By Paul McGuire
Matthew Hilger has been playing poker online successfully for the last few years. He has done well in ♣ live tournaments, too. He made the money and placed 33rd in the 2004 World Series of Poker and won the ♣ 2002 New Zealand Poker Championship. He started playing poker in college and improved his game while in graduate school.
When he ♣ took a job with Chiquita Foods in Costa Rica, he began playing in weekly tournaments at the local casino. Little ♣ did he know he played and even won against some of the best players in the world like Humberto Brenes. ♣ He started to play online after he transferred to Argentina, where gambling is illegal.
From those experiences to today, he shares ♣ what he has learned from playing over seven thousand hours online in his book, Internet Texas Hold'em: Winning Strategies from ♣ an Internet Pro, which specifically focuses on limit Texas Hold'em. If you are thinking about playing on the internet, this ♣ is the book for you.
Hilger's book is roughly broken into nine sections. During the first three, "The Introduction," "Poker Concepts," ♣ and "Starting Hands," he gives a general overview about poker which is beneficial to any new player. He includes a ♣ few definitions and familiarizes the reader with internet jargon. The charts and graphs he includes are easy to read and ♣ he suggests printing them out and keeping them next to the computer while playing.
Hilger spends almost 100 pages discussing the ♣ flop. He breaks down the concept further by discussing flopping the nuts, sets/trips, two pair, top pair/overpair, middle/bottom pairs, flush ♣ and straight draws, overcards, and my favorite... trash hands.
His strongest section is his thoughts on "The Turn." His discussion on ♣ raising on the turn to show the strength of one’s hand instead of slowplaying quickly rubbed off on me. I ♣ won a few more pots in recent games instead of losing to suckouts on the river because I failed to ♣ properly protect my hand.
Hilger also spends time on "Playing Your Opponent" and "Bankroll Management." He highlights taking advantage of your ♣ opponents' strengths and weaknesses. He also talks about the fluctuations that might occur in a bankroll and why the player ♣ needs to stick to a formula of 350 big bets to insure he or she does not go broke at ♣ that level.
His last chapter is made up of different topics such as site and game selections, online tells, high vs. ♣ low limits, stack sizes, playing multiple tables, personal record keeping, taking notes on other players, tournaments, promotions, collusion and cheating.
The ♣ end of each section has a "Chapter Review" and a quiz called "Test Your Skills." Hilger asks questions regarding different ♣ levels ($3/$6 vs.R$10/$20) and gives clear and concise answers. The best parts of his book were the random "Internet Tips" ♣ which appear throughout. This one was my favorite:
"On the Internet, players tend to be a little more aggressive than in ♣ live play... since many opponents can't resist trying to bluff at a pot." (Hilger, Page 212)
Hilger spends most of his ♣ time giving an overview about poker. Although his "Internet Tips" are helpful, he doesn't reveal anything that has not already ♣ been discussed in other books of this nature. He only focuses on Limit Texas Hold'em and the reader will not ♣ find any tips on playing No Limit nor playing tournaments. His book can be helpful for beginners, but it should ♣ not be the first book one reads about poker. It's a solid addition to any poker library, especially for online ♣ players looking to improve their games.
