I recently reread Dan Harrington's book and decided to review it for a two-part series. Some of the things I learned have already helped improve my tournament play.

The former 1995 WSOP Champion collaborated with renowned backgammon author Bill Robertie on Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy for No-Limit Tournaments Volume 1.

It's the first book in a two volume set on No Limit tournaments. In the last three years, Harrington has made the final table of the $10,000 WSOP main event on two occasions and in October, he came in second place at the Doyle Brunson North American Classic at the Bellagio.

This book is not for beginner poker players. It discusses some pretty advanced topics. However, if you have a firm grasp of poker but have not played in too many tournaments, then Harrington's book can help you become a more solid tournament player.

Dan Harrington's tournament resume is impressive and he draws upon his many experiences which makes his book one of my favorites. Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 1 is divided into seven sections. The second part of each section is called "The Problems," where he illustrates the concepts that he discussed in each chapter.

Several of Dan’s examples are actual hands that occurred during his experiences at the World Series of Poker, which it makes it better to understand since I've already seen those hands broadcasted by ESPN. It was great to read how Harrington explained why he made certain decisions.

I skimmed Part One, which is a brief introduction to poker and tournaments, since it was all stuff I already knew. In Part Two, Harrington discuses starting hand requirements and three different playing styles; Conservative, Aggressive, and Super-Aggressive.

I agree with Harrington when he says that you should learn how to play all three types. In tournaments I'm always changing gears. He stresses that it's important to shift all playing styles during the course of a tournament.

One of my favorite passages appeared on page 52 where he explains shifting gears:

"You'll have to learn how to play what I call a balanced strategy. Simply put, this means that you have to learn to vary both your raises and your calls, as well as the actual size of your bets, to avoid giving your opponents a read on your style."

I'll post Part Two of my review later this week. Stay tuned!

Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy for No-Limit Tournaments Volume 1
Written by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie
2x2 Publishing