Posts Tagged ‘book review’

I’ve recently received a few requests for old articles of mine that appeared in the 2+2 Magazine. First off, let me apologize that my archive is so out of date. The revamping of the website has proved far more complicated than anticipated, but it is nearly finished now. When it launches, it will contain an up-to-date archive of all my strategy articles and book reviews. Until then, you’re free to e-mail requests for specific articles to me at foucault82(at)yahoo(dot)com. As long as the volume doesn’t get overwhelming, I’m generally able to reply very quickly, though there may be some delay while I’m in Las Vegas the next few weeks. Thanks to everyone who’s interested in reading these, it’s very flattering!

How to Beat No Limit Hold Em 6-Max Cash Games
by Bill “billyjex” Vosti

My One Minute Recommendation: Smaller stakes players who want a big picture view of advanced concepts that they’ll need to understand to win at higher stakes will probably get their money’s worth. Beginners, however, should find another resource that’s written specifically for them and presented in a more tiered and structured fashion.

Surprisingly, How to Beat NLHE 6-Max Cash Games is one of the only poker books on the market focusing on the short-handed games that are so popular online. Bill Vosti is a good author for such a book. Though he doesn’t have the winnings or reputation of an internet wunderkind like Phil Galfond or Brian Townsend, he’s been a solid winner in both tournament poker and cash games on the internet for several years.

What Vosti is not, however, is a teacher. While a lot of important fundamentals and advanced concepts can be found in his book, the presentation is often shallow and disorganized. The central problem is that the author seems not to have a clear audience in mind. The ad copy promoting his e-book appeals to complete newbs looking to get-rich-quick by playing poker online, and the book itself starts out pretty slow. There isn’t enough introductory information to help a complete novice get off the ground, though, while information about rakeback, Poker Tracker, and certain very basic concepts will be old hat to most experienced players reading this book to help them move into mid- to high-stakes games. Ultimately, there’s a little something for everyone, but the book is much less successful than it would have been if the author had a more clear audience and objective in mind from the beginning.  Read the complete post...

Phil Hellmuth Presents Read ‘Em and Reap: A Career FBI Agent’s Guide to Decoding Poker Tells
by Joe Navarro,  Marvin Karlins,  Phil Hellmuth

Although retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro is the primary author of this book, the largest name on the cover is that of Phil Hellmuth. This establishes the tone of the entire book, whose very valuable core content is surrounded by an equal amount of fluff, hero worship, and self-promotion.

Most successful online poker players already possess a level of poker knowledge well beyond that of the target audience for most poker books, particularly with regard to the strategic and mathematical elements of the game. It is in the realm of psychology and reading people where most of us are lacking, and so studying tells is one of the best things the average internet player can do to improve his success in a live setting.

Mike Caro has already written a seminal text on the subject, Caro’s Book of Poker Tells, and I was slow to read Navarro’s book on the mistaken assumption that much of it would be old hat. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Navarro has in fact managed to take both a fundamentally different approach to thinking about tells and to examine many new categories of tells that receive little if any treatment in Caro’s book. These include tells related to feet, hand, mouth, and eye movement.  Read the complete post...

My One Minute Recommendation:
Harrington on Cash Games Volume One scores a 5/10. Players who are new to NLHE cash games will find it initially helpful, especially if they are interested in full ring play. Those who are already moderately successful at cash games will find little of use, especially if they are trying to improve at short-handed online games.

Overview

The original Harrington on Hold ‘Em revolutionized tournament poker, introducing tens of thousands of amateur players to what were then advanced moves and concepts: the continuation bet, the squeeze play, and M, the now-famous ratio of a player’s stack to the blinds and antes. This legacy created unrivaled anticipation for the Harrington on Cash Games (HOC) series, the first two volumes of which were released simultaneously last week.

So are they worth the hype? As with so many questions in no-limit hold ‘em (NLHE), the answer is, “It depends.” Players who are new to NLHE cash games will have the most to gain, especially if they are interested in full ring play. Those who are already moderately successful at cash games will find few springboards to improvement, especially if they are interested in short-handed online games.  Read the complete post...

The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition
Edited by Michael Craig

This Full Tilt guide is a 19-Chapter anthology, so I’ve broken down my review chapter-by-chapter.

Chapters Reviews:

Chapter 6 – Play Before the Flop by Andy Bloch

Chapter 10-Online Tournament Strategy by Richard Brodie

Chapter 11-Pot Limit Hold ‘Em by Andy Bloch and Rafe Furst

Chapter 12-Limit Hold ‘Em by Howard Lederer

Chapter 13-Omaha Eight-or-Better by Mike Matusow

Chapter 14-Pot Limit Omaha by Chris Ferguson

Chapter 16-Seven Card Stud: Tournament Strategy by David Gray

Chapter 17-Stud Eight-or-Better by Ted Forrest

Chapter 18-Razz by Michael Craig, Huck Seed, and Ted Forrest

My One Minute Recommendation: The Pot Limit Omaha Book: Transitioning from NLHE to PLO scores a 9/10. There are probably better books for all-around poker noobs, but experienced NLHE players looking to get better at “the other big bet game” would be hard-pressed to find a better resource.

The Good: Advanced tactics, high-level strategy, strong theoretical grounding, well-explained, genuinely insightful, appropriately calibrated for its target audience

The Bad: Some concepts, including but not limited to certain basic skills, not covered in great detail

The Ugly: A little unpolished, with some typos and minor grammatical errors; feels pretty much like reading a Word document, albeit a nicely laid out Word document

Tri “Slowhabit” Nguyen’s Transition from NLHE to PLO delivers just what the title promises: a strong guide to Pot-Limit Omaha, delivered at a pace and level appropriate for a poker player with a fairly sophisticated understanding of No Limit Hold ‘Em. Though there is plenty of practical advice and hand examples, this is not a soup to nuts “how to” guide offering a ready-to-play strategy. In fact, it could stand to be a bit more comprehensive in its advice for specific, common situations. Rather, it is a rigorously mathematical theoretical framework for approaching the game. It will require a thorough understanding of poker to appreciate the depth of this book, but for someone with such an understanding, it should prove an invaluable text, certainly worth its not inconsiderable $375 price tag.  Read the complete post...

I won and lost a lot of money in April. I finished the month with a decent though not spectacular bottom line, but given what I spent on tournament buy-ins (thank you very much, SCOOP), I’m impressed that I was up at all.

Resolution One: Keep Grinding NLHE Cash Games

Goal 1: Earn $X in NLHE Cash Games

Getting very close (to being on track, that is). If I can maintain this rate for the rest of the year, I’ll be happy. And if I manage a respectable tournament score to boot….

Goal 2: Earn Supernova status on PokerStars

I’m well on track now. The SCOOP was worth a lot of VPPs, so I’m glad I grinded up to Platinum last month. Were I to hit Supernova in the next two months, which I won’t, I’d be eligible for a free suite upgrade at the Palms during my WSOP trip.

Then again, this goal is going to a breeze now that Stars is offering 100,000 VPPs to their satellite qualifiers who actually play in the WSOP main event. Now I all have to do is win one of their damn satellites.

Resolution Two: Diversify My Income Streams

Goal 3: Monetize This Blog  Read the complete post...

It’s been more than a year since the finale of The Wire, and I don’t know about you, but I’m missing the hell out of it. Consequently, I was very excited to see the Freakonomics Blog report that writer/creator David Simon is planning to shoot a pilot for HBO about New Orleans. Simon’s a native Baltimoron, so it’s unlikely he’ll be able to capture the spirit of another city quite so well, but I could still see him doing a bang-up job.

In the meantime, I’ve got a few suggestions to help you get your Wire fix:

1. Homicide: Life on the Street- Simon created but mostly did not write the critically-acclaimed NBC series. It’s a far more traditional crime drama than The Wire, but especially in it’s early seasons it epitomizes the best possibilities of the genre to explore psychology, philosophy, and sociology. Homicide‘s fantastic cast includes several faces that will be familiar from The Wire. Clayton LeBouef who plays strip club owner and wannabe drug dealer Orlando on The Wire but villainous police Colonel Barnfather on Homicide. McNulty’s ex-wife, played by Callie Thorne, appears as one of the lead detectives in Homicide’s later seasons. Most significantly, Clark Johnson, one of Homicide‘s stars from the very beginning, appears in season 5 of The Wire as Sun paper editor Gus Haynes. Also be on the lookout for guest appearances by Robin Williams, Chris Rock, John Waters, and many more!  Read the complete post...