A new book just got released by the poker coach James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney
I liked his first book "Dynamic Full Ring Poker".. it helped me understand a lot of fundamentals when I first started playing not long ago.. What are you thoughts on the new book?

It's not a real book is it

Just an epublication - that's also includes a group of workshops

shame nobody seems to be releasing real books anymore

By a "real book" do you mean a paper book?
you can buy a copy from amazon..

How is this not a real book? It is advertised as a workbook with hand reading problems - however, it still is a book isn't it?

The price is a bit steep at $60 though.

I meant paper book [real book]

on the link from his email - there was no real book - just ebook

£49 on amazon.co.uk - yikes

Too expensive for me

oh, I see. Book is available on paperback on Amazon. I like Sweeny's work and just debating whether or not I want to spend $60 on it.

Me too

But I've decided that £49 is too much

I guess next year there will be a deal for book 1 & 2 together, maybe with the live Q&A sessions thrown in - that will make it seem like a 'must buy' to me

Also I already have Flopzilla - so getting that [included] in the price - feels like I'm paying for something I already have

I too would have been tempted - but he does seem to price a lot of his stuff on the high side

Given he's not a winning player and barely plays anymore from my understanding

Yeah , all the coaches in nhl,nba, etc are such great players still ...

I'd assume the physical aspect to those games tends to hinder their ability to still participate in them...

terrible analogy

How do you know he's not a winning player?

Hi mrno1324:

I have the exact same question partly because I've read the exact same thing about myself from people who don't know me at all.

Also, poker is a game of knowledge and not of execution which is present in an athletic sport. So in my mind it would be unlikely if someone had the knowledge that they would not be a winning player (which can be completely different in a sport).

By the way, I have little knowledge of the author or this book and don't know if he's a winning player or not. But if the book is good it becomes highly likely that he does win.

Best wishes,
Mason

I see, you think talent ( physically) is enough to win in any sport ?

You obviously never played high level sport than ...

That's not what he said. You're trying to create a straw man now to try to defend a terrible analogy.

Good players does not automatically make good coaches and vice versa....

Pretty known fact in any high level activities, whether it is physical or intellectual.

Btw, if his book is toward 1/2 nl online and below but his sweeny is only a break even at 50/100 or 50/25 online, what does it matter ?
He certainly is proficient enough to teach 1/2 nl players....

On the cover it says "hand reading for live players" and I read a description on amazon that mentioned the book having examples from 1/2 and 2/5 live games. Seems hard to imagine him not being a winning player in those games.

Helmuth has a lot of knowledge I'm sure but his action is a joke in cash games. He seems to have no concept of info he's giving away and of psych angles that he is tipping worse than neophyte players. In fact, his blind spots seems stupefying giving his status in the game.

There IS execution to poker - how many times does someone say, "I knew better than that but didn't play it well? I played that badly" etc. Knowing it and doing it aren't the same. There isn't a physical talent component to that execution in poker as there is in athletics, but there sure is a difference between knowledge and executing it.

Poker is a game of both process and content.

The ability to process (apply) under pressure is often underated.

A few things that Ivey does better than most are his ability to focus when not in a hand (and even aquire intelligence outside of the game), remember, juggle patterns, prioritize what is important to focus on, etc. etc

Big edges in most games are only possible through superior exploitive play backed up by a solid understanding of the game.

This hits at why some players who are loaded to the gills with advanced knowledge, partial Game Theory expertise (and so on) have results that are mediocre, or worse.

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There are exceptions such as some high level online math system vs math system.

Here, tho, a small edge and lots of volume often is what is in play.
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My comments are not meant to imply that pursuing a stong knowledge of the game (content) is not a good thing.

And every time someone tilts there is a discrepancy between their knowledge and their actions - which is execution.

Can somebody change the title to something more appropriate?

It might save other readers from having to go through this thread thinking it contained reviews of Poker Workbook.

+1

sooooo, is the book any good?

I bought the book and am currently working on the problems. I am a paying member of his coaching site and I like his teachings, so to me it was worth it to pay the $60. Now that I am working through it I have no regrets on the money I spent. There are 40 examples to work through and each example will take you at least 30 minutes, for me it's more. So this book will keep you busy for weeks if not months.

First of all it is about low limit cash games, 1/2 and 2/5. That's what I play so I cannot tell you if it helps if you are a tournament player or online cash player. Maybe it will, maybe it won't.

Each example gives you a hand situation in such as "$2/$5. The CO seems to be new to poker and is not likely to know what a steal is. The players in the blinds have been nothing to note thus far." The it tells you who , if anyone, bet and what your action is. From this you formulate a range, then it goes through the flop, turn and river telling you what actions were taken and having you revise the range, also sometimes asking questions about what would you do if different actions were taken. There is no answer key because there is no one right answer.

It is broken into 3 sections. The first section all the examples are about the hand ranges you would have in different situations, so you can identify your hand ranges and use tht knowledge to form ranges for you opponents in the future. The second section the examples are about the hand ranges your opponent would have. The third section all the examples are about range vs range which is necessary against skilled players, who are putting you on a range of hands also.

I think it is a great book. It really gets you to analyze ranges in depth. I am done with 13 problems and I can see an improvement in my game, The last time I played I was really focusing more on putting my opponents on ranges. I am confident by the time I finish the workbook, this focus and my hand reading skills will increase.

Another benefit I see, since I bought the eBook version so I am working each example out in an Excel document (and not permanently marking up a paperback book), is: Once I am done and have learned a lot about hand reading and utilized it in my game, I will probably go through the book again and do all the problems and I am sure my answers will be totally different and I will benefit just as much the second time around.

The bottom line, this is a great book and even though it is pricey, I think I will make that $60 back, plus a lot more at the poker table.