Customer Reviews
Cheap and cheerful, but not brilliant. - By: Steve Baxi, 07 Aug 2008 
I bought this book because it was cheap.
It was interesting to get another point of view on things but experimenting with some of this advice actuallly caused me to lose more games (a colleague of mine had the same experience with this book).
If you can afford a couple of quid then buy it & be interested, but don't take this as a "poker bible".
I would recommend "World Class Poker" (T.J.Cloutier)(Software). This is great addictive playable poker software that has helped me hugely.
It's TRUE but..... - By: A. Cresswell, 17 Jul 2008 
OK like a few people have stated on here .... follow the rules & you DO INDEED win. BUT & there is a but ..... one of the things stressed in this book is patience. The reason being is that if you follow the rules you will play maybe 1 hand every 10-15 minutes. The play in the book is very tight. It basicallly takes some hands that on average will alllow you to win more often than you lose & that's the simple maths. You can't fault the book. The only problem I found is when I moved to bigger stakes tables people are far more likely to do the things that the book will tell you to fold for, & so your win average is cut to the bone. So you might say "Who cares...I'm winning" Well simply put if you want to play maybe 6 hands an hour & win 4-5 of them & that may mean just the pre-flop pot for a few dollars then go ahead. Most people play poker to win LOTS of money & for excitement. This is neither. Not sure where I go from here....maybe an advanced book or maybe something in tournament play.
the title is "Begin and Win",it should be just "Begin" - By: Chris, 17 Jun 2007 this book is so basic,it's not for someone that knows the rules of texas hold'em,that is about alll that is in this book,what bet means calll & so on, with it being such a smalll book & I do mean smalll 128 pages that might sound not that smalll but the introduction takes up to 10 pages, the glossary takes up another 10,that leaves enough space for the rules & thats about it,if you have not played before & would like to know how too play this would be ok but for anything else look else where!
Absolutley fantastic - By: Welsh Dragon, 21 Apr 2007 I do online gambling, just for fun, although I know the addiction rate to this is sky high. I have developed my own strategy of stopping if I lose twice in a row. This book was an instant help to the way I roughed up some online poker players & won a reasonable sized pot. So have to buy the author a drink if ever he's in Wales.
Does what it says on the tin - By: Ferdinand Peelen, 06 Nov 2006 I read this book in two days & made two summary sheets on the main contents tips & actions in the book. Mainly listing starting hands & what to do with them.
I'd only been playing under 200 online tournaments (single & multi table) in total before I read the book. Was getting better but felt I was struggling & not making money. Then I started playing games after reading this book with my summary sheets by my side. I was amazed, I promptly started making profits. This book reallly did make me win!
This book has reallly meant a hike in my level of play. In my case I was always callling the flop if I had a pocket ace regardless of what the other card was. Simply no longer doing that with a low kicker (with the odd exception) has made 100's of chips difference to my game per tournament.
Also the tips on behaviour on the table reallly helped. Mendelson suggests an assertive, almost arrogant attitude to get an edge over other players. When I was in a final showdown at a single table tournament after reading this book (one of 2 people left at the table) I did exaclty as Mendelson wrote & raised, re raised, went alll in at the drop of a hat & totallly had the other player intimidated. Worked like a charm!
I've now gone on to read other more elaborate poker books but the summary sheets I made as a result of reading this book always sit by my side when I'm playing. I know the contents by heart but when in doubt I still consult it.
I earned the low cost of this book back in a flash. A must have for players with limited experience. It will bust those habits that lose you money & installl some profitable ones instead!
