Thank you for taking the time to explain what you didn't like about the book.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iAudrius
I am a bit disappointed with a book. I think the name of the book is misleading.
No-Limit Hold'em For Advanced players
"One of the foremost poker authors shows how a good no-limit hold'em player can become a great no-limit hold'em player."
So from the cover of the book I would expect the material for already good winning players (mid-stakes regulars).
Are you talking mid-stakes online cash? Like NL$400 to NL$1000?
If so I don't even think it's possible for a book to teach you how to beat those limits, you're talking about beating regulars that are probably in the top 0.01% of players. The best a book (or any training material) can do is get you on the right track.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iAudrius
But the reality is that it doesn't even teach us how to bluff. What hands to choose? What frequencies to use in order to have the right amount of bluffs?
A few points:
1. The bluffing stuff and frequency stuff was already discussed in great detail in
Applications. Unfortunately, I either had to leave some stuff out of the new book that was already in Applications, or else end up being very repetitive and charging readers for the same information twice. I went for the former.
2. What do you even mean by "bluff?" This book stresses that the terms "bluff" and "value bet" don't even really work in many situations, unless we're on the river. Again, as has been explained in
Applications as well as countless other poker books, if you're betting $50 into a $100 pot on the river with a polarized range you need 3 value bets for every 1 bluff. That's easy.
But how about if you're continuation betting in position on a K
8
5
flop? How strong does a hand need to be to be a "value bet?" Is 8
7
a value bet? If it is, is it considered a "value bet" the same was the 5
5
is? What about 7
6
? The terms don't work. So, rather than try to develop ratios for terms that don't really work (again, which was already done in great detail in
Applications before we had access to more powerful software), I chose to focus on making sure you're taking the most +EV line with hands on the flop and turn that aren't part of mixed strategies. That usually involves picking the right bet sizing with strong and medium strength hands, and not picking a bad bet sizing with weak hands and draws (a sizing that would make sense with no hands in your range).
Quote:
Originally Posted by iAudrius
So in game I have a draw and I can click any sizing because they all make sense? How does it help me to become a great player?
The book explicitly discusses multiple examples where certain bet sizes don't make sense. This isn't something you need to infer, I'm talking about how this is something explicitly discussed multiple time in the book for different stack depths (both 100BB deep and shallow).
Clearly when I say "overbetting doesn't make sense with any hand in your range here" or "betting small doesn't make sense with any hand in your range here due to stack depth" it means every hand in your range, including draws. And when you're deep and playing in position on a twotone flop and a full PSB, 1/2 PSB, and 1/4 PSB all make sense, then it also makes sense that there should probably be flush draws in all betting ranges since if you don't have a flush draw in any range there's going to be a clear counter-strategy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iAudrius
What this book teaches is value betting bigger with your better hands and lower with your weaker hands which is obvious to any good player.
First of all, this isn't obvious to all players. There are tons of poker books that tell you to bet only one bet sizing since that way your opponent won't be able to put you on a hand. There are even poker books that explicitly say don't adjust your bet sizing based on the strength of your hand, since that makes you too easy to play against (which isn't true if it's done correctly, which is what the book helps teach you how to do).
And even if it was obvious to value bet bigger with good hands and bet smaller with weaker hands (which is a huge oversimplification), this would be like me writing a 9 word poker book that just says "Always take the most +EV line in every situation." Yeah, it's a true statement, but for the book to be good it has to explain why it's good and give lots of examples in a (relatively) easy to digest manner. And that's IMO the hardest part about writing a poker book, you have to not only explain a new concept but also teach a new player how to begin seeing patterns and applying it when your readership consists of players of all different skill levels.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iAudrius
So all in all, this book would be useful for beginner players and I would be happy to read it as a beginner. But it clearly doesn't teach you how to become a great player if you are a good one and even more how to beat "Tough opposition" as book title says.
I think we may have very different definitions of "beginner." I have coached several tournament players and more than a couple cash game players over the last few years (all from word of mouth, I don't advertise coaching), many of whom consistently make $100k+ a year. All of them did not know many of the concepts in this book when I started coaching them, otherwise they wouldn't have continued to hire me to coach them and recommended me totheir friends.
I actually really do appreciate you taking the time to mention why you're disappointed with the book. Most of the time when someone has criticism for one of my books or videos I actually agree with the criticism, I just don't in this particular case and I want to explain why. Please don't take my disagreeing with you as me saying you're wrong as you're completely entitled to post any of your opinions here, I just also wanted to explain why I made the decisions I did when writing the book or why I currently think the way that I do.