Originally Posted by FieryJustice

I am glad you guys are applying yourself and taking the steps to become great players. I am glad my books and other training materials have been helpful.

I have actually been writing down basiclly every hand I have played in all the nlhe events so I have material for Volume 3, which is probably going to be a ton of hand examples plus a few other things I have learned since Vol 2 came out. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions on other topics to be sure to include.

Originally Posted by Poker Clif

In volume 1 you stressed that one should always play for first because that's where the money is. In light of that, I would be interested in your comments about a recent 2+2 Pokercast. Phil Collins was interviewed by hosts Adam Schwartz and Mike Johnson. Schwartz plays mostly cash but has made one WSOP final table (4th), and Johnson is an amateur player.

Schwartz asked Collins about all the limping that he did at the final table. Collins said that he did that partly because the table was expecting him to be perhaps the most agressive player at the table, but primarily because he studied the structure and decided that the best strategy was to move up one spot at a time.

Schwartz responded that most final table players told him that they were playing for first, but he often didn't believe them. He then asked Collins to give him an example of what he saw in the structure that caused him to make his decision, and Collins replied, "The difference between ninth and sixth was a million dollars."

Later, Johnson said that if he was in that position he would absolutely move up one spot in a time, and that for most people it would be the right thing to do.

Comments?

Originally Posted by RT_437

Halfway into the first book and loving it. Would you mind explaining the equity calculation again? I know it's not the easiest math to do in your head but are there any shortcuts like the x4 x2 flop %out rule that can be applied to equity and expected value?

Originally Posted by polki

hi jonathan,

i have read vol 1 and 2, i just have a question : what do you need to adjust to your strategy, for the very low buy in tournament or club tournament, with no deep structure and 30 players ?

i have try your loose strategy in live event, with deep structure, no problem, but in my local club, everyone is nit and CS, so it s difficult to bluff them

i hope to be clear, excuse my english, i a living in france

thank you

Originally Posted by polki

hi jonathan,

i have read vol 1 and 2, i just have a question : what do you need to adjust to your strategy, for the very low buy in tournament or club tournament, with no deep structure and 30 players ?

i have try your loose strategy in live event, with deep structure, no problem, but in my local club, everyone is nit and CS, so it s difficult to bluff them

i hope to be clear, excuse my english, i a living in france

thank you

Originally Posted by SpecC

Mostly finished with the second volume and finished the first a while ago.

I am an intermediate live tournament player at best.

The first book is very good at discussing general strategy and how to play everything in certain positions as well as getting into the mindset of thinking of things in terms of equity. I really enjoyed reading and applying these concepts.

I feel the second book is more a gathering of common sense and compressed versions of books on tells, mindsets and what not. It gives you a starting structure on how to live the tournament lifestyle if you are new.

If I had to nit pick, I am not a huge fan of the layout of the second book. It felt more disorganized. For example, the pot limit Hold'em segment seems irrelevant in a book specializing in NLH.

Would you consider writing a book on tournament pot-limit Hold'em some time in the future?

Originally Posted by FieryJustice

While my book generally outlines how to play against competent opponents, it also clearly states that you need to learn to think for yourself at the table and figure out how to beat each type of opponent. You say your opponents are nitty and CS. I dont know what CS is but ill assume calling station? Seeing how those are totally different, I will describe how to play against each.

Against a bunch of players that play overly tight, simply raise often preflop.
Against players that call a lot, try to push them off their limps with fairly sizable raises. If you cant, take flops in position with a range that can flop well and try to make a strong hand postflop. Also, once you get down to 20bbs or so, if there are still multiple limpers preflop, you can go all in often and will pick up a lot of dead money. Good luck!

Originally Posted by polki

thanks for your response, yes CS means calling station

range that can flop well is Suited connector, broadway ?
for local tournament i can use the vol1 BB theory ?

Originally Posted by hegedus1000

also which of these tourney books are also worth of reading and which are not? thank you.

1.
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (D&B Poker Series) by Jonathan Little

I like this one.

2.
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 2 by Jonathan Little

I like this one too.

3.Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play

These used to be the best books on the market when people were terrible. Now people are not terrible and generally know to not fall for squeeze plays and cbets. This book will teach you to play tight and aggressive, which will make you a small winner. I try to teach people to be big winners.

4.
Tournament Poker for Advanced Players: Expanded Edition David Sklansky

This book is more of a collection of ideas necessary to win at mtts and not so much a complete guide. That being said, I love everything sklansky puts out.

5.The Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder

This book basically says to play like a maniac in fast structured events and a nit in slow ones. It is also written by a professional author, which is never a good sign.

6. Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume I by Eric 'Rizen' Lynch, Jon 'Pearljammer' Turner and Jon 'Apestyles' Van Fleet

These books are basically hand histories from online tournaments put into a book. While I think they are fine, they dont apply too much to live poker and obviously get outdated for their online application quickly.


7.
The Raiser's Edge: Tournament-Poker Strategies for Today's Aggressive Game by Bertrand Grospellier, Lee Nelson, Tysen Streib and Tony Dunst (Jun 27, 2011)

This book is good but in general, it teaches a system. I am not really a fan of any book that teaches a system because systems are easily broken. Check out what happened to HoH. This book will probably be in the same group in a few years.

8.Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 2: Endgame by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie

See above

9.
Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-Limit Hold 'Em Poker, Tournaments, and Sit-n-Gos: Revised and Expanded Edition (Gambling Theories Methods) by Lee Nelson, Tysen Streib and Steven Heston (Jun 30, 2009)

See above

10.Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume II by Eric 'Rizen' Lynch, Jon 'PearlJammer' Turner and Jon 'Apestyles' Van Fleet (Feb 20, 2010)

See above

11.Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie (May 30, 2006)

People seem to like workbooks. They help apply what you have learned. If the workbook teaches you to play and think like a nit, you will learn to play and think like a nit. That isnt always a good thing.

12.
The Poker Tournament Formula II: Advanced Strategies by Arnold Snyder

See above

13.Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen

I like this book a lot, even though I hate quite a few of the lines suggested. It is basically one of the first books that lays out how to play more than just premium hands to do well and gather chips in a large event.


14.
The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition by Andy Bloch, Richard Brodie, Chris Ferguson and Ted Forrest (Jun 1, 2007)

This book has a lot of good and bad info, mainly because it is written by a lot of good and bad poker players.