Hi Matthew,

I used to be a cardrunners member when you made videos there.

(By the way I have already purchased this book but gave it to the charity shop/goodwill. I will be repurchasing if applicable.)

I remember in a/some vids you did some 6max theory eg (paraphrased, and if I remember kind of accurately) the BB wants to defend x% however built into x is the SB, BTN...'s ability to defend means x is lower than the theoretical number.

Coincidentally I am @ the stage of my poker learning so want to really interrogate this theory now:

i) is the maths in this book?
ii) if no, where can i find it?

Maybe pointed out already but I think there might be an error on p. 343.

Near the bottom on the page, the formula

0=1/(1+x)^2-2y

is treated as equal to

y=(1/2)(1+x)^2

I think latter should be

y=(1/2)(1/(1+x)^2)

In Bet-Sizing Adjustments as the 3-Bettor,at the end of the first paragraph after 2, Weak hands are more profitable in strong ranges than weak ranges, you wrote "But with shallow stack depth this is less effective since our opponent can comfortably 4-bet fold all-in."
Do you mean 4-bet all-in instead of 4-bet fold all-in?

Naoki

Don't have the book in front of me but I'm sure you're correct and that's a typo.

I think solvers have since given better preflop ranges than you are going to get trying to use theory alone to design ranges. So I don't imagine I spent too much time on this in the book, since I'd just recommend you look at solvers now anyways (PokerSnowie has pretty good preflop ranges).

Can you post updated preflop ranges for a full ring game?

If I had them I would, but alas I do not.

Just finished applications and am moving on to this book. It’s 30% off on Amazon today from what it was yesterday.

Hello,
the book is still good for understanding the GTO in 2024 ?

tbh, i dont think so, i recently read it a second time and couldn't get much out of it. applications is the way better book to understand gto play in general because everything is backed up by fundamental equations (which still hold these days and guide solver play / makes their strategy more understandable for humans).

in the second book, i had the impression that solver play is justified with one's own good experiences (i.e. with empirical data, so to speak). as an example, the book often looks at the spot in which you check-raise on the flop with a top pair to protect your hand and generate value. the reasoning is then that the solver does it the same way and it works well in practice. as a reader, i find this rather unsatisfactory. especially since i would also be interested in how to continue playing after the check-raise. there are still the turn and river to play out of position and you have inflated the pot with a medium-strong hand. i think there is a lot of room for error (especially for beginners) and unfortunately this is not really addressed in the book.

what are the best books to understand GTO?

Dara O'Kearney's GTO Poker Simplified is quite good.

It's not especially advanced and if you've done a fair bit of solver study it will be reinforcement rather than learning, but it is a good introduction to GTO that is written in a very clear and easy to understand way

thank you for your response

I started the book on Friday.
I've read 75% of the book, it's really very good.
I think I'll read next:
Play Optimal Poker Practical Game Theory for Every Poker Player
Modern Poker Theory

Yeah, I read your comment and got the O'Kearney book. I like it, although I knew a lot of it. It explains things in terms of concepts rather than charts, etc., which suits my style better.