I cant stand Phil H. and therefore wouldnt pay a dime for his book. I dont know him personally, but I know a lot of people who do, and the legendary way he treats fellow poker players is something I cant support. I know you have probably all seen it on TV, when he throws a fit, turns over his chair or kicks a door after losing a hand to another player, but he also goes out of his way to belittle them and make them feel like shit for having beat him. He recently wrote an article as such in Card Player magazine, whereby he poked fun at/made fun of some amatuer hands that had beaten pros who may have held better hands. He basically likes to say that if you beat him with a bad hand its pure luck, but if he beats you with the same hand its his skill as a professional. God forbid its in a tournament because he will sit there and embarass you in front of everyone else for playing that kind of hand. And hes not getting any better, because it happened again this year. Theres a fine line between getting upset when you lose, which we all do, and belittling your opponent in front of everyone else.
This year in a tournament in AC, I held KK before the flop and raised, one guy raises me back, I call. Flop is 2-2-4. I bet, he raises, I call. Turn is a 2. I move in, he calls. He had raised me back with 2-5 a ridiculously bad hand. I rapped the table, said "Nice hand, well played" and had some coffee. Phil H. needs to learn to do this. Just say "Nice hand" and move on.
I dont care if hes a good father, or if hes trying to improve his behavior, I cant stand him - hes a big crybaby who has had some professional success and feels its his right to do what he does.
There are far too many good books on poker out there by the likes of Lee Jones, David Sklansky et al to read that I wont support Phil. I have a few listed on my page if you want, or shoot me a quick email let me know more what you are looking for in terms of games/level of play and I will be happy to help.
Speaking of books Nolan... ;-) The movie is getting good reviews already, I am dying to get my hands on the book! Great job by the way at the WSOP this year, really appreciated all the good writeups as I know everyone else did.
