he game of No-limit Hold’em Playing styles and starting requierements. Reading the table. Pot odds and hand analysis. Betting before the flop. Betting after the flop. Betting on Fourth and Fifth Street This volume is the second volume of a two-volume book of no limit holdem written by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie. Dan Harrington’s credentials as a world-class poker player are well established and well known by serious poker players everywhere. He won the 1995 World Series of Poker main event and finished at the final table in each of the last two such events -- an unparalleled and extraordinary achievement, given the huge number of contestants now entering this event. Bill Robertie is a world-class backgammon player and experienced amateur poker player. Volumes I and II of EM Harrington on Hold`em really must be viewed as one book split in half. The concepts presented in each are intertwined. Like the first volume, Volume II focuses on tournament strategy. It begins where the first leaves off -- with final table play, or “Endgame,” as these authors call it. Although the focus of Volume II is final table play in large tournaments, the topics introduced and elaborated on are of central importance to any no-limit play. In that sense, this is a useful book for ring game players as well as tournament players. It is without a doubt that best book on no limit holdem written for either audience. Harrington and Robertie break new ground in many regards with Volume II. They memorialize and codify general concepts of no-limit play with a language that is, if not new, at least originally used. For example, the concept of "Inflection Points" and the notion of the strong and weak force (M and Q, respectively) have never been presented in print before. (Although the authors give credit to backgammon player Paul Magriel for coming up with the concept of “M”, I have never seen it in any other poker literature.) Similarly, while many of us do understand, in general, the notion of different stages of tournament play and the importance of each player’s relative stack size, Harrington and Robertie simplify and clarify it by introducing the simple notion of different “zones” a playerenters as his stack diminishes and the blinds rise at the final table. Volume II has six chapters, covering the broad topics of “Making Moves,” “Inflection Points,” “Multiple Inflection Points,” “Short Tables,” “Heads-Up” play, “Final Thoughts” and a brief “Conclusion.” All the chapters are themselves divided into numerous sections. Each chapter ends with at least a few “Problems” which lay out a hand for the reader to analyze. The authors then explain their take on proper play for each sample hand situation. The book has a very brief introduction, a thorough index and no glossary.