I have recently started playing micro online again after a long break and I'm doing ok but I'm aware that I have several pretty large leaks going on. Any recommendations appreciated. Thanks a lot.

I see that another poster has asked about the best current books and the reply was:

Modern Poker Theory - Michael Acevedo
Play Optimal Poker 1 & 2 - Andrew Brokos
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker - Jonathan Little
The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2 - Jared Tendler

I am going to struggle with complex maths and I'm looking for something that can explain concepts like GTO, ranges, bet sizing and positional play in more simple terms if thats possible.

In my opinion, the first two books listed are good. I have not read the Little book. My opinion on the first Tendler book is negative.Here's my review of it:

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/s...8&postcount=39

I have not read the second Tendler book.

Mason

For micro stakes, check out BlackRain's work. He's on youtube and has several books that cover specifically micros.

I'm not sure you're gonna get that with either Acevedo's or Brokos's books. They are very theory dense and hard to digest for a beginner and I don't think you need to necessarily employ the advanced concepts from their work to succeed at micro stakes cash.

I'd instead suggest a softer intro to GTO with Dara O'Kearney's GTO Poker Simplified: Strategy Lessons From the Solvers That Any Cash Game or Tournament Player Can Apply to Their Game. It is much more beginner friendly for people that just understand the rules but not much about the modern game of NLHE.

The best books for you are probably Harrington on Cash Games: Vol I and Vol II.

Mason

These books are great pieces of poker history but IMO they are totally outdated.

I can't directly answer your question but IMO books are a very inefficient way to learn poker strategy, even for microstakes, due to the inherent visual nature of studying poker. Not to mention poker strategy has advanced massively in the last half decade, which has rendered a lot of poker literature either obsolete or only useful in specific circumstances that you'll have to figure out how to identify yourself (e.g. some c-bet strategies from the past are good against players who play like they're from the past, but a book written in the past couldn't or didn't need to explain how to identify when the strategy is or isn't good). I think you'd get much more value from your time spent studying by watching training videos, reviewing your own hands and discussing them with other players, playing around with tools like equilab or GTOwizard's solver database, etc.

Based on what?

Just reality.

lol

You are probably a big winner playing poker like described in a book from 2008.

Lol

I don't even play online anymore, NLHE is boring af and interesting games simply aren't spread. I'm just curious as to what has changed *in the micros* that you think requires some fancy new playstyle to beat other than the pure vulcan logic of "just reality"

Poker changed 180 degrees in the last years - thats a well known fact

Can you be specific.

Mason

Everybody knows that poker changed massive in the last decade.

Use Google and you will find 100‘s of articles about this topic.

If you can find 100's of articles, then you should be able to give one specific example. Or are you actually a politician who just refuses to answer questions that are asked of them?

Hi sixfour:

We've dealt with this stuff for a long time where people make vague statements that our stuff is either wrong or has no value. But when you ask them to be specific, you don't get an answer.

I think a lot of it comes from nothing more than a jealous person.

Mason

lol

To show you how outdated this book is:

On one of the very first sites an example hand of „poker after dark“ is shown:
UTG limps with AK -> Dan writes „… a reasonable play…“
BTN overlimps with Q9o -> „.. certainly strong enough to play…“
SB calls A3o -> „…very easy call…“
BB checks 97o -> „… good check…“

Nobody would ever consider these limps as a good play today.
Sorry Mason, but giving this advice to someone who is asking for help is at least strange.
Very funny to call me a jealous person….

By the way: I already wrote that the books from Dan Harrington are great pieces of poker history (but not up to date anymore - which is pretty normal for topics that developed as fast as poker)

They are certainly good plays in today's live small stakes games which I occasionally play. You need to understand that many of the players in these games will sometimes go off for all their money on a later street with a hand that they should fold, and by playing these hands, assuming you're able to play them well, you can occasionally find yourself in position to collect that money.

In bigger games against tougher players who don't make these errors these limps will frequently be wrong. Remember the original poster was asking about good books for micro stakes games.

Mason

I just took a look at exactly what Dan wrote, and you should be ashamed of yourself. Here's exactly what is written. First for the UTG player:

"Dan Harmetz. Harmetz picks up ace-king offsuit under the gun. In most tournament situations, players would raise automatically with this hand. If the stacks were short enough, they would push all-in. But Harmetz just calls, a reasonable play. If he gets raised, he will call. Harmetz has been playing a tight, conservative game, and this call is consistent with what he’s done so far."

Now for the button player:

"Mike Matusow. Matusow calls with queen-nine offsuit. Players like to call on the button in deep-stack poker, especially in a multi-way pot, which this is now likely to be. Position increases in value with more players in the pot and deeper stacks. I’d only throw away a very weak hand in this situation, and queen-nine is certainly strong enough to play."

Now for the small blind:

"Dan Shak. In the small blind, Shak is getting enormous pot odds to call. The pot has now risen to $2,900, and it costs him just $300 to call, so he’s getting almost 10-to-1. I’d play the vast majority of hands in this situation. Having an ace, his call is very easy."

Now for the big blind:

"Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu has the kind of hand he likes, nine-seven offsuit. These are good hands in deep stack poker if they can see a cheap flop. They’re easy to release after the flop when they miss (which is most of the time) but when they hit, they can create concealed monsters, which are the kind of hands that can win your opponent’s whole stack. Negreanu cheerfully checks to see a free flop."

Mason

Just funny how you try to defend yourself but only support my arguments…

I think you are a jealous person Malmuth.

The best thing you can do as a new player to get better quickly is learn pre flop charts.

You'll learn all the hands you are meant to play in every position vs every action on pokersnowie.com for free.