[benfranklin]

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But in time there should be a bunch of reviews and comments here.



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Not a full review, but a few comments. I have read the Intro and Part One: Low Blind Play. The author is not explicit, but low blind play appears to refer to the 1st two blind levels in a SnG.

My comment after reading those first 60 pages is that I would not recommend this book for a SnG newbie. The strategy analysis presented in the book requires too much judgment for anyone who is not yet at least holding his own at lower level games (i.e. up to $11 buy in), if not higher.

I have no specific, detailed criticism about the strategy at this time, but the recommended lines of play are certainly open to discussion, and the typical newbie does not have the experience and knowledge to evaluate them.

To be specific, most of the strategy is presented in hand analysis. There are 23 hands discussed in Part One. Problem 1 is that little or no information is provided about the buy-in levels for these hands. Thus, the author implicitly is saying that his analysis does not require adjustment, whether the game is a $5 buy-in or a $500 buy-in.

Problem 2 is that the author (again by implication because of the nature of the hands presented) is recommending playing a wider range of hands than generally recommended by most respected players and writers (e.g., standard STT doctrine, other articles on SnGs, etc.).

The problem is not that these speculative hands are unplayable, but that:

1. they are unplayable by newbies;

2. they are playable only by players with above average post-flop skills; and

3. they are playable only in games that have post-flop action.

The author notes the need for post-flop skills in a line or two in the section summary, but the weight of these hands being discussed for a page or two far outweighs a line or two here or there in the section as far as influencing an inexperienced player.

In short, the strategy in Part One of this book is not adequately put in perspective regarding required experience or buy-in levels. Anyone new to SnGs should learn the game from the classic STT Forum posts, and not try to move up to this book until they are holding their own in the $5-10 buy-in range.

For anyone who is at least break-even or better at those buy-ins, based on what I have read so far, I would recommend this book to stimulate your strategic thinking.