Professional No-Limit Hold 'em Volume 1 Review Thread

[Splossy]

Hmm something weird there. Something to do with the fact that hero has just joined and is posting the extra blind? Anyway I assume he bets and BB calls. I'm interested to know what PNL "says" about the bet amounts on the flop and turn. Seems like a tricky case for balancing pot control with a weak hand with protecting against a loose player with a drawy flop. Is there commitment to be found? - doesn't seem like it.

[adios]

Just finished your book. Great book and kudos to you, Sunny, and Ed. The SPR sections are incredibly valuable in that they provide an excellent framework for analysis and formulation of strategy. Excellent stuff in the book.

[flair1239]

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One of the nice things about SPR is if you build your target SPR, hit your hand, and commit, who cares if they flopped a set or 2 pair or a flush draw that comes in on the turn, etc. . .

You did your job. You expect to make money most of the time when you build your target SPR and hit the hand you were trying to make. But you also expect that they will outflop you sometimes and outdraw you others.

So, when they do, it's easier to swallow. In other words, you reduce the tilt factor.

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This is the kind of thinking I'm a little hesitant to adopt after reading this book. I'm still not quite finished...I actually started over on the SPR section... so haven't got to the adjustments part yet.

It seems like you're saying, if you build your target SPR and decide you're going to commit, then don't lay your hand down ever. Or am I mis-reading and you're stating that you're making your commitment decision on the flop (not before)?

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That is my hold up as well. In order to achieve the SPR for a top pair hand in a standard 6-max game, you would have to make a bigish raise. It seems that that would thin out the calling hands that you would not mind keeping in.

I did like the fundamental concepts though. Much of it I was aware of, but it did make me think.

I am planning to give it a second read in a couple weeks.

[Matt Flynn]

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It seems like you're saying, if you build your target SPR and decide you're going to commit, then don't lay your hand down ever. Or am I mis-reading and you're stating that you're making your commitment decision on the flop (not before)?

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That is my hold up as well. In order to achieve the SPR for a top pair hand in a standard 6-max game, you would have to make a bigish raise. It seems that that would thin out the calling hands that you would not mind keeping in.

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yes that's a misread. first, often it doesn't make sense to try to reach your target SPR. if they'll all fold it's terrible to try. target SPRs just define your ideal situation for playing for commitment. you don't always get what you want.

and far more importantly, you must adjust to new information. you CAN commit "no matter what" in the right situations and come out ahead, but you are far better off playing good poker and adapting. e.g., if a nit makes a big raise you just fold. no sense throwing away money.

[bsheck]

Got the book today and read up through the REM section. I'm getting a lot out of it so far, and the book is easy to follow and has good examples. I particularly like The Fundamentals in Practice section.

[pippetto]

I have just read it for the second time. I never played no-limit before... but I am a winner at 10/20 limit online. I never played no-limit because I did not know how to approach it...but now (after this book) I know how to think about no-limit: PLANNING!! Fantastic book!! Very easy to understand expecially the last chapters.

[mvdgaag]

Yeah! Finally got it. From ordering at Amazon to having it delivered in the Netherlands took about two weeks. It was shipped after one week, and although the delivery estimate was very scary (about a month) it (only) took 5 days. I'm off on holyday tomorrow morning and have gone through the basics and fundamentals now. Nothing realy new or groundbreaking to me so far, but very well written with good examples. It shows how to think about the game and during the game in a very clear manner.

I love the way the important concepts from each chapter are very clearly summarised in the end.

I also love the fact that the authors have put all the exceptions and special cases in the footnotes. It makes the book very readable while not ignoring this stuff.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest on the airplane and reading it all twice while away, especially the SPR stuff and the practise.

Kuddo's to the writers, editors and Gonso, I love both the clear well written and complete text as I've seen it so far and the nice looking cover.

[Albert Moulton]

I just finished your book. Fantastic!

I can't wait for Volume 2. Hopefully that will have a bunch of tactical examples that flesh out the concepts in Volume 1.

Things I hope to see in Volume 2:

1. The detailed effect of reraising OOP and in position preflop at different blind levels. 100bb 6-max games are full of wide-ranging re-raises preflop. It's like a game of super chicken sometimes... "Oh, so you have a big pair? Sure you do, but mines bigger than yours..." while both are holding KQs and JJ. Nevertheless, that kind of preflop aggression seems to pay off for some, and not for others. Why, and what does their hyper SPR inflation do to that game?

2. Stealing lines and examples when the SPR is 13 and you have position on the raiser in heads up and 3-way pots. Float/steal? Raise the cb? call/raise a 2nd barrel? call/call/push the river? You talk a lot about stealing, but some detailed examples based on REM and SPR + position would be useful.

3. The book Holdem for Advanced Players has a big section on how to exploit various tendencies of other players in limit hold em: calls too much, bluffs too much, folds too much, etc. While NL has many of the same exploitable weaknesses in the players, the details on how to spot them and exploit them must be different from limit to NL. So, what are the common exploitable weaknesses, and how do you use SPR, REM and position to maximize your exploitation of those weaknesses in a NL game.

4. How does short-handed play change the nature of the game, and why? And how does SPR and REM change from full ring to 6-max to heads up, and why?

5. At the river in position, when do you value bet and when do you check behind with a good, but not great hand based on REM. How much is the right amount and why?

6. How do you plan bluffs using SPR and REM. For example, when you "plan your hand," do you plan a 3rd barrel when semi-bluffing (either in position or OOP) if you miss every street even before you make the first bet? In other words, is there a commitment threshold for a bluff just as their is for a made hand? I suspect there is. Once 1/3 of you stack goes in, you usually don't want to fold without a good reason - even when you're bluffing. So, do you need a commitment plan when bluffing when you make that 10% bet so you know whether and when to fire the 2nd and final all-in barrels based on REM? What makes a good bluff vs a bad bluff?

7. Tactics for LAGGy small-ball poker at a table full of nits. When you're playing with a bunch of set farmers and tight aggressives, is there a way to loosen up and make money with lots of small pots and a few monsters where you end up with a straight vs a TAG with a set, etc.

8. Changing gears. When, why, and how? When do you tighten or loosen up and why? How does SPR and REM change when changing gears, or considering a change of gear?

Well, that's all at the moment.

I really can't wait for the next one.

I'm trying to work committment threshold, REM, max and target SPR into my strat posts in the FR forum. We'll see how it goes.

[Albert Moulton]

Oh, and I love how you manged to work in a "Sup Bro" in your example ring game at the end of the book. That was nice.

[stinkpaw]

Great book. It's really changing how I've been approaching hands.

Could I get a little clarification on adjusting Target SPRs based on postflop stealing.

If I understand correctly, non-paired drawing hands typically like SPRs ~20. If you are going to steal with them (especially in position) then an SPR of 13 is good because it gets more $$ in PF for you to steal. Any lower than that and your opponent will be committed and your bluff is less likely to work.

But what if I want to have steal potential with top pair hands and medium pairs. At my target SPR of 4 for AK, if I c-bet when I miss the flop I am crossing the Commitment Threshold. My opponent is also more committed to the flop and less likely to fold. So going for a lower SPR w/AK type hand when I plan on stealing seems -EV to me (especially considering opponent’s range is a lot stronger if he is putting so much in PF.) What am I missing?

Medium pair hand have a Target SPR ~13. If I pump the pot PF then try to steal when I don’t flop a set, again aren’t I making my opponent more committed by lowering the SPR?

On the flip side, how do I adjust if I know my opponent likes to steal. For AK hands do I adjust my Target SPR up (say to 13) so I won’t lose much when I miss and fold to opponent’s aggression but am willing to call 3 bets when I do hit?