Every Hand Revealed

Watching pros play poker is often confusing. Some of their decisions seem strange, counterintuitive, and just plain wrong. This is especially true of Gus Hanson, who frequently makes plays that would seem clinically insane if it he didn't consistently wins huge amounts of money. Watching him go all in with nothing in his hand and no draws leaves the viewer wondering "What was he thinking?"

He answers that question in "Every Hand Revealed." He gives a play by play analysis of what he did, and why he did it, for every hand he played in the Aussie Millions tournament, where he finished first and won a million and a half dollars.

He's not embarrassed to discuss his mistakes in detail, or to admit that he did something because he just felt like it. He talks about when he was really thinking about his next move, and where he had already decided and was just putting on a show. He details the calculations he uses to make his decisions and talks about when to avoid coin flip hands and when they're worth the risk. He shows how he increases his chip stack with rotten cards, especially when the antis come into play, and how he uses his stack size to push other players around.

Will it make you a better tournament poker player? Maybe. It's not going to make you the next Gus Hanson, but it will show you how to use aggression creativity, the importance of stack size (both yours and your opponents) when making decisions, when to be aggressive and when to back off, and how unimportant the right cards can be in some situations. But even if it doesn't dramatically improve your play, it's a great read for moderate to advanced players.

This book was truly amazing and surely one of a kind books that will spawn all sorts of hybrids that other people are sure to right based upon Gus' book.

Very good book. This is basically a recap of every hand Gus played on his way to winning the Aussie Millions main event.

Great look into the mind of a dangerous and tricky player...

Tons of hand analysis, obviously. Very interesting to see the good hands, the bad hands, the steals, the bluffs that worked, the bluffs that didn't... You can sense his mood swings up and down, sense the changes in momentum... a very engrossing and stimulating book.

Lots of good insights here.

This book is really for intermediate to advanced players... there's very little here for beginners, and it would probably be confusing to novices, as you'll never find another poker book on the planet advising to raise from first position with J-5 offsuit in first position!!! For advance players, though, I think you'll find the insights to be quite revealing and stimulating to your poker thought process...

This is a very refreshing and fun read. You do have to know the basics of no-limit Texas hold-em, and have some basic understanding of the theory behind the game, but you don't need to be an expert to enjoy this book and get something out of it. It is NOT a book on how to play. It is a deep examination of how Gus thinks about each and every hand at the table, including many that would be ignored as inconsequential by others, but always with a reason. For examply, he will include a hand where everyone folds to his big blind and gives him a walk. Not very interesting in itself, but it's included because in this case Gus is a stubborn blind defender, and an occasional walk is the benefit he reaps for his stubborn defense earlier in the game.

In analyzing every hand he plays (and he plays a lot of hands), he also lets you in on the key skills that are required to play loose-aggressive, namely putting people on hand ranges and playing accordingly and relentless pressure in the right spots, plus when to just let it go. I found his analysis insightful.

In addition, the book is just damn well written and fun to read. This is one of the books I carry around just to crack open occasionally to a random page. Gus can be quite funny, and this book is a great relief from the dryness that afflicts so much of poker literature.

In terms of what kind of poker book this is, I'd put it in a category with Greenstein's Ace on the River, with the following differences: Ace is more accessible to the layman, and Every Hand Revealed is more deeply engrossing from a theory standpoint.

What a wonderful book. I have a library of about 15 poker books and this is my favorite. It does not teach poker theory, as do others, but it does give the reader great insight into the mind of a (not so) madman, while reading like a suspensful page turner.
I have not seen any other book like it, and it stands out as fresh and original in a sea of poker books.