Professional No-Limit Hold 'em Volume 1 Review Thread

[Matt Flynn]

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wow, could you be any more vague? basically, it says bet X pre-flop (often an unrealistically high size) and two post-flop bets and you can get smaller of your/opponent's stack mostly all-in, so opponent can't put you to a very tough decision. or have good-sized stack left at that point so that bluffing opponent will fear that you come over top of him...... that's the basic premise of this book. could have been a much shorter book. like i said, i give the authors alot of credit for pulling together an idea that i think many of us knew somewhat generally. and this book has definitely helped my thinking and my game, but i don't buy that it's some amazing planning guide.

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hi smbruin,

i think the title alone is the source of most criticism.

imo, SPR is obvious once explained. people who "get" no-limit, like you, could get SPR in 15 pages instead of the 100 we spent on it. but players who aren't as good or experienced need more help. also, many of those 100 pages are examples, which is a big reason it's so easy to get.

we don't say you can just raise to X whenever you want and bet-bet all-in. we did include many caveat sentences in SPR saying "this is what you do if you can get away with it," "if your opponents won't know what you have," etc. it may sound silly if you play $5-$10 online, but you can sit in most any game at the Commerce for example and whale away with SPR, even $10-$20 if you don't buy in too deep.

so my summary: SPR is a way of understanding how hands will progress, not a cure for anything. it's the best approach imo for someone learning to play in loose live games and weak online games ($1-$2 at the time of the writing, now $0.50-$1 and some $1-$2). it also explains concretely why shortstacking works against tough opposition. btw i hate shortstack poker.

in mid and high-stakes online games and deeper-stacked live games against better opponents, you build your play around ranges instead of individual hands, and you play to steal a lot of the time. that's not what SPR is for. it still helps to understand what the goals are with pocket pairs and how shortstacking takes the fun and difficulty out, but SPR is not the main focus for planning hands in those games.

matt