I am 51 years young...started online @ 2003 for recreational purposes and bought a few books etc etc. (I incorrectly played at a high level for a beginner without trying out the play money tables first)

2009 toned down my play to concentrate on returning to full time education.

2013 graduated with honours degree but I learned how to study, produce literary reviews and produce a dissertation.

I work part time and poker education (mainly tournament strategy) is now a serious hobby. I have a collection of some of the well known strategy books.

'Crushing the Microstakes' is my first ever ebook ...However I found it so easy to read over a couple of days on the laptop that the book flowed with a musical manner.

All the author's theory was backed up with hard evidence which was pleasing as I honestly had no knowledge how poker tracking software works.

All actions are backed by sound fundamental reasoning.

This is an ideal piece of literature for any low cash (not just micro) stakes players seriously seeking to improve their game.

The cash strategy employed by the author can, in my opinion, also be adopted for the early levels of deep staked tournies.

All in all an enjoyable read that is an excellent piece of work from a proven winner.

This book clearly exceeded my expectations

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

Hi

Just a quick way of Thanking Nathan for sharing his skills and experience in the most clear and ABC teaching method. The best poker book that I have ever read by far.

Detailed, Scenario based, full of real time examples and clear.

THANKS

Could someone please tell me how I can get both of these books? Thanks in advance!!!

BlackRain79 has a degree in History, and it's paid off considering how well written and easy to digest his books are.

I've read both CTM and MSS and recommend them to any newbie getting started at the lowest stakes in the micros.

Just read CTM for the third time(been a year or two since I read it last) and I had the normal spike in my win rate immediately after... This **** works, lol

I am an experienced poker player who is returning after a few years away from the game.

I think Nathan has produced an excellent book.

It is well laid out and easy to understand.

Its focus is on teaching a relative beginner (or someone who has played for a while and struggled) some of the basic ideas that are needed in order to succeed at the lowest stakes.

That does not mean that this is a dry, hard to follow, book on theory. In fact it is quite the opposite. Nathan gives a lot of "if this happens, then do this" rules and, for the lowest stakes his rules will be correct the majority of the time.

His approach is unashamedly exploitative and that is exactly as it should be not only at low stakes but also as at higher stakes as well.

Micro stakes players make many fundamental errors and Nathan has given a blueprint to try to exploit those. He freely admits that the approach he discusses is aimed specifically at the very poor players that inhabit these games. He has also updated some of his advice to take account of the slight changes that have taken place since the book was first produced.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who needs a helping hand to get them started on a winning track

Great book really helpful! Read it multiple times

This book really put on the right road to improving my game, becoming a winning player, and then even tripling my win rate. It's simple to understand, but I think contains pretty much everything you need to win at 2NL.

Well worth checking out the mastery course he offers and just general blog posts. All his output together has been great for me.

Amazing book, really helpful!

I played a lot of poker during the poker boom from 2003-2007 in my late 20's. I was never more than a breakeven player, had leaks in my game that went unaddressed, played drunk, went on tilt, and had poor game selection and bankroll management. I proceeded to get on with life for the next 9 years and recently decided it was time to add poker back into the mix. But this time do it right. Discovering this book right away was a massive help. Nate's results and strategy really can't be argued with. Someone who truly wants to get better at poker needs to take an analytical approach to the game and learn it from the ground up. In just one month of play(14k hands - I know this can be a bit of variance) I've moved up to $10NL and realized I needed to by his next book immediately. If I run bad and have to move back down to $4NL I would feel completely comfortable in that game being able to put to use what I've learned in Nate's book. He truly filled a need in the poker world here, and I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to improve their game from the ground up. Ryan

If u play loose games, preferably full ring, preferably loose passive, or u have no idea of how to play, this is a cheap, easy and fast read, and especially helpful if ur heading to loose passive full ring games.

It isnt sophisticated enough for about any online shorthanded or even full ring online because they are not usually loose enough and u would mostly suck. But u get at least some better easy and fast, though when u move up anywhere, its value will be zero.

When i read it, i tested it at party full ring, some at shorthanded. But after that it has been as useful as if i had not read it at all. So, i call it mainly a book for loose passive full ring games to be exact.

Is this book still worth a buy in 2018?

It was written, correct me if I'm wrong, in... 2011? And, as far as I know, last updated from author in 2013. That's half a decade! People say that poker changes fast, at least in past it has, so 5 years is supposedly a lot. Isn't this book outdated by now? Or has poker evolved over the years up to a point where it does not change so fast anymore?

I'm a level 1 poker Necromancer and wondering whether this gear is worth for my gold. Is this CTM book by Blackrain79 still worth a read in 2018? For somebody who is complete beginner? Are strategies is this book can still be applied with just as great success in 2018?

In my opinion, if you can't beat bad players you can't beat good players, and no other book will do a better job of teaching you how to identify and crush bad players. You just have to learn how to read your table. If they're not stations or maniacs you can't just pot pot shove with top pair and hope they call with worse. Hope that helps.

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Hi,

I discovered Blackrain79 on youtube a few months ago after returning to the game after a few years absence doing other things. I really liked the hand history reviews he does there so I thought I'd give his book a try. I can only say that I wish I'd found it years ago!

I've been playing micros on and off as a rec since 2006 and I have read some pretty advanced technical stuff in my time.
But I think working backwards like this has definitely been my downfall in the long run, running (bad) before I could walk.

These day's I'm looking to rebuild my game one stake at a time, and it's been useful to discard everything I thought I knew and start again with a new mindset designed specifically for the level I play at, rather than a 'one size fits all' approach to poker in general.

My game has definitely improved already just by watching the free videos you get with the book, and I've found playing the videos whilst playing a cash table or two at the same time seems to put me in a winning mood.
Nathan excels at talking through his thought processes in each situation, and this is really useful when you find yourself playing similar situations.

I'll definitely be picking up 'Modern Small Stakes' and reading that next.

This books well written, clear and informative. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by poker strategy (specially for someone like myself who is relatively new to the game) but I found the content in the book easy to follow and understand. There's a lot of hand examples with thought processes included which make sense and are straight forward to implement into your own game.

Cheers!

This is probably the best written book for the microstakes ever and will hold that title forever. Outside of the bots in online poker there are so many dynamics to take advantage of that you will only find in the microstakes. Nathan maps this out very well one how to maximize your winrate.

I read all 3 books from blackrain:

1) Crushing the micros: The book which helped me most (I read it about 5 years ago).
If you are new at poker or struggle to beat the micros up to NL10 then this is the best book for you. After reading it I became a winner at NL10.

2) Modern Small Stakes: Modern Small Stakes showed me how to use/read the HUD right. It contains a lot of examples with decisions which base on HUD values. Also a very good book!

3) The Microstakes Playbook: In my opinion the book I liked less from the 3 books. It contains usefull tipps but nothing very new.

Hi, I bought the e-book from Nathan about a week (or two) ago .

Must say that I am very happy I bought it.

I can not yet say whether it has affected my poker results in a good way (I play microstakes at 888, predominantly NL2), only subjectively I feel that the content of the e-book is helping me already since the insights and strategies given are very well applicable and soundly written.

I credit Nathan for a very comprehensive book, in which he addresses pretty much - if not - all crucial aspects, and for his honesty in doing so.

The strategies given are very solid and provide to me some really feasible tools to work with. My decisions now seem way better informed and as such, I feel much more comfortable sitting at tables.

As said, if I should discover some real positive results in terms of +EV that I can link to this content, I will post it, but to be honest I am filled with good faith that it will be positive because this book is clearly written with an intention for success ;-)

Bart

Book Review: Micro Stakes Playbook.

I play in the micro stakes game. My game has three stages of development. First is learning to play micro-stakes more effectively. I’m currently playing the lowest level of .01/.02 games. Second is learning to play muti-tables using his information against different types of players. And lastly, I’m going to be better prepared in my gameplay when I move up one limit. I picked up some great advice from this book that I’m currently using in my lower stakes games.

Nathan Williams, BlackRain79, in all of his videos and training, has done an excellent job of explaining concepts and how to utilize them. This book is no exception, and it is easy to understand and implement even in my lower stakes games. If you play in the lower stakes game as I do, my suggestion would be as follows: start by studying one concept at a time and to find ways to implement them in your games. This book is helping me in preparation for playing in higher stake games now and playing multi tables more effectively.

One of the most useful parts of the book has been that he provides insight into how to use the player stats from Pokertracker and provides useful information in taking a more aggressive approach versus the various types of players. It starts by explaining the six-max and nine-max tables, and then how to play versus them including suggestions of playing versus fish, whales, nits (rocks), and LAGs. It may appear to be a simple start; however, it is an excellent jumping-off point, and I’m using his suggestions in my current micro stakes limit games now.

Using his term, ”a great play,” he explains what that means and how to utilize it versus other players to gain the maximum return on investment. It provides excellent advice on how to win more pots and dollars even at my lower stakes games. Later in that section of the book, it explains how to play versus TAGs and LAGs and how to take advantage of them and their play style. It is very useful information in my games now. One section of the book that I find useful now, is out to play three-bet pots, sets, overpairs, and better hands. The book recommends playing to win the most dollars and thus move up to higher limits if that is your goal.

I would highly recommend this book for other players like myself who wish to move up or play more effectively the current game that they play. So, I’m recommending this book both as a long-term goal and excellent learning tool for your games starting at the penny games and up to mid/high stakes where the sharks start swimming. Once you have moved up to those waters, the advice to be gleaned from other sources may begin to apply more. But for those of us in the micros, Nathen’s advice and his books are all you need to improve. Get them and get better!

PS. I've started a blog on Facebook about my progress through the micros by studying and applying Nathan's teaching materials. If any of you are interested in connecting and sharing your success with me you can find me here: https://www.facebook.com/Poker-Gone-...4682214492562/ Thank you for your time, Al

Good morning Nathan. Wow , what an eye opener reading your book! First off , nice job sir! Best X mas present to myself , lets keep that to ourselves as my wife may take that personal.

Honestly I've always been a break even/losing player but truly enjoy the game of poker. So i keep playing for the love of it. I'm retired now and have lots of time to read/study NL poker.

This book has opened my eyes to why i'm losing more than obviously i'd like to lose. Winning is more fun :-)!! Anyways , just wanted to say to anyone out there sitting on the fence looking to buy an educational poker book....look no further! This is it! No nonsense , no bullsh#t ! No pics of Nathan sitting on the hood of Porsche car in front of a multi billion$ house telling you he got all this from playing Micro Stakes poker?!?! Just down to earth blue collar poker info that the masses who play Micro stakes can relate to.

This book hit home for me , educationally , mentally and is very easy to digest and apply his principles in real life poker situations!!

In closing if you want a book to help you wade through all the Online Poker situations at the Micro levels or just smashing your own home games then this is it!!!

Thank you Nathan for sharing your infinite wisdom with the rec and serious poker player

Hello,
this is my last attempt to start properly after 10 years out as a loosing player but loving the game.

Unfortunately I don't have a tracker anymore, so I play without stats on GGPoker, as a German without tableselection and mass multitabling (max 4 tables, no seats to choose from because it's forbidden by the state). Nathan's book reads well, I read it through in two days. For me there were a few new approaches, but on the whole everything was already known from various other readings. For pure beginners, however, it is just right and not too complicated.

The problem I have is to estimate the ranges correctly, but on NL2 I run with 3 bets against J9s , other ridiciolous calls or with a 4 bet AQo calls me.
When I am a preflop aggressor I often get outplayed people call a lot postflop and since I don't have a HUD I can only note players tendencies.
If I think villan probably have a pocket pair, then he hase two Broadway cards and so on. Then I'm constantly being 3 betted at blind steals vs BU, or BB vs SB.

Well i dont know, im an 6 Stacks down after 10k Hands, reviewed some Hands for me, but i think i need a group or something.

So fari will post some Update if i went broke or got winning player after a month or so, will Study Nathans book again and wtach some Videos, unlikely Nathan hasnt more Live playing Videos.

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