The Fundamentals of No-Limit Holdem – A Book Review

The latest addition to the poker literature canon is “No Limits: The Fundamentals of No-Limit Holdem” by Chris ’Fox’ Wallace and Adam Stemple. Consisting of 16 chapters on 250 pages, there is also a Preface, a Glossary and three Appendixes. The chapters of the book deal with topics like “Pre-Flop Play,” “Bet-Size: The Key to No Limit Holdem,” “The Importance of Position,” “Bluffing Strategy and Tips,” and “Bankroll Management.”

Fox, a long-time trainer at PokerXFactor.com, focuses in his text, which is organised by Stemple, primarily on $1/$2 No-Limit cash games, in order to make it useful for beginner and more experienced players alike. Despite the emphasis being laid on cash games, however, many of the concepts can be applied in tournament play as well: “A lot of tournament players will get useful information out of the book. We weren’t gearing it towards specific games; we were trying to teach people how to think. When you teach people the concepts, they learn to analyze the game for themselves,” Wallace explained.

The book discusses its material in a clear and well-structured way. In a preview released earlier this year, for example, Wallace comments on a number of typical Complaints about different playing styles at a table in the form of detailed and straightforward Answers. Another nice feature of the book is the use of sample hands, which help understand the particular theories in question.

If you are interested in some extracts, or want to order the book, you can visit the official website here.