[dubiousdrift]

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"all you have to do is to make sure to have correct SPR, then flop TP or overpair and bet pot until you are all-in"

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Well, that is all you have to do *if* that's your plan for the hand.

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I know it must be frustrating to Matt and Sunny to hear this sort of thing. Frankly I just don't understand it. I didn't get any such thing out of the book. I'm a little confused as to why there is so much of this kind of criticism. Enough people have said it, that there must have been something the authors could have done, in hindsight. And I know they have some ideas for improving it in Vol 2. But I certainly didn't have any such problem with the book. I suppose I chalk it up to preconceived notions, and trying to get something out of the book that isn't there.


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It can be very tempting to want a cookbook procedure for such a complex process as no limit holdem, heck - I've been guilty of wanting that myself. The trouble with any such procedure is that it becomes easily exploitable to observant opponents. "Play tight" they said - so I played tight and got bluffed off any hand where I didn't flop the nuts - and made very little on the hands where I did. "Don't go broke with TPTK", "Play suited connectors in cheap, multi-way pots", and the list of "rules from the wise" goes on. The thing is, all of these rules should be broken - sometimes. When? Our favorite answer as poker players is "It depends...". So the automatic follow up question from the frustrated student is: "It depends on what?"

And the truth is, it depends on a great many things. One of them is stack size. And now we have a book where we have a very nice discussion (though not exhaustively complete discussion) on *how* it depends on stack size. Which is neat because before I read this book, I understood that stack size was important (it was used to calulate implied odds afterall) but after reading this book, I have a much better appreciation for why and how it is important in the decisions I am trying to make in any particular situation.

- dubiousdrift