give just some rules of thumb for how you should play, but instead explains in depth how he plays, and why. Sometimes it's a bit hard to follow; for instance, Doyle consistently calls the flop the "turn," but his advice on how to play no-limit hold'em cash games is pure gold. Having said that, it is important to note that with the recent no-limit hold'em Internet boom, some major changes have taken place in the way this game is played - not just online, but also live. And these changes have seriously affected the usefulness of Doyle's strategy.
• No-limit hold'em cash games often have capped buy-ins nowadays, meaning that the very deep-money games that Doyle discusses have become almost nonexistent. With the money more shallow, it has become much more difficult to successfully pull off Doyle's extremely aggressive style of play.
• The opposition has become more knowledgeable, and less passive. This means that in contrast to when this book was written, people are now more apt to play back at "bully players." The success of Doyle's approach is, for the most part, based on the premise that people will not reraise him all that often - but nowadays, players would often do just that.
• The strategy as described in the book depends on deeper thinking and better knowledge of percentages than the opposition, and on trusting your own reads. However, especially new or inexperienced players are not likely to have these abilities just yet - meaning that for them, following Doyle's extremely risky advice may actually be a recipe for disaster.
Notwithstanding all of this, Doyle Brunson is still, without a doubt, one of the must-read authors in poker, even in 2007. And even though his recently published
Super System II has gotten some mixed reviews, I think this has had more to do with expectations that were simply too high, because just like
Super/System, Doyle again recruited some excellent contributors for
Super System II. More importantly, quite a few chapters in the book range from more than decent to very good (the triple draw section by Daniel Negreanu, the Omaha eight-or-better section by Bobby Baldwin and Mark Gregorich, the seven-card stud high-low section by Todd Brunson, and, to a lesser degree, the limit hold'em section by Jennifer Harman). So, while not being as extremely relevant or groundbreaking as
Super/System, Super System II can easily be labeled as one of the top books in the poker industry. And, quite clearly, the credit for all of this should go to the person who put all of these top players/writers together: Doyle Brunson.
Next issue: David Sklansky.
About the Author
Strengths: A groundbreaking no-limit hold'em cash-game approach. Shares his own successful playing style and thoughts, rather than just writing about how you should play.
Weaknesses: The very loose-aggressive style he recommends, as groundbreaking as it was when
Super/System was released, has become less effective and more dangerous in recent years. This is because nowadays, the opposition is more knowledgeable and more aggressive; plus, in the online poker age, the money is usually more shallow than it used to be in the brick-and-mortar cash games that Doyle discusses.
Best piece: His classic no-limit hold'em section from
Super/System, which has remained almost unchanged in
Super System II.
Worst piece: Doyle's "Online Poker" section in
Super System II. It offers absolutely no new insights.
Titles: Poker Wisdom of a Champion (collection of essays, formerly titled According to Doyle);
Super/System (excellent material, but a bit dated);
Super System II (good, but has too many "fluff" contributions)
Additional information: Doyle Brunson won two consecutive
World Series of Poker main events, in 1976 and 1977. Both times, Doyle's winning hand happened to be 10-2. Doyle owns 10
WSOP bracelets. At 72, he still plays regularly in the world's largest cash games.
