i am rereading Jonathan's first book, you will learn more your second time through

anyway, i consider Jonathan's books and both of Snyder's books to be the current influences on my play

i have done well this year so far in tourneys, i.e., breaking even (which is great IMO for a casual player who plays 1 to 2 tourneys a month)

A couple questions for you:

1. I've been thinking about your answer that one should always play for first in the WSOP ME. In your answer you said in part, "If $1,000,000 matters a lot to you and playing like a nit for a few hours will almost guarantee you that $1,000,000, go for it." (emphasis mine)

The more I think about this, the more I agree with Mike Johnson that a million dollars would mean a lot to just about anyone at the final table, and you should therefore consider moving up one spot at a time.

The truth is that at the tourning pro level (WPT for example) almost no one is bankrolled to fly all over the world and put down 10K entry fees. In fact, with all of the backing/staking/selling pieces, and few players putting down their own money, it seems to me like the real estate bubble of a few years ago.

Call it marginal utility or life-changing money, but the truth is that a million dollars will in fact mean a lot to most of the players at any WSOPME. Do you disagee with this?


2. In your book, you talk about how to play TPTK. You talk about pot control with top pair weak kicker or middle pair with a good kicker. You talk about when to bluff with weaker hands than those. But what about 3rd pair?

You talk a lot about implied odds. When you're holding 76 and the flop is KT6, don't you have to consider the implied odds of pairing your 7 on the flop or river (depending, or course, on how expensive it is to stay in the hand)? It's hard to make two pair if you throw away all of your bottom pair hands.

My friend I met at the WSOP this year recommended I read your book. I am glad he did- I am only half way through the first and already got volume 2. I enjoy how easy of a read it is and how you simplify a lot of complicated concepts without any fluff. Thanks Jonathan for writing it and sharing your thoughts here on 2p2. Cheers!

$1,000,000 is a lot to anyone but I think most high level professionals realize $9,000,000 is a LOT more than $1,000,000. I know for me personally, $1,000,000 wouldnt change much but $9,000,000 would. I also know that in most sitiations, it is +$EV to go for the $9,000,000. Obviously if I had no chips and where was more value in moving up, I would do that, but im certainly not going to pass up on any +EV situations trying to move up a spot or two. Its really just a bunch if ICM math.

As for bottom pair, you can do whatever youd like with it. I tend to float or raise against people that fold too much and fold against people that continue firing a lot of turns but wont pay me off if I hit.

I just want to say that these are the best poker books I have read since HOH way back when. I am on my third time through Vol 1, and the thought processes are becoming second nature now. Is it bad that i now 'pot control' in life decisions too?

Whenever going broke is a really bad thing, pot control is usually a good option.

yeah i guess it is really minimization of risk, but now when I think of it I think of it as pot control by default

Thank for your answer. I read 2/3 of your first book and already got lucky to win 1/1048 $50 buy in tourney. Good book

question> what ROI can a good player achieve in tournaments? Is it different, when there are 100, 1000, 5000 players starting?

thank you.

It is tough to say. Obviously as more players play a tournament, the highest possible ROI goes up. Online, the best players usually run at around 80% ROI but in live tournaments, I firmly believe the number is much higher, although it is tough to say with a lot of confidence because no one has a huge sample.

I bought the eBook a few days ago. I'm primarily a cash game player so any MTT info looks good to me but the stuff in here is awesome. I'm already looking forward to re-reading it.

I remember reading somewhere, this thread, that thread maybe, that you get downloadable videos with the purchase of the book. Is this still available? If so, what steps should I take to receive this bonus?

I have both volumes. I think volume 1 is outstanding and volume 2 is good but covers areas that have been touched on by several other authors. That said, rather than buying them individually if I look at them holistically as one large volume it clearly is the best tournament series on the market at an amazingly reasonable price. Some of the expensive e-book authors should be ashamed of themselves after they see what's available at a very reasonable price here.

This book series came onto my radar screen rather late. I never even bothered dipping into this thread even though I am a regular on this board. I erroneously assumed that this was another well-known poker player attempting to cash in on his success.

I think anyone playing tournament poker on a regular basis would be doing themselves a disservice to not read these books. I'm not ready to donate my Harrington tournament books, but find the 4 volumes along with Kill Everyone to be a collective treatise on tournament poker.

random question, but I played live cash with you at bestbet in jax. Who was that guy that kept saying cuz like 10000x to you? Like, hey cuz, can you believe it cuz, etc.

I know who you are talking about but I dont know his name. I think he owns a cigar bar in Orlando. He was a reg on the circuit for a year or so.

If you email the publisher, he will make sure you get the videos. I cant post much more info than that because 2+2 mods dont like it.