Texas Hold'em Odds

Odds are part of any gambling strategy and Texas Hold’em Poker is highly predisposed to probability-based decisions. The book presents the mathematics involved in card distributions in Texas Hold’em and provides a precise account of the odds associated with all gaming events. The author is a recognized authority on casino mathematics. He is member of applied mathematics societies and has published numerous articles in leading academic and gaming industry as well as applied mathematics journals. He is also author of "Probability Guide of Gambling" book. No formal background in mathematics is necessary for reading this book, although comfort with some probability and set theory notions is helpful. In most cases, you'll need some college math to follow the formulas here, but this is not a requirement, because the numerical results are collected in tables at the end of each section. The work is packed with formulas, algorithms and tables. Its primary goal is to allow the reader to quickly find the odds for own hand and for opponent’s hand, in order to improve his/her betting decisions. Every type of card distribution is tabulated in a logical, consistent, and comprehensive manner. The complete methodology and all the calculations are shown, so it teaches the player how to calculate probability for any situation for every stage of the game, even for other card games. You will find here the real odds, returned by precise mathematical formulas and not by partial simulations that most software uses. The book contains much new and original material that has not been done previously and provides a full coverage of Hold’em odds: - Immediate odds (pre-flop odds, flop odds, turn odds, river odds, odds of improving specific hands); - Long-shot odds (odds of achieving specific card formations by river) for own hand, in after-flop and after-turn stages; - Long-shot odds for opponent’s hand (odds for one and at least one of your opponents to achieve specific card formations by river), in after-flop, after-turn and after-river stages; - Other odds. Concrete examples of calculations and usage of tables are attached to each section. A special chapter of examples is included for a good understanding of how to count and compare the odds for expected own card formations and the odds of possible higher formations of opponents. Such information is a must for any Hold’em player, either beginner or advanced and this book is a trusted and professional source.

If you are a Holdem player like me, then this is not the book you are looking for. I was looking for two things, a summary of salient odds and the techniques and methods used to calculate those odds so I could answer questions on my own. Nope, you will not find that here. In fact, the author tells us to buy another of their books if we want to learn the mathematical methods that are missing here.
This book is geared more toward programmers, offering sample problems, solutions, and pseudo code. I am unable to judge the merits of the book given that I am not in its intended audience. I will say the English is sub par, the explanations and reasoning are poorly executed, and the value of the book reduced because of its skimpy coverage in regards to the true range of Holdem probability questions.
So, I paid for but did not get a tutorial on Holdem odds. Worse, I was told to buy another book that in all probability is just as poorly written. Still, there is some meat in this book for the truly desperate since there is a dearth of materials on the subject. For programmers, this is probably worth a look.