For a long time, poker books have been one of the primary sources of knowledge for those wanting to improve at the game. Over time, the book format has largely been replaced by other types of content, such as training videos and podcasts, to the point where some would argue books have become obsolete. At the end of the day, however, that just boils down to your preferred way of studying and consuming information. After going through Jonathan Little’s latest (work) book, aptly entitled The Complete Poker Workout, I can say that there is nothing obsolete or outdated about it.
If you’re someone who likes to study at your own pace and take your time absorbing the information, The Complete Poker Workout is great. It is filled with practical hand examples and explanations from one of the world’s best poker coaches. So, as far as the value you’re getting is concerned, you can’t go wrong.
The Complete Poker Workout at a Glance
Jonathan Little’s The Complete Poker Workout isn’t your traditional poker book. It’s actually a workbook that requires active participation from the reader. If you were expecting a strategy book that you can read through, hoping some of it will stick, this one isn’t for you.
This book consists of 100 tournament hand examples, and each example is given in a quiz format, where you’re asked to make a decision on every street. You get to choose one of four options, and right below that you’ll find what the right answer is, coupled with a detailed explanation as to why.
According to Little, the guiding principle for the book was to provide readers with the feeling of actually playing hands, which is one of the best ways to learn the game. The upside, of course, is that you don’t have to put any money on the line. Plus, you’ll get instant feedback, allowing you to fix gaps in your strategic approach to the game.
Of course, not all situations in poker are perfectly clear-cut. Sometimes, there is more than one answer to a specific question, and when this is the case, Little points it out and offers an explanation as to why.
In addition to the text describing the action, The Complete Poker Workout is full of diagrams showing relevant positions. This is very helpful as it saves you the mental energy of having to paint the mental picture of the table and positions. Diagrams show cards, stack sizes, and the size of the pot, so all information crucial to making a correct decision is available at a glance.
A Book that Facilitates Engaged Learning
Those who are familiar with Jonathan Little’s work and his PokerCoaching.com platform already know that his model relies heavily on active, engaged learning. His latest book represents a continuation of that approach.
The focus is on tournament hands, as this is the format Little knows best, which means that you’ll come across different scenarios. Sometimes, you’re playing with 300+ big blinds effective; some examples will have you in a spot with 40 – 50 big blinds, while other hands focus on short-stack strategy, all the way down to 15 big blinds.
In the 100 hands the book tackles, Little tries to encompass the reality of tournaments, covering different stack sizes and having you play from different positions.
Regardless of the spot, each example takes you through the entire hand, breaking down every decision point. Every hand starts with preflop action and goes from there, just the way it works in real life. In poker, you don’t get to skip on a decision just because it’s too complicated or you don’t like any of the options.
Little has done a fine job selecting hands that are a bit “out there,” too. It’s not that hard to play a hand where you flop a strong top pair, and the board runs clean to the river. But what do you do with a turned second pair after floating a flop? Or how do you get value from runner-runner two pair? How should you navigate your decently strong top pair against multiple players? This workbook will help you answer those questions.
Who Is The Complete Poker Workout For & Does It Work in 2026?
What makes The Complete Poker Workout a very valuable book that you’ll want to add to your library is the author’s experience. Most accomplished tournament players could pick 100 hands and break them down street by street, but this book’s strength is in the hands Little selected; he did an excellent job of choosing scenarios that are often confusing and put players in tough spots.
It is his experience as both a player and a coach that allowed him to do so. On one hand, he knows from his own experience what these difficult spots look like. At the same time, he’s been teaching poker for years and is also aware of what questions constantly come up.
It’s also great that every hand is a mini-lesson in its own right. This gives you full freedom to study at your own pace. You can go through as many or as few examples as you like on any given day and come back to the book at a later date to pick up where you left off (or go through the same hand to see if you’ve internalized the lessons).
The book’s excellent Table of Contents allows you to quickly skim through different hand types for hands that describe spots that you usually struggle with. Just by looking at this short description, you’ll know the stack size, the position, and the type of scenario (value betting, bluff-catching, defending, etc.).
So, who is this book for? I’d say anyone who wants to become a better tournament player. The examples brought forth show you a wealth of options you have in different situations, and force you to think about every single decision, just like you’d have to do at the table.
In the world where other types of poker training have largely taken over, The Complete Poker Workout still works. In fact, it may be a better option than many video courses out there (or at least it can complement them well), exactly because you can’t zone out! The only way to approach this book is by actively participating in it.
While you’re learning about specific spots, your ability to think critically about poker hands will develop as well. This will help make you a better poker player overall, and that’s a nice side-effect of The Complete Poker Workout (whether intended or not).
The bottom line is, this book is well worth the $24.95 price tag, even if you only use it occasionally to go through a few hands or you want to use it as a benchmark for knowledge acquired through other sources, such as training videos. At the very least, realizing you still need to work on certain spots will cost you far less than learning the hard way.
