Though many books cover Texas hold'em, few concentrate on the tougher aspects of short-handed hold'em, particularly in the high-stakes limit hold'em games often found in the online poker arena. Both authors, who were fraternity brothers, gained most of their needed experience online. The authors start with a detailed explaination of the typical players at various limits, starting at the $3-6 level and progressing to the $150-300 and up limits. Their work is peppered with charts that verify the concepts and theories they teach and include pre-flop play (opening with a raise, playing to steal, isolating players, restealing, limping, etc.), defending the blinds (three bets, four bets, handling passive and aggressive blinds), post-flop heads-up play (responding to check raises on the flop and turn, betting the river as a stone bluff, turn value check, the semi-bluff, and more) plus miscellaneous topics. The final sections include sample hands and discussions of them, quizzes and a summary.

Take Me to the River is a hilarious, heart-wrenching tale of Las Vegas and an exploration of what it means to be part of one of the fastest-growing and most popular sports in the United States, at the moment of its apogee, and of the lessons that poker has to teach about probability and luck, good and bad fortune, patience, perseverance, and -- most fitting for a man with marriage in his near future -- commitment.