Matthew,

Super excited for this book! In your honest opinion, do you think this book is a game changer? And which books (if any) already on the market would you say is most similar to this one?

P.S. I offer the suggestion that from this point forward, Applications of No-Limit Hold 'em by Matthew Janda will be referred to simply as: apps. No need for formalities when we gain so much in convenience, as surely this book will be on the tip of every serious grinder's tongue and fingertips.

As I've mentioned before, I don't think it's possible for any book/video/program to be a "game changer," as poker is too complex of a game to be quickly learned no matter how good the material teaching you is.

It's also really hard to evaluate for me to objectively evaluate the book after spending so much time working on it. That said, I think it's exactly the type of book I wish I were able to read 3 or 4 years ago when I was confused on so many topics, and I wouldn't have spent 1000+ hours on this project if I didn't think I had something useful to write that others would benefit from reading.

There is no similar book on the market that I know of, but I haven't read a poker book in several years.

wowwwww can't wait!

anyway to get notified when this is released?

Subscribe to this thread (which I just did )

Released yet? can't seem to find the release date info itt. =/

The release date isn't known yet, but it will likely come out next month (in May).

subscribed.

Great. My baby boy will be 2 in May, nice birthday present for him.

Can a total beginner start with this book at micro 1cent 2cent and work up? Or is this for more advanced players? Im a fixed limit holdem player.

It probably depends on the player. I'd feel comfortable recommending the book to players without a ton of NLHE experience, as it will give them a sense of how complex the game is and how some really good players think (compared to a lot of misinformation out there right now which suggest once a player has access to some "secret" information they'll crush). But I do think new players who aren't careful can get overloaded with information, and it's important to remember simply understanding a concept doesn't mean you can implement it well. In other words, it's important new players who read this don't try to implement too new many concepts at once.


One thing that surprised me at CardRunners is micro stakes players and MSNL players usually want to be talked to the same way. I would have thought lower stakes players would prefer concepts to be explained in an oversimplified manner, but I think part of what makes poker fun is learning new concepts while entertaining the idea that if you work hard enough and are skilled enough you'll eventually be able to play much higher. So from my experience, most people don't like the idea of a book teaching a strategy which can only take them up to NL$50 or so before they'll have to more or less relearn the game (and strategies which just do well against fish or passive opponents often do just that). Again, this will depend on the player and what his or her goals are.

^This. I also believe that no serious player wants to be treated as a ****** or be given a dumbed-down guide (ie. the complete idiot's guide to nlh) that's structured in a "If X, then do Y" type of fashion.

Perhaps this isn't the best thread to ask but, I was wondering if the author of Applications of NLHE can comment on the similarities and differences between this one and Will Tipton's Expert HU NLHE. Maybe they're worlds apart and I am just ignorant, never read either of them.

I haven't read his book, though it's something I'll likely do in the future (though not the near future) as I've heard good things.

Are the starting hand charts in the book based on the indifference principle?

How could they?

So of course this will be discussed in much more detail in the book, but I'll address this now since there seems to be some confusion about some pre-flop concepts.

Important Point #1: Pre-flop will not be solved until all of poker is solved. No one knows how to play pre-flop optimally, and anyone who says they do is lying and/or vastly overestimating how powerful of a tool theory is to figuring out pre-flop play.

Important Point #2: Pre-flop is the easiest street to apply theory to in order to prove something must be wrong, but it's the hardest street to prove something must be correct. Nevertheless, new players especially like discussing theory with regards to pre-flop play more than other streets since there's been minimal previous action and no flop. The result of this is newer players often get obsessed with applying theory to the street that's arguably the hardest street to apply theory to.

On that note, it's best to approach pre-flop with an understanding that it will be pretty easy to prove some ranges must be wrong, but impossible to prove what the correct ranges are.

Important Point #3: It's very common for multiple lines to have the same EV in theory. This applies both pre-flop and post-flop. For example, it may be correct in theory (my guess is it is, but it's just a guess) to call a cutoff open in the button with aces sometimes. We'll usually make a lot of money when one of the blinds squeezes us, and we'll get paid on some board textures which might miss most of our range where our opponent will often bet aggressively (such as 7s 3c 3d or king high flops if we mostly 3-bet AK). But if we want to 3-bet AA sometimes and call with it sometimes, where does it go in our hand chart?

Now keep in mind there are many hands which should in theory take multiple different lines pre-flop (whether it be calling or folding, 3-betting or calling, or 3-betting or folding). How do you make an optimal hand chart when you know the same hand won't even always take the same line in theory?




Now keep all this in mind while remembering the following--

Restriction#1: Both Mason and myself have a limited amount of time. We're only be able to spend so much time on pre-flop stuff before it's no longer worth our time and we move onto something else.

Restriction #2: An extremely precise (nay, perfect) hand chart would probably look like an absolute mess. There'd be so many hands in so many different ranges (with different bet-sizes...) that it'd be impossible to memorize, and more importantly just be super confusing. So even if somehow an optimal hand chart was made, my guess is it would be close to useless to the vast, vast majority of players. You'd probably need to be an expert player to even properly interpret it.

Restriction #3: The pre-flop section is one of the earliest sections of the book, so I'm restricted on what concepts I can discuss. That's because most readers won't have a good understanding of poker theory at that point. So not only are there all the previously mentioned obstacles, but a lot of useful theory stuff can't be discussed on page 60 since it will confuse the reader (but I can discuss it on page 460, because the reader hopefully has a much deeper understanding of poker theory and NLHE in general by that point).

In other words, the streets aren't played in isolation. It's much easier to talk pre-flop play with an excellent post-flop player, and much easier to talk post-flop play with an excellent pre-flop player. But something has to come first.





So while the book does include a pretty detailed hand chart, as is stressed in the book you'll be doing yourself a huge disfavor if you assume it's an optimal hand chart. Even a question as simple as "Hey, is K6s better to open in the cutoff, or QTo?" cannot be answered. There are too many possible situations to memorize them all, especially post-flop, so it's much more important you understand concepts than try to memorize lines or ranges. work to

Very informative post Matthew, thank you for your time and dedication.

With everything said, what sort of conclusion or bottom line is entailed in your book regarding preflop RFI ranges that are applicable in game (ie. 6max, FR)? From the TOC in Mason's OP, I see two sections: "Pre-flop Raise First In Ranges" and "Recommended Hand Chart", what is the format of said items? Is it a neatly formatted starting hand chart that fits perfectly onto one page? Or something messier more similar to what you were alluding to in restriction #2?

Is this new information unavailable elsewhere or is it more of a detailed rehashing of common preflop wisdom?

LOL

In a few years time, those kids at school won't know what's hit them.

I decided long before MJ´s latest post to buy this book.
Now I guess I have to buy it twice.
This is gonna be great. Can´t wait.

Just curious, have you decide what will be the cover?

Early Bird 2+2 Member sale with free Fedex starts tomorrow?

one time.

Sauce posting his intended foreword to this title probably sold at least a few hundred copies.

+1
just reread sulsky's forward, can't wait for release

you guys think this is gonna be a bestseller like ToP or are you think sales from gonna be from more of a niche market like MoP? i wonder if Mason or Matthew would like to comment...

I checked with Mason and he said it would be okay for me to post a sneak peak of what the cover is going to look like.

I consider myself very fortunate that my design was selected to be the cover for Matt's book through a contest that 2+2 held a few months back.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm absolutely stoked about it and I am really looking forward to reading the book.

Hope you guys like the cover.

Oh, and Matt — I hope you like it too!