Table of contents seem interesting
http://www.blackrain79.com/
Thanks

Havent read it but looking at his graph he certainly do crush those games and does produce training videos so probably knows how to explain things properly.

i get through this book (didnt ready every word) but except this limping strategy (limping small pps from EP) i agree with everything here i think it is definitely worth of money for new players who want to start making money from poker + players who stucked in NL5 for long time (i would definitely buy it if i iam playing NL2 or NL5 now)

i got opportunity to see only blackrain videos from NL2 and NL5 when i was playing NL5 and his videos increased my winrate from 2BB/100 to 4BB/100 in one week by just watching his videos, he is definitely very good player to learn from in NL2-NL5

I think this guy is fan of his books

wow such a massive fail
he played 2.5m hands at 2nl and 5nl and he's losing after 350k hands of 25nl

hes winning at both 25 and 50NL , with just like 1.5bb but that is definitely not losing

DjAlex=Paisting on Party

I remember him from my 2NL days. In his normal state, he actually plays very well for a 2NL player, better than many of the players who berate him imo, but often goes on some massive tilt sessions and spews like 20 BI in 500 hands by shoving any 2 cards preflop.

Tilted $7k? What have you been drinking? Serve me too

Maybe it's good, but aren't these low or normal winrates for these stakes? Correct me if I'm wrong, as I've never played below 25nl. Noting against the author, don't know a thing about him, but just seems to be a little misleading.

My last 57k hands at small stakes, which I would consider more in the line of crushing:

omg bro your sick

Hi everyone. I am the author and I will be happy to answer any questions that you have about the content

No, this is far from "low or normal" on Pokerstars. Over such a large sample, his win rate is excellent. This would be fairly normal on softer sites though.

It's a really really good book for any beginning player. It will teach you alot of concepts you may have read about on 2+2 but weren't exactly sure what they meant. It focuses on the essentials and gives anyone looking for a way to better themselves as a player ways to do it.

The most interesting thing people should consider on these stakes which the book explains really really well is overbetting preflop with your premiums. This is a 2NL strategy which really helps you out to get the most value out of your big hands. While that strategy is a really bad and a huge tell if you play with anyone remotely competent, suprisingly enough on 2NL it produces amazing results. Lots of little tidbits like this can be found everywhere throughout the book and anyone playing at these stakes can get at least something out of it.

I've also done some 1 on 1 coaching with the guy and not only is he the most affordable coach you could find with a coaching rate of 30$/hour, he's really on fire the entire session and looks for ways to help you out in any way he can. He also lets you stay pass the allotted time and also helps you over skype if u have trouble with something poker related. Can't recommend the guy enough.

I would say they are pretty normal, just look at the other winners at 5NL it's just that noone else would play that many hands there lol. 2NL and 5NL you really dont need to know much about poker to beat them. I also would not try to "chrush" these nanostakes with a special strategy where you get in trouble at higher limits, rather try to improve your game at these stakes and prepare how to play good poker for the higher limits

According to PTR, the only player who has a higher winrate at 2NL on PokerStars over a large sample size this year is HellNative. BlackRain79 is 2nd best and is first in most money made in 2011; this is not "pretty normal".

also depends how much tables u play in one time, and blackrain was 24 tabling NL2 and NL5 with this winrate

I'll take your word, but this was mine on mostly poker stars and tilt at slightly higher limits. Granted this was a couple of years ago on those sites.

Le brager Sigh...... This is a 5NL/2NL book???

Books like Super System and Theory of Poker are pillars. But this is regarding poker in general.
If you play the microstakes, CTM is the next logical step. I bought it, read it(twice) and personally, think that it's one of those books that will stand the test of time.
I've read some great articles on 2+2 by some great players, but most of the time I'm not sure who's article I'm reading. Is he a winning player, is he still playing the stakes that he's talking about, is the information still relevant today?
I didn't question none of these things when I bought and started reading this book.
First of all, regardless of what some people(generally the fish) say about the author, no one can deny his skills/strategy/thought processes for crushing these microstakes. No one can ignore his PTR page. And yes, he did spend a lot of time and put a lot of volume into these stakes, but the product of that was this book.
So, I thank him. It made me a better player, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who could say this.
The book is clearly written, the strategy and how it is presented is irrefutable and he managed to bring up and explain specific spots which appear most frequently. His approach to the games is different and original(fresh). Most importantly, everything applies today. So, yeah, the book receives 5 stars from me, and much respect to BlackRain79. Let the haters hate.

Any sane player will not play millions of Hands at nl2. They simply move up in stakes. So they wont have a big sample on nl2.

If you believe it is "pretty normal", fine, believe it because I'm giving up convincing you.

Even if you (and I) can't understand why he plays so many hands at 2NL there is no need to suggest the author is not sane btw.

you da man

I’ve just read Nathan’s book and I’ll offer a few comments that I hope potential readers will find useful.

There are several elements of the book that seem to be unique in poker literature. I’ve not read a book before that was specifically aimed at 2NL and 5NL. Nathan has targeted a very specific audience and that must be borne in mind when you think of buying it.

There’s no point in saying that the book covers what “most people” already know because most people don’t play 2NL and those that do play at that level seem to need all the help they can get.

As seems to be common these days the author expresses his micro limit credentials and it certainly seems that he’s crushed these limits as he moved up. He’s also very realistic in saying that his expertise is at this level and neither the theory nor his own skill necessarily means that you could use these techniques at higher levels.

So we read the book based on this filter. We’re talking novices here.
The book is split into two obvious sections: pre flop and post flop. The pre flop section, about 45% of the work contains everything that you might expect from a primer like this. It’s presented as a “playbook in my head” and takes you through all the decisions and knowledge that a player needs when entering the pot.

There’s nothing remarkable here but it is laid out well and easy to understand and gives the reader a first taste of Holdem Manager, Table Ninja and Poker Stove as well as the usual opening hand charts and ideas on position. The book is aimed primarily at full ring and the stats advice reflects this but the crossover to 6max should be pretty straightforward.

Early on we find that the preferred method of playing is very exploitative. There’s nothing much about balance here but as Nathan suggests there’s no point in balancing when the villains are not paying attention.

The post flop section is equally thorough...at least the flop section. The concept here is that decisions made early and cheap are better than more expensive later street decisions so that sections on Turn and River play are not quite so thoroughly explained although they do contain all the basic information.

There’s a section on Extraction which was something new. It reinforces that concept of playing exploitatively...fold the bad hands and bet the good ones. Bluffing doesn’t come into this argument as you might expect at the level where a TAG type ABC style seems to do the job.
Competitors in this market are likely to be books like The Poker Blueprint and any number of starter books.

This book is priced just a tad higher than many 2NL players might consider to be best value but it’s thorough and well laid out and should do well in this market. The examples are clear and the advice easy to understand.

There’s no point in buying this book if you’re already a seasoned grinder and understand the basics well. You’re not the target market and if you’re a fan of Game Theory then I suggest you stick to Phillip Newall. This book takes quite a different approach.

So...If you’re looking for a survival guide or a starter book that’ll take you through the first two levels of your poker life then this book should be a great help.

This is incorrect. I have publicly posted my results. As for your opinion on the amount of hands that I have played at the lowest stakes, I would think that that would actually be highly beneficial for a book largely aimed at these stakes no?

You are of course welcome to your opinion but I think you are wrong. I think a lot of people actually do have trouble with these limits. Just because YOU apparently breezed through them doesn't mean that everyone else did.

I am quite sane actually. Thanks for the compliment though! And I have played plenty of hands at much higher stakes. Again, I have publicly posted my results.

Thank you!

I'm about 60% of the way through this book right now and agree with a lot of points made by Biffo.

So far, my impressions have been quite good. The book is very well laid out and reads very easy - I don't say this lightly because there have been so many poker books out lately (especially e-books) that either look like crap visually and/or has been very poorly edited. This book is very well organized and very easy to follow.

I'll give a more thorough review when I am finished with the book.