[BigAlK]

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I personally believe that this topic is much more complicated than either Mason or Arnold has presented. I think the REAL answer is a worthwhile task, however, and the ideas presented are thought-provoking. Here is my take.


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I felt that the book could be useful for people who do not know anything about LAG play get their feet wet, but I didn't think I could get anything useful out of it.

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A reasonably accurate synopsis of the playing strategies recommended. Pretty good for a not-so-quick skim in Barnes and Noble. I've now read the book twice and can't claim to have adequately digested everything yet, nor come even close to integrating everything I want to into my own game. I think some of the failings you list are valid points, although others possibly not. I'm pretty sure that #1 (considering the tendencies exhibited by the other players in the pot - you can't bluff a calling station) is at least touched on in some manner. I'm sure he discussed flop texture and how to proceed to some degree although this is something that very few books cover (using the "you've got to learn through experience cop out"). The HOH series with its examples probably goes farther than anything else I've seen. I'm also sure he covers #5 (situations where everybody's M is > 20). In fact the positional strategy is most useful in just that situation (what he calls a competitive stack of 30-50BBs which would normally be an M of 20-32ish and sometimes higher).

The most important things I've learned from reading the book was an introduction to playing a LAG style. HOH has done a great job of pointing me towards good TAG play, but I knew that I needed to mix it up. This gave me the foundation for doing that. One of the 2+2ers who posted in the original discussion in the Books forum has a post in the forum on the Poker Tournament Formula's website where he calls these techniques "dangerous" in the hands of a beginner. Snyder recommends starting out LAG and then learning a TAG style to mix it up later. I agree that this might not be the best way for most people to learn, but for those who want to move beyond TAG (something that from your comments you've already done) then the PTF should be helpful.

My belief is that playing poker "strictly by the book" will only take you so far. I've always been a reasonable book learner, but the real power of learning anything from a book where there isn't any one correct answer (which I think applies here) is understanding and adapting different ideas into your game. There are some things in poker that have a definitive right answer (normally related to basic pot odds decisions). But in matters of style I think learning and understanding different styles, then integrating them into your game while learning what works in what situations (nothing substitutes for experience) can't help but improve your game. This is the only book I'm familiar with that is a good introduction to a more laggy approach to tournament play, at least until Nath writes his "Freakanomics of Poker" book.