Poker Book Review: Harrington on Holdem – Volume 3

Dan Harrington is a highly successful businessman, as well as being a former champion backgammon player and U.S. chess master. He achieved poker fame in 1995 after winning the WSOP Main Event and presently has earned over $6,600,000 from live tournament cashes including a first place finish at the WPT Legends of Poker in 2007.
Dan Harrington’s final offering rounds of his classic trilogy of poker tournament strategy books and is more or less a ‘Workbook’ featuring 352 pages of  multiple choice quizzes to test every aspect of the reader’s poker credentials.
Many of the 50 problems in ‘Volume 3: The Workbook’ benefit from the extra authenticity of being taken from real life tournaments examples involving some of poker’s elite players, such as Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Scotty Nguyen and Harrington himself.
At each stage of the hand Harrington provides a wealth of information on position, stack sizes, opponent types and overall considerations, so as to focus the reader’s attention on making the most informed decisions possible. He also presents quizzies on problem areas of most concern to beginner and intermediate players, such as ‘bubble’ play and multi-way pots.
The level and depth of analysis Harrington applies to each situation is a clear example of the acute mental processes required by a poker pro to excel at No-Limit Hold’em tournaments, and his multiple choice point grading system allows the reader to analyze and assess their own level of play in the game.
Taken as a whole the Harrington on Hold’em  trilogy is considered the definitive work on No Limit Hold’em Tournaments. If you have read the other books in the 3-volume set, then Holdem Volume 3 is an excellent and interactive way for advanced players to test their poker expertise and understanding.