Title: Annie Duke's Advanced Texas Hold'em Secrets - How to Beat the Big Boys
Author: Annie Duke
Advanced Texas Hold’em Secrets was the first of
That is not to say that there is nothing interesting in this DVD. On the contrary, the lessons are all solid and Duke lays them out well. Noteworthy is her chapter on poker tells, where she discusses FBI profiling techniques and how they can be applied to pick up information on your opponents at the table. While Mike Caro is the master when it comes to tells, Duke really steps up this classic subject with some fascinating teachings on thinks like blink rate and hand placement.
The production quality is above average and nothing is too “overdone.” Sure, the animated chapter transitions are a little cheesy, but nobody is watching this DVD for the segues. The poker tutorials involve only
While the title of the DVD says it is “Advanced,” it is not really going to be all that useful to players who are truly at the advanced level. The lessons are far enough along to probably be a little too complicated for beginners, but anyone who has played for a while and tried to educate themselves on the game will not see much that is new.
After the introduction, the first chapter focuses on “Advanced Decision Making.” While it starts off with Duke discussing how to narrow your decisions in a hand (complete with her dealing the cards to give examples), it eventually comes off as a little scattered. The chapter goes on to discuss bet patterns and opponents’ possible holdings, which, while they may fit best in this chapter, feel more like trains of thought. Part of that feel may be the result of
The aforementioned tells chapter is next, followed by a chapter on bluffs. Duke does a good job of bringing information taught in the first two chapters over to the third, greatly improving the flow. But, again, one lesson is slightly misplaced – trapping. It is taught quite well by Duke, but it would probably fit better somewhere else.
Next is the obligatory pot odds and implied odds chapter, then an interesting chapter to have all to itself: “Playing with Maniacs.” Again, not much new here, but Duke appears to be genuinely interested in passing on her knowledge to her viewers, so the information is easy to absorb.
Duke concludes with something that many poker pros don’t touch: money management. This, now, is something of great use to the advanced players, as they are the ones who may be considering testing the waters as professionals.
In the DVD extras, there is an extra section for poker tips, which is puzzling. These would have been easy to mix in with the main chapters; there was no reason to have them in a separate bonus section. Perhaps they were lessons Duke thought of after the bulk of the DVD was shot, so she decided to just throw them in a “miscellaneous” pile, rather than re-shoot. The rest of the extras are of no particular use to anyone who would be classified as “advanced.”
