Introduction 1Part 1: Everything's Bigger in Texas: Welcome to Texas Hold'em! 5Chapter 1: A Bird's-Eye View of Texas Hold'em 7Chapter 2: Ranking and Reading a Hand 19Chapter 3: Just Tell Me How to Play: Texas Hold'em Basics 31Part 2: Texas Hold'em: Play by Play 55Chapter 4: Beginning with Two 57Chapter 5: Flopping 'Til You're Dropping 71Chapter 6: Taking Your Turn 87Chapter 7: Dipping in the River 97Part 3: Movin' On to Higher Stakes: Advanced Strategies of Hold'em 109Chapter 8: Playing the Players 111Chapter 9: Bluffing: When Everything Isn't What It Appears to Be 127Chapter 10: Maximizing Your Win: Check-Raising and Trapping 143Chapter 11: Camouflaging Your Play and Dodging Traps 153Chapter 12: Considering Mathematics 161Chapter 13: Advancing Your Knowledge 179Part 4: Casinos, Card Rooms, and the Internet: Places to Play Hold'em 191Chapter 14: There's No Place Like Home: Playing in Private Games 193Chapter 15: Opting for the Internet: Online Games 205Chapter 16: Harrah's, Here I Come: Playing in Card Rooms 215Chapter 17: Competing in Tournaments 229Part 5: The Part of Tens 251Chapter 18: Ten Differences between Online and Real-World Play 253Chapter 19: (Almost) Ten Common Mistakes 259Chapter 20: Ten Ways to Improve Your Home Game 265Chapter 21: Ten Bad Beats 271Chapter 22: Ten Things You Can Do to Improve Your Hold'em Game 277Glossary 283Index 291
Mark "The Red" Harlan is an avid poker player and co-creator of the first company to offer legal online poker in the United States. Along with his hours at the poker table, Mark has also spent time as a software developer for leading Silicon Valley companies.