Super System, written by Doyle Brunson, the grandfather of poker, would have to be as important to poker as the first television broadcast was for TV. Super System is nothing else than a milestone and, in short, it is the Bible of Poker.
Super System was published in 1979 by Cardoza Publishing. At this time, Doyle Brunson already held the title of two-times WSOP Main Event winner (1976 and 1977). The original title of the book was ’How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker’. Of course, a lot of years have passed since 1979 and the book still had relevance to today’s gameplay, but after heavy thoughts, they decided it was best to rewrite it and give it a fresh new title ’Super System 2’, publishing it in October 2004.
The book is not only about the very popular Texas Hold’em, but it also provides excellent strategy overviews on other game types, such as Seven Card Stud and Triple Draw. All the chapters were put together by Brunson, who decided he would ask players who are in his opinion the best in the certain fields concerning the topic to put their thoughts on paper.
Let’s now look at what game types the book contains:
- Limit Hold’em – by Jennifer Harman, considered the best female poker player
- No Limit Hold’em – This part was written by the Doyle, the King himself!
- Pot Limit Omaha High – by Lyle Bernman
- Omaha Eight or Better – by Bobby Baldwin
- Seven Card Stud High Low Eight or Better – by Todd Brunson
- Triple Draw – by Daniel Negreanu
Beyond this, the book also contains:
- Tips from Mike Caro. Mike sums up the important ’tells’ in the book. Tells are the minor signs, which help us recognize what kind of cards our opponent could hold.
- An insight into Doyle Brunson’s life. Spread across 30 very interesting pages, Doyle tells us how he had gotten familiar with poker and the fame.
- The history of No Limit Texas Hold’em, across 15 pages.
- Doyle’s relationship and connections with online poker; the pros and cons of playing poker online. (I found this part a little bit boring and like every marketing salesperson, Doyle puts a bit too much emphasis on his own online poker room).
The parts about Pot Limit Omaha and No Limit Hold’em without a doubt by themselves make this book worth the purchase and all extras come as a bonus. Just like the rest of the chapters throughout the book, these sections have a great structure and are very carefully detailed. (I liked it much better, than the Pot Limit Omaha part in Phil Hellmuth’s book ’Play Poker Like The Pros’, for example).
So, as I have mentioned above, the chapters basically go through what and what not to do when we are dealt cerrtain hands. There are dedicated pages for suited connectors or small pocket pairs, or what to do if you have a big pocket pair and a dangerous flop. The book is almost 700 pages long and can at times be a paperweight, but the big advantage is, that you basically get 5-6 books for the price of one. Super System 2 is a basic, an intriguing poker book that is a must-have for every serious poker player. Learn from the best!
