poker logo

Super System 2 Review

Rating: 8/10

Cost:  $23.07

The Nuts:  Advice and insight on all kinds of games from the world’s top players

The Muck:  Nothing new from Doyle on NL Hold’em

Recommended for:  Intermediate to advanced players 
 
Doyle Brunson’s Super System was so groundbreaking and influential that it quickly became known as “The Bible” of poker.  At the time that Doyle wrote it, no one of his ability had ever given away so many poker secrets.  Despite Super System’s success, Doyle came to believe that writing it had ultimately hurt him financially, as other players adjusted their play to combat the techniques that he revealed. 

The release of Super System 2 was much anticipated by the poker community, and it debuted to mixed reviews.  Personally, I think that some of the critics have been too harsh, but some of the complaints are legitimate. 

Super System 2 follows the same format as its predecessor by touching on many different poker games including both limit and no limit Hold’em, pot limit Omaha high, Omaha 8 or better, Seven Card Stud high-low 8 or better, and Triple Draw.  Each game is taught by a different player, and the names are some of the best in the business including Bobby Baldwin, Daniel Negreanu, and Doyle’s own son, Todd Brunson.   

While Super System 2 attempts to be comprehensive, even at more than 650 pages there’s simply no way to cover all of these games adequately.  That said, every section contains some very good insights.  One mistake Doyle made, however, is not finding a good editor to smooth out the different writing styles of the authors and present a cohesive voice and structure to the material. 

The quality of the book tends to be uneven as well, with Doyle’s contributions ironically being the weakest.  His section on online poker reads more like an advertisement for his poker room than a strategy guide, and Doyle’s coverage of No-Limit Hold’em has almost no updates from the original Super System.  Perhaps Doyle decided not to give his secrets away this time. Too bad – it’s what most of us were paying for to begin with. 

On the flip side, Negreanu’s section on Triple Draw gives a great overview of a relatively unknown game, Caro’s tips on the tells and the psychology of poker should prove to be valuable to beginners while also serving as a good refresher for intermediate and advanced players, and getting into the mind of a genius like Bobby Baldwin is always worth the price of admission.

If Super System 2 carried the heavy price of the once out of print original, I’d tell you to take a pass, but at a price of less than 25 bucks, this is a nice addition to any poker library. 

The end of Super System 2 book review. Return to Poker Book Reviews