Hi everyone,

I'm a professional low stakes Brazilian player, play the game for about one and a half year, in like 6 months ago was crushing nl25 so hard that decided to go pro, have moved to nl50 and nl100 pretty soon.
I owe my quick sucess to mainly two guys Nathan Williams, author of "Crushing the Microstakes", best book so far to a total begginer, you can find the discussion about his book right here http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/33...takes-1133780/ .
The second most important person to my development as a poker player is Paul Ratchford. He is a coach in a great poker tranning site, dunno if I can post it here but in his personal site/blog you can find all information about this player http://www.thepokercapitalist.com/ , as well as about his new book Exploitive NLHE.
Think I was one of the first guys to buy and study this book so wanted to create this post to share my thoughts on this book.

Exploitive NLHE Review

First and foremost I think this is not a begginers book, it can help a begginer to think about the game, but I honestly believe that the book will serve much bether a more experienced player. That been said, the book is incredible cheap, just 30 usd, so any player can buy it and will find it worth more than its price.
It is a book from a guy who is outthere playing this amazing game for about 8 years of so, learned it on his own and has some new and amazing ideas about how this game works.

Structure

The book is divided in 21 usually short chapters and their content vary from ideas about balancing ranges x exploitive ranges, risk management, bum - hunting and mental game.
Those chapter are divided in 3 parts: Getting Started, The Nitty grid and Logistics.
Getting Started: This is the shortest part of the book, the author talks about how he first started to understand this game in a more deep level, gives a great elucidation about risk management and in the end talks briefly about diferences between live and on line poker.
The Nitty Grid: This is the books longest part, he covers a ton of diferent topics here, in general the author talks about what he thinks of a GTO approach and a explitive one, the pros and cons of each other.
Logistics: By far my favorite part in the book. Here the author covers some really interesting topics like Bum Hunting, what it is considered to be, what it really is, and how you should be table selecting in the most effective way. Another great point here is the chapter about 100bbs buy in, the author discuss in general why the conventional wisdom is not always so wise.

Final Thoughts

This is a great book about how to think the NLHE game, how to be a pro in a way that we can make more money in the more safe and inteligent way.

Pros: More focused in how we should think and adapt than any particular line, although in some parts the author mentions some lines that are good against certain types of players. That been said, that is not the kind of book that will be overtaken as the game evolves, if you trully understand how the author thinks about the game you will be the one surpassing the old strategies that your opponents may be employing.

Cons: The book visual is not great by any means, it lacks graphs, charts, even some colors here and there cold make the book look better and the read more enjoyable.

Is this a physical book or a pdf? I can't tell from the website if you get the actually book. I hate reading poker books on computer/kindle.

Its is an e-book.

I saw Q-Tip (Owen Gaines) gave a favourable review and thought this book looked really good. It is only an e-book? Anyone know if there are any plans on releasing a physical copy? I'm not much for e-books and I'd really like to add this one to the collection.

TeachMeToPotOdds1//Gila,

Thank you for your interest. I am the author of "Exploitive NLHE". I am in the process of trying to find somebody to print the book for me. My schedule is very busy and I haven't been able to find the time yet. I didn't know that so many people would be interested in having a hard copy. We are probably a couple of months away (minimum). I will be sure to update the thread and let you know when I have hard copies available.

WillianMates,

It is always great to get positive feedback from readers. I am very pleased to see that you enjoyed the read. If you have any questions about the content feel free to ask. Point taken on the visual content.

-Paul (ThePokerCapitalist)

I was about to post the email you sent me, I'll definitely be picking this up when you get it out. Thanks for updating the thread.

Sorry if it's mentioned somewhere but is this book for live, online, or both? Up to what stakes?

Fish Taco,

This book is for both online and live players. I would say that it has an online slant though.

Ex. I talk about non-showdown winnings extensively in the book. I refer to this as "redline", which some live players may not be familiar with. However, the concept of non-showdown winnings is still highly relevant to success in live games.

This book is not targeted at a specific stake level. My opinion is that this book will help players from low limits through mid to high stakes. It is quite advanced though so I think low stakes players may struggle with sections of it.

Hope this answers your question.

-Paul (ThePokerCapitalist)

Paul, Thanks for the response. I'll be picking up a copy after I finish a couple other reads I'm working on now. I've always struggled with my redline some hopefully it will help me out. Thanks

i just picked this up yesterday. Looking forward to reading it.

Enjoy the read! Let me know if you have any questions.

Regards

Paul (ThePokerCapitalist)

When will the book be on Kindle?

The book is currently available in Kindle format. When purchased you receive a download link for Kindle, PDF, or ePub.

-Paul

in Chapter 1: The Math You Need to Know, you talk about the math behind isolating weak players. the thing to be avoided, it seems, is the drop in equity that happens as the field size to the flop increases.

"even the most premium hands are vulnerable in multiway pots, and a drop in our equity occurs even with AA and KK."

the first example to demonstrate the point, shows how hero's equity drops from 85% versus a single opponent down to 62% versus three or four opponents. "This can prove to be costly post-flop as the Hero does not often fold AA to flop action."

as im learning and trying to think through the math of nlhe, the first thing that comes to mind as i read this, is that even though our equity is dropping as the field size increases, the size of the pot that we own equity share in is rising, and rising in greater proportion so as to make our net EV greater with the greater field size.

for example, 85% of a pot of size 2x (one person calling our raise) is worth less than 62% of a pot of size 4x (three people calling our raise).

what factors am i not seeing that is leading us to prefer the smaller immediate EV at this point in the hand?

thanks... and i appreciate the logical, no-bull**** approach so far!

kevin

Great to hear you are enjoying the read so far. So the key point that I was trying to illustrate with this example was that no preflop hand is safe when multiple participants see a flop, and this seriously hinders our ability to extract value postflop (specifically from one pair hands where we have overpair). After receiving your question I think that perhaps I should have been slightly clearer in this example.

In a standard (online) environment with 100BB stacks a normal first in preflop raise size is only about 3BB. So if four players see the flop at a $1/$2 NLHE game the flop will have around $24 in it depending on if the blinds are the callers or not 4*$6=$24. Assuming that all players on all streets check 100% of the time we can easily calculate our profit with AA versus a variety of ranges for our opponents.

In 10 hands you wager $60. With AA versus the ranges I discussed in the book you will win approximately 60% of the time. Total pots won =$24*6=$144. So if you subtract out your wagers of $60 your Expected Value is $84 or $8.4 worth of EV per hands.

Conversely if you are heads up every time (same scenario where it is checked to the river 100% of the time and you have 85% versus a single opponent your results will be essentially the same. Expected Value=$8.4. So you are exactly correct.

Again, this is where I could have clarified that the more important conversation to be having isn't about how being in multiway pots hurts our "immediate" EV, but how it hinders our ability to win EV on later streets. As I mention in the book AA can be a difficult hand to play postflop. One very common way that players get in trouble and lose a lot of EV is by putting in small numbers of BB's early (preflop and/or on the flop) and then getting it all in way behind on the turn and river.

What is the solution? Unfortunately, there isn't a great solution when hands go multiway to the flop and you hold AA. If you are unable to isolate preflop with AA and limit the number of opponents in the pot it will be difficult to extract value postflop. In a heads up situation opponents are much more frequently willing to put in a lot of chips with top pair or even mid pair. These kinds of setups happen on a relatively frequent basis. However, in multiway pots a lot of skilled players will adeptly sense your strength and get away. Ideally, with a hand like AA you will be getting a 3bet in preflop and simultaneously increasing the size of the pot and thinning the field. This will allow you to extract good value postflop against relatively marginal hands.

Remember that big matchups like boat over boat, set over set, set vrs two pair, etc happen rarely. We need to make sure we try to create situations with our big pairs like AA where we can get value from weaker one pair hands (and draws) and not consistently find ourselves dominated. As a general rule of thumb stay aggressive with your big pairs early in hands and it will help you extract large amounts of EV on later streets. Especially when you are playing lower stakes it is possible to play tight and very aggressive with your big hands preflop and still get paid off.

Hope this helps Kevin. Good luck!

-Paul

thanks paul. i understand now. appreciate the clarification.

PSA: I would encourage all of you to avoid any book or instructional video by Paul Ratchford.

He is renowned amongst the Microgaming community for being a terrible mid/sometimes high stakes bumhunter. He is even worse with 100bb, and NOT someone you should be learning from.

Search vulcans (one of his many previous sns) within this thread and you will see how despised he is for his actions, the worst poker role model I can think of http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/56.../#post36499983

.

What FionnMac has said baseless and false. He provides nothing to support his arguments because he has nothing to support them. The reality is that FionnMac simply doesn't know what he is talking about.

The sad reality in the poker world is that when you become an instructor or make yourself a "public" figure there will always be people that want to bring you down. This is what Fionnmac and one or two others on the Microgaming thread have done. For whatever reason they took issue with me and decided to slander my name.

I will say that this slander is somewhat challenging to respond to because I am limited by the rules regarding self promotion. I don't believe I am not allowed to post graphs or links to sites with graphs "proving" my results so to speak. However, have and will continue to post results publicly going forward. I continue to play mid/high stakes poker (1/2-10/20) on a routine basis and I have publicly posted graphs of results on DTB and my own website in the very recent past.

It appears from his post that his "hate" is derived from feeling as though I am a "bumhunter". Well I make no secret of the fact that table selection is and should be an important part of a poker players success. Simply by choosing good tables you can significantly increase your win rate. Do I try to choose good tables? Yes absolutely I do, and I do not apologize for doing so. In fact, I recommmend that others trying to win at this game do the same. I think that is fairly standard......

The reality of today's online poker environment is that especially at the highest stakes 5/10 and above it is very difficult to get onto good tables. When you first start out it is easy to find players with a VPIP over 40%, but at higher stakes it becomes much more difficult. Also, action is relatively sparse and games rarely run. In many cases tables fill up within a couple of seconds of a weak player sitting in at the highest games. It is easy to imagine why because winrates can be very high at the biggest games. So if FionnMac you want to have a discussion about table selection I am more than happy to have it with you in a civil manner.

In the meantime stop lying about my abilities and acting in a malicious manner when you have nothing to back up what you are saying.

-Paul

I confirm what Fionn says, Paul (Vulcans) is the scummiest bumhunter on microgaming, insta-sits out when the fish sits out, even when the fish is still on the table. Buys in for the same amount as the fish' stack.
Never ever plays a hand versus a regular

I've played with you for years on MG, and my experiences with you inform my opinion on you.

As Smetje alludes, I'm not exactly the only one who holds this opinion. There's a debate going on right now in the MG 2014 forum -
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/56...l#post42325756

I would also like to second the things Fionn has said. Having played against vulcans a decent amount on microgaming I can confirm he is one of the scummiest and weakest regs I have ever come across. If he wasnt such an extreme bumhunter I doubt he would be a winner in todays games.

I've read over 70 poker books and corresponded with over a dozen of the authors. As a student of the game, the author's personality and poker game are unimportant to me. Reading a poker book, my goal is to expand my knowledge of the game or at least have the material propel me to research the game.

Examples:

Last I heard, Matthew Janda hasn't played much poker in some years. This fact is unimportant to me as a student of the game. I'm studying Janda's book now. I'll be happy to glean whatever I can from his material. So far, Janda has given me some things to think about and been kind enough to politely respond to my inquiries in this forum.

I've played poker with an author (won't mention his name) who was incredibly rude at the poker table—vehemently berating unskilled opponents. While I find his actions repulsive on multiple levels, I've read his book twice. It's a good one. Helped me grasp a few important concepts.

I've never played with Vulcans. I don't care about anyone's estimation of the quality of his play, his results, if he sits with regs, leaves when fish leave—unimportant to me as a student of the game.

I've read Vulcan's book; it's a good one. I'm happy to have it in my poker library. There are a handful of sections I aim to reread and consider revising my strategies. I've spent seven hours analyzing one of his example hands. The hand has me reconsidering some strategies. I'm sure many students of the game will come away with plenty to think about after reading this book. He's politely responded to inquiries concerning the book material; another plus in my estimation. I also found the material well-written and engaging; wasn't a chore to get through it.

I'd give the book at least four out of five stars.

I have played with fionn mac and babaar for years at midstakes and higher on MG I can confirm this player Vulcans will hit and run does not buy in full and has various SNs and practises scummy behaviour.

They nor I have anything to gain by slandering or trying to discredit this person all what is stated is the truth.

I have nearly 300 hands in database on this guy stats 6-max=13/9 3-bet=8.9 AF=0.6
128 hands come from one table were he is hunting a 45/29 player he only brought in to cover this player he played 11/7 at 6 max.