DEPOSIT BONUSES TO GET STARTED FullTiltPoker (100% Deposit Bonus up to $600) Play Online Poker CakePoker (110% Deposit Bonus up to $600) WilliamHill (100% Deposit Bonus & $120,000 RakeRace) PrestigeCasino ($1,500 in FREE Spins No Deposit Needed) PokerStrategy ($50usd Starting Capital FREE No Deposit Needed) WilliamHill Bingo ($40usd FREE To Start Playing No Deposit Required) 1 Play poker online at Doyles Poker Room TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE • For eward 3 • Pr eface 6 • I ntroduction 8 • M y Story 12 • T he History of No Limit 37 • O nline Poker 46 • E xclusive Super/System 2 66 • Speci alize or learn 101 • L imit Hold'em Poker 130 • O maha Eight or Better 164 • Seven Card Stud High Low 223 • Pot Limit Omaha High 262 • T riple Draw Poker 296 • T ournament Overview 331 • N o Limit Hold'em 336 • Wor ld Poker Tour 430 • Poker Glossary 241 2 FOREWORD by Avery Cardoza Super/System 2 gathers together the greatest poker players and theoreticians today. This book is not meant to replace the original Super/System, but to be an extension of that great work, with more games, new authors, and most importantly, more professional secrets from the best in the business. Doyle’s expert collaborators have won millions upon millions of dollars in cash games—that’s each one of them. You’ll be learning expert strategies from a pool of talent that includes three world champions—Doyle Brunson, Bobby Baldwin, and Johnny Chan (Doyle and Johnny being two-time consecutive winners). Add to that an all-star team of contributors with so many World Series of Poker bracelets among them, you could fill a bucket with their gold. And, for good measure, throw in Mike Caro, a world-class player who is the leading poker researcher, theoretician and instructor. These are the superstars of the game. With the completion of Super/System 2, Doyle has created two powerful works that every serious poker player simply must own. This makes the two- volume set of Super/System a full library of the best playing advice, strategies and professional concepts ever put into print. Own both these books, and you’ll have the complete masterpiece of poker. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Doyle’s accomplishments and the tremendous impact he has had—and still has—on the game. He is the “Babe Ruth of Poker,” a living legend who has been at this game for fifty years and still plays in the highest limit poker games in the world. Along the way he won back-to-back world championships in 1976 and 1977 and a total of nine WSOP gold bracelets, tied for the most ever at the time of this writing. I’d bet he’s won more money playing poker than any man who has ever lived. Along with Crandell Addington and a few other early players, Doyle introduced Texas hold’em to Nevada, an event that has had profound implications on the world of poker. In fact, the widespread popularity that televised no-limit hold’em enjoys today would never had occurred if not for 3 these men. Crandell will tell you more about this event and its ramifications in his chapter on the evolution of hold’em. When the History Channel did a special on the history of poker, the producer, slightly embarrassed, told me that the program had turned into the Doyle Brunson hour—every player interviewed paid homage to the man that is poker, Doyle Brunson. The original Super/System, published in 1978, is the single most influential poker book ever written. Back then, the original price of $100 was a lot of money for a book, but this was no ordinary book; this was the bible of poker. Super/System was a steal at that price. The same holds true today. And why not? This book changed the way players looked at that game and, for the first time, gave away secrets that brought readers to a new level of expertise. The master of poker had spoken, and the game would never be the same. I had always admired this book and through my friendship and association with Mike Caro, the “Mad Genius of Poker,” Doyle and I got together. We made a deal to get Super/System out to the mainstream bookstores as a paperback for the very first time, and people who had never been exposed to this great work just went gaga over this bonanza of poker riches. Did they ever! Super/System hit #1 worldwide on Amazon, ahead of the Harry Potter books and best-selling authors like Steven King and John Grisham. Even as I write this, Super/System holds steady in the top 100 of all titles—usually in the top 40. Pretty heady stuff. In the bookstores themselves, Super/System sales eclipsed those of all other titles in the gaming category. Doyle just keeps going. He’s somewhat past the age where the government kind of suggests you collect your paychecks and retire, but the competitive fire that has powered his entire career still burns fiercely. So what does the legend do? In late August 2004, at the Bicycle Club, Doyle plays against the largest field ever to play a World Poker Tour event to date—667 players. And he wins it all. Again. He takes home more than a million dollars cash. The legend grows. And the accolades and accomplishments keep coming—a World Poker Tour event named after him, a poker-playing website that bears his name, an autobiography due in spring 2005, a movie based on his life that may see the big screen one day soon. And on and on. I’ve had the honor of getting to know Doyle away from the tables and have 4 always enjoyed his company. He’s gracious, wise, and has the big heart of a Texan. After spending time with him, you walk away feeling a little taller, because this ex-basketball player makes you a bigger person, and richer, because he’s a man who’s been a big winner in life—and you take a little bit of that away with you. I’ve seen the respect he gives and the respect he gets. All earned. Doyle is more than a great man in poker; he’s a great man, and I say that with the utmost respect. Well, it’s time you move on and see the gems of knowledge this book has in store for you. My friend Doyle has taken good care of you in these pages. When you’re done studying the wisdom within and have profited from that very powerful advice, you’ll feel like Doyle’s your good friend, too. Enjoy this book, profit from it, and remember to give homage to one of the men who made this modern-day phenomenon possible, Mr. Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, the greatest poker player who has ever lived. And remember to honor the game itself, something Doyle loves with every fiber of his being. Avery Cardoza Publisher 5 PREFACE By Johnny Chan I learned poker the hard way, playing in games that were like street fights in the back alleys of Chinatown. Before anyone thought I was ready, I sat right down at some of the toughest tables in poker, staring down the best and meanest players I could find. And as you can see, I survived and prospered. Some say I am one of the few players ever to conquer the poker world without any formal training. I’m proud of that accomplishment, but if I had it to do over again, I’d make it easier. Instead of learning the hard way, brawling my way up, risking my bankroll, and banging my head against those big bricks walls, I’d start by reading this book. How often are you going to get a chance to learn from the most feared poker player around, year after year: Doyle Brunson himself? To be honest, at first I was upset that Doyle was writing this follow-up to his first Super/System, which all the players at my tables call “the bible of poker.” Every time I heard that, hair stood up on the back of my neck. Who needs a bible of poker? I kept thinking that professional players like me would be better off without one. The secrets contained in these two books are so powerful that at first I would have paid considerable money to keep them out of print. Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson couldn’t have been bought off, anyway. I’ve changed my mind. I think about how poker has grown over the last few years and how many new players have joined the game. There must be millions of them. They’re ready to treat the strategy of poker with respect, and I want them to treat it that way. Poker is a monster of a game that deserves respect. When great players like Doyle and his expert collaborators are willing to share their secrets with you, poker creeps out from the rocks like a dragon that’s been hiding for a hundred years. The dragon emerges, looks around, roars, and demands respect. Even though nobody noticed when that the dragon wasn’t there, everyone hears it now. That’s what happened to poker, and this book is part of that dragon’s roar. If you’re smart, you won’t waste 6 the opportunity to learn from it. You see, poker isn’t like other kinds of gambling. It fits better in the category of skill games, like chess and bridge.