[maurile]

[ QUOTE ]
In my opinion Hellmuth got very lucky with the timing of his book.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's part of it, but I think there are a few other factors as well. For one thing, Phil is very good at self-promotion. Many people think he's the best poker player in the world (based on Phil's own say-so).

Perhaps more importantly, his book has very little competition in a rather large segment of the poker-book market -- namely, the segment catering to beginners who want to learn a variety of different games.

Most people who play poker do not take it very seriously. They don't play in casinos. They may play online a bit, but mostly they play in home games. What they need is a basic overview of how to play many different games -- hold 'em, Omaha, stud; fixed-limit, no-limit; high only, hi-low split; etc.

There are very few books that provide such an overview. TOP and SS1 & SS2 are too difficult. Most other books concentrate only on a single game.

If I know somebody who plays in a weekly home game and is willing to spend an hour and a half reading to improve his game (but not much more than that), what book would I recommend? I think there are only a few choices:

Poker For Dummies by Krieger
Play Poker Like the Pros by Hellmuth
Complete Guide to Winning Poker by Moorehead
Thursday Night Poker by Steiner

Of those books, Hellmuth's is by far the easiest to get hold of.