Haha! I've had to temporarily pause at page 89 because of this very hilarious statement:

"When I play mum poker, I remain anomumous."

I'm still cracking up as I type this.

So far, I have already implemented one of the ideas suggested in the book. Its the one about quitting. The idea is to quit well before the point you fall of your A-game. Well, I play HUSNG and predictable fall off this level at around the 11th match which in my case (I two table) is around just over an hour. I now quit after the tenth match, walk around or do something else (like take a quick nap or 20 minutes on the elliptical), then go back to do another set of 10 games.

George Soros has his Theory of Reflexivity, Enstein had his Theory of Relativity, while Tommy Angelo has his Theory of Reciprocality echoing in many points of the book. It is a concept worth knowing but you have to read the book to learn it.

So far, I've learned a lot while being entertained by a very funny (yet deep) writing style.

I think you need to relearn the defintion of the words "review" and "excerpt"

You play HUSNGs? Why don't you post in the heads up forum? I have a clear breaking point of 3 games. I get up and take a walk or scratch my bum or something. This point is not that hard to identify in Heads up poker. The burn-out rate is very high.

I just received it today ... might do a review in a few day


I looks like prose, which might not be a bad thing, since pokerbook usually are very dry

Did you guys order from Tommy or Poker Mike?

I ordered from Poker Mike and haven't got mine yet...

They came in yesterday. Shipped out all the individual pre-release orders yesterday. All those that ordered with the Krantz DVD today. A few folks came by the office to pick up books. If you went with Priority mail you should have it soon!

Here it is on Amazon, but TwoPlusTwo would probably be the fastest.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/141...3D52ME94CCNDNZ

Breathe In, I am looking at the firealarm bell
Breathe Out, I'm smiling at the firealarm bell

It helps

So I've read 70 pages of this book and .....


..... it's nice.


It is basically a book full of Tommy'isms. It deals with a lot of 'Elements' (200 of them or so) and covers each of these in a space ranging from two sentences to two pages.

In many ways an easy read and something you can just dip in and out of. A big focus in on how to minimize the amount of time you play your c-game more than how to improve your A-game.


Tommy has Dr. Al crushed


In my ranking of books this gets into my top five.

A lot of people aren't going to think this book is groundbreaking, but I would disagree. While most won't find a lot of new ideas--ok, there isn't anything that hasn't been talked about a lot--there's a ton of thought behind it. Tommy's style is so light and breezy that one might get the mistaken idea the stuff is lightweight. It's not. Much of this stuff is discussed in a way that is very accessible to any player at any level. I'm about 1/3 the way through, and enjoying every minute.

One thing everyone should agree on after reading even a little of it--there's no other book like it on the market today.

CJ

Can someone go over more about what this book is about. Is it basically just about playing your A game and not tilting? Can someone maybe post like a table of contents?

http://www.tommyangelo.com/table_of_contents.html

"The two main reasons that high stakes games are tougher than low stakes games is that at high stakes, the players adapt faster, and when they tilt, they recover faster. To be better than the rest as a high stakes player, you need to adapt faster and recover faster than they do."

~Tommy Angelo

^this is $$$....


d'

got mine today. It's pretty interesting so far although I feel like I should be doing LSD while reading it.

Nah, some nice ...kush... is more than enough...

d'

imo, the book is about how to be a poker player. Almost all of my leaks have to do with being a poker player, not how to play poker. I make enough good decisions, when I'm playing well, that I can make good money playing poker. But a lot of my decisions about how to be a poker player are terrible. I knew that tilting was a leak, but the book has already helped me find dozens of others.

I agree with Cactus Jack, this is a groundbreaking book, but not because it's going to tell you how to make more money on the turn.

Here is my review:

"Elements of Poker" is like the best of "Ace on The River" on steriods.

Very easy read. The style is very refreshing too, much less "serious" than the twoplustwo style: he writes like he talks, uses the f word, etc. I think it's possible to read the whole book in one seating, especially if you skip the parts you are less interested in.

Now the content is very simple to read and understand, but it will take a lot of effort to digest and apply. I guess I should reread it and take notes.



Question for those who took Tommy's coaching: is the book's content "equivalent" to what you learn during the coaching?

When a friend writes a book, you hope it's good. Nothing worse than when he asks if you like the book and you have to say, well, it's not like most books. You wish that was good enough. Thankfully, I can give Tommy's book a high recommendation because it's more than I expected. Well beyond my hopes for it.

I've been searching for the right way to describe the book to friends and causabon came up with the best description, one which I'll happily steal and use frequently. It's simply a book for poker players. Well done, sir.

Not finished, yet, but I'm still enjoying it. However, I have realized it won't be a one-read book. There's a lot of stuff in it!

Sebbb, I can't answer your question, since I haven't been "coached" by Tommy. I can tell you, however, that our show on Holdem Radio--Elements of Poker with Tommy Angelo--will be based on the book and Tommy's coaching. If he can coach me, then I'd say he's the greatest of all time, since I suck now. It should be enlightening.

Tommy has told me it's his program all the way.

I just received my copy yesterday.

I am familiar with some of the concepts from reading: 1) Tommy's website, tiltless.com, and 2) other articles previewing the book. Certainly, his Reciprocality essay on his website is pure gold, and parts of it are repeated in the book.

One of the concepts in the book that I find extemely useful - the way to look at position. Basically, according to Tommy, there are 4 positions outside the blinds: Early Position, Hijack, Cutoff, and Button. He eschews the concept of Middle Position. It's all Early, until you get to the last 3 seats to act. He then gives you the percentage of hands you should play in each position, ranging from 10% in Early Position to 40% on the Button.

This one concept will help you play your A game, and avoid your C game, at least preflop.

Another concept I found intriguing - breathing. He spends several pages on breathing and meditation and how to remain calm at the table.

I look forward to reading the rest of the book. What I have read so far is certainly thought provoking.

Hey Cactus Jack, been hearin bout this a whilst ( the name Cactus Jack makes me talk like this, sorry). Folks hereabouts all's a-wunderin when it's gonna make it's day-beoo. Being familiar with Tommy's work , Im's one of the one's hankerin' to hears any news.

Darn grateful fur any help a fine youngun like you'n be willst to share with us ordinary folks,,,Ba Ding (that was spit hittin the brass 'toon somewhere's.) We ain't got no TV so weall looking forward to that thar radio show.

Good luck to you'uns.

Shortly after losing his Redneck Rosetta Stone,, CJ got the following request...

We're working on it. Details will be available soon, right after we get the crops in from the field.

YEEEE-HAAH

I haven't read the book in a while, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't say "you should" play xxxx when. He talks about what he does, and why, and talks about people deciding for themselves the worst hands they'd play, etc. I don't recall a directive type discussion though.