Archive for the ‘Poker’ Category:
Daniel Negreanus Power Holdem Strategy
Considering all the aspects, this book is a little disappointing. What is most disappointing is the fact, that this 485 page book has little to do with the writings of Negreanu, which appear only in the last 200 pages. Unlike what was expected, this book does not focus on the unique style of poker of Negreanu.
The book has five chapters before those of Negreanu, and each one is written by a different pro: Todd Brunson, Evelyn Ng, Paul Wasicka, Erick Lindgren and David Williams. Evelyn’s chapter presents an interesting strategy for the beginners, which make quite a lot of sense to me. Also the fact that I hadn’t heard of it before, made it further good. However, the other four chapters by the pros were simply a waste of time. As it is, Lindgren, Brunson, Wasicka and Williams have all written about these very basic concepts, which I had heard about, a million times before.
The chapter by Lindgren dealt with online play. A major drawback with this chapter is that it has been written for players who cut their teeth in casinos (example Click here) and have moved to the online version. In actuality, I believe most of us would start online and then work our ways towards casinos in case we succeed online. This makes the whole thing going backwards. He provides a bit more of the actual in-game strategies than Brunson, but not too much.
All said and done, the chapter by Daniel is simply great and I feel that it is good enough to stand apart, on its own. Around 200 pages in length, an in depth description is provided for his small-ball strategy, the mathematical analysis that makes it work, as well as the art of mastering it. The reader is guided through the starting hand selection and moves all the way through flop, turn, and river play, making it a lot easy to understand the analogies in the way. Although I believe that the rest of the world of poker has caught up with Daniel’s methods ever since his phenomenal success in 2003 & 2004, the strategy is nevertheless, quite a useful weapon for a poker player.
On the whole, with all the disappointing stuff, the book should get just 2 stars.
Subscribe to the comments for this postPoker Winners Are Different
There are a large number of books on poker strategies, and most of them are quite good and have been quite useful in helping you to learn the tricks of the trade. But equally important are aspects such as your fears, your motivations, your reasons, or your responses to particular situations.
This book by Al Schoonmaker can be of great help in this regard. As a matter of fact, this new book with the title “Poker Winners Are Different” sets the bar even higher than his previous books. He identifies, as well as articulates the features of winners, as he helps you in determining whether you have those characteristic features or may cultivate them. He says, tales of poker hands are like fishing stories of the one that got away. Gambling is a common theme in storytelling, music and movies. As a matter of fact, the most powerful aspect of the book is its “interactive” approach, which helps you in self-evaluating your attitudes as well as your game for determining whether you may indeed be a winner or not. Another great tip, just like slots bonus get poker bonus before you start playing. That will help you build your bankroll..
The Aussie Millions
Ever wondered how much money could be earned by playing in poker tournaments? The answer is quite a lot and some Aussies have made a career out of winning hands.
Joe Hachem was the first Aussie to ever win the Main Event at the WSOP. This happened in 2005 and Hachem took home $7.5M from this poker tournament alone. Mel Judah, better known as the “Silver Fox”, has earned over $3M from his poker career.
So if you ever wondered how much money is in this game, you have your answer. You do have to possess superb skills and of course a lot of luck. If you have these two ingredients, the sky is the limit.
Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III–The Workbook
This book comes out with Dan Harrington in the best way till date. Amazing as it might sound, finally we have a whole book devoted on the analysis of pre-flop as well as post-flop actions across each decision point of hand. More so, Harrington has got rid of the pure orthodox approach of the initial volumes. In this book, he focuses on a variable style of the game, which includes slackening against more aggressive opponents, who are hell bent on pushing you over the table. The first two volumes would give you a basic mathematically sound orthodox game. This volume focuses a lot with aggressive, “play your opponent” types of moves. This is definitely a brilliant analysis.
I simply cannot have enough of this book. Harrington literally does some spoon feeding as he takes you step by step along the decision-making processes. During the process, he improves the quality of the decisions. Although he may remain orthodox, play a hand considerably according to the potential, he focuses on more aggressive games. He addresses the merits and demerits of other kinds of games throughout, and also tells you, as to what he shall do and why. A remarkable show of poker analysis.
A few books are so brilliant, that they tend to define their field. Each book that comes thereafter might agree, disagree, or may clarify as to what a definitive book would say on the subject, yet there is definitely one thing that the subsequent books would not be able to do: they can not simply ignore it. In case you are a serious tournament poker player, then in that case, you can not ignore the Harrington series. As it is, this is a classic text dealing with Texas hold em poker tournament strategies.
The second Volume continues with the good work, moving away from the conservative approach of the first volume. And by the time you are done with reading this book, read all the top online poker updates and get the latest news, tips and poker rules at epn.org.
Every Hand Revealed
This is definitely one of the most important poker books.
As the pros making videos of the poker tournament victories, the way to learn poker has become easier. This is perhaps the first time that a serious player has put forward an entire tournament published, i.e. live brick-and-mortar tournament!
As it is, the narration is detailed as well as honest; and shows that even Hansen nods with some far off decisions. This forthrightness only enhances the utility of the book since other pro poker players seem to gloss over their own trouble hands in their scripts. Most of the time, they would show the Phil Hellmuth attitude. So, players like Mr. Hellmuth would get uncanny reads on the hands of the opponent, but are not ale to explain the thought process.
Despite that, sometimes Mr. Hansen is able to make the right decision. However, the cards do not seem to cooperate. It is amazing to find him handle this and win without being tilted off his game.
The book is absolutely uncomplicated and easy to read. So, you do not have to slog through the complex mathematical analysis, yet the player is still aware of the numbers that are involved in the crucial decisions.