REVIEW
Along
with David Sklansky's Hold'em Poker, Doyle
Brunson's Super/System, originally titled
How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker,
heralds the beginning of what I would
call the "modern age" of poker. More than
anything else, I believe that the rise
in poker's popularity over the last 25
years is due to the amount of good information
that has been made available about the
game, and Super/System is preeminent among
the information sources that brought about
this surge in popularity. However, it
may be asked, how does this classic stand
up more than 20 years after its initial
publication?
The
book begins with some introductory remarks,
including an abbreviated history of Brunson's
poker career, before the author launches
into some general strategies for winning
poker. This is all stuff that today's
well-read poker player will take for granted:
keep emotional control, carefully watch
the competition, play patiently, etc.,
but it's pretty much all good advice.
I can't say I completely agree with Brunson's
feelings about ESP, but the information
he provides isn't damaging.
Then,
for the bulk of the book, Brunson has
someone he considers to be a true expert
in a given poker game lay out their advice
on how to be a consistent winner. He assigned
draw poker to Mike Caro, 7 card stud to
Chip Reese, the various forms of lowball
to Joey Hawthorne, 7 card stud high-low
split to David Sklansky, and Bobby Baldwin
and Brunson himself tackle limit and no-limit
Texas hold'em, respectively. This is as
solid a lineup of poker players as has
ever been assembled. The book concludes
with a glossary and a compendium of poker
numbers and charts compiled by Mike Caro,
explaining the various possibilities of
various occurrences in the games covered
in the book.
Many
of the games considered in Super/System
have undergone considerable change since
the book was written. When the book was
published limit Hold'em structures were
quite different than one would typically
find today. It would be very difficult
to find a draw high game spread in a card
room today, and even lowball, once the
core of the California poker scene, is
rarely spread any more. This limits the
applicability of some of the advice given
in the book. The section that's probably
still most relevant is Brunson's own no-limit
advice, and I believe this book is still
required reading to play this game at
the highest level.
Don't
get me wrong, this book is filled with
good advice. However, much of it is about
games that aren't played any more or are
played differently these days. Along with
structural changes, the players in these
games have changed themselves, and winning
strategies have had to adjust to keep
up. I believe I can name a better single
book on each one of the games covered
in Super/System, but by no means does
that mean it isn't worth reading. I also
don't believe there were any books available
that were better references on any of
the games covered at the time Super/System
was originally published. Moreover, even
if the strategies presented in this book
were completely outdated, which they're
not, the book would still be entertaining
to read and have considerable historical
value. I still believe that all serious
poker players should have this book in
their libraries. It's just no longer the
bible that it once was.
Capsule:
In
much the same way that Beat the Dealer
is associated with the game of blackjack,
Super System is a poker classic that has
more historical benefit these days than
value as a poker text book. Many of the
games it mentions aren't played or play
very differently in card rooms today.
Nonetheless, there are still many real
gems of advice in its pages, especially
regarding No-Limit Holdem, and the book
is well worth reading. These days the
book is more revered than it probably
ought to be, but it will continue to belong
on the shelf of every serious poker library
for some time to come.
Nick
Christenson
Gambling
Book Reviews
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