Hi Everyone:

I've finished reading Play Optimal Poker: Practical Game Theory for Every Poker Player by Andrew Brokos, and this is a very good book which I highly recommend.

It is a little difficult to read in spots, but that's not because it's poorly written in any way. It's because some of the material, based on the way Game Theory applied to poker works, is complex. But Brokos does give examples from poker which does help to explain these ideas and make them more understandable.

Also, the author does not cover multi-round Game Theory as it would apply to poker, and I think this is a topic that he should have included. But this exclusion doesn't affect in any way the material that the book does cover.

Anyway, this is a book that I do recommend and many of you who read it should benefit from it.

Best wishes,
Mason

Thanks, Mason. I really appreciate your taking the time to look at the book and of course am deeply flattered by the recommendation.

The first draft of the book did include some discussion of multi-round game theory, but I ended up cutting it. I'm working on a sequel that will delve more deeply into this.

Needless to say, things get a lot more complicated. The polarized-vs-condensed dynamic that defines river play is still applicable, but there's also a need to address factors like denying equity, board coverage, etc. The material that's already out there from Chen & Ankenman, Janda, Sklansky, etc. on playing polarized vs condensed ranges across multiple streets is good, and I felt that to add meaningfully to that would require a book's worth of material.

So, that's in the works. I do try to acknowledge in the text where the material is most directly applicable and provide examples of its more loose application on earlier streets, but ultimately I think another book is the only way I can do this topic justice.

Thanks again!
Andrew

I think the scope of the book was fine. It is the best poker book I've read in a long time. Just using what I learned to try to determine a GTO-based bluffing frequency when I'm HU on the river (or purposely deviating from that when I'm confident I have a good enough read to exploit) is a great practical start to incorporating these approaches into my game.

Looking forward to the follow-up book!

i enjoyed ivan and opal, but why not get a little more creative with the names?

loudmouth racist
misogynist mike
wannabe pro
django

or at the very least

scumbag thief chris
ponzi scheme howard

Good. Look forward to the follow-up book.

Best wishes,
Mason

I just picked up this book last week with intentions of reading it while camping out at the lake. Haven't started it yet as I also purchased the 'Thinking Poker Diaries' series and have been enjoying them. Really looking forward to reading the book now.
I enjoyed watching some of your vids ~10yrs. ago so when I heard you had a book out I had to grab it. As a former poker book fanatic (read over 50 books my first couple years playing) who hasn't grabbed a book in years, I'm thrilled to hear the reviews for this & can't wait to get into it.
I already want Vol.2 before reading any of Vol.1

Hi Mason,
Andrew recently released Play Optimal Poker 2 Range Construction.
Do you have plans to read and review the book as well?
I enjoy Andrew's work. I have read his Thinking Poker Diaries as well.

Hi avatar77:

I have a copy of the book but haven't started to read it yet. I do hope to get to it in the next few weeks, and once read my comments will appear in this forum. But based on his last book, I suspect this one will also be very good.

Best wishes,
Mason

Thank you Mason.
Yes, I agree it will be great as well. I intend to purchase it soon - just a bit behind in my poker reading.

Thanks for the review. It was one of the books I was looking at grabbing

Can I jump straight onto this book or is POP1 a required read first?

Thanks

I definitely recommend starting with the first POP. If you already have a really solid grasp on core game theory concepts you could maybe skip the first one, but I still probably wouldn't recommend it. I've found even a lot of professionals/people doing substantial solver work of their own don't really understand the theory at an intuitive level, which is what POP is all about.

-Andrew Brokos

Hi Andrew,

I'm new to Game theory so in that case I'll get both Pops. Thanks so much for the speedy reply

Cheers
Zain

Hi silent:

While both of Andrew's books are well worth reading, I would also recommend that you pick up a copy of Applications of No-Limit Hold 'em my Matthew Janda. I'm sure Andrew would agree.

Best wishes,
Mason

He would and does!

Thanks for the tip Mason much appreciated. I'll look into that book as well.

Cheers
Zain

.