Recommend my next NL cash game book

[smbruin22]

wanted to append to my other comments....

ciaffone's no-limit was/is considered the no-limit standard even though there is alot of non-HE. not sure if NLTP has dethroned it or not.

while there are alot of non-2p2 books i like, ciaffone is the only non-2p2 author who's book i would buy sight unseen and know i won't be disappointed... probably would be true if more CP writers had books out

[phydaux]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been looking into some more books for the collection and I was wondering if you might compare the following three as far as usefulness to an intermediate player:
1. Ciaffone's PL/NL Book
2. Largay
3. Harker/Fox

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PL&NL is an excelent book, and at one time it was the authorative reference on deep stack NL play. It covers a lot of games other than just Hold'em, and it is mostly for cash game play rather than tournaments. I think it is a worthwhile read just for the "Rule of 5&10."

Largay's book is excelent. I am on my third pass through since getting it the first week of January, and it seems like my highlighter never stops moving. Much like SSH, it focuses on live, B&M play. Specificly it focusses capped buy-in NL cash games. I think this is a valuable read, even for an advanved beginner or intermidiate NL player. I think Ed and the boys will be hard-pressed to write a better NL cash game book.

The Harker & Fox book is aimed at Limit players making the transition to NL cash games. If you had only ever played Limit and had never read a NL book, then it might be a useful read. If you've already read, say, LGB or just about any other NL book, then there is nothing in the Harker & Fox that you wouldn't have already seen. Most people, even rank newbies, would be better off with the Largay book.

[6471849653]

No Limit & Pot Limit, well it at least says that when others check to you on the flop in a raised flop and one of them was the raiser, especially if he was the first to act, and you are the last to act, one could bet with up to anything. And that's about it. I think I would just call on the BB with 66 vs. a steal open-raise as it generally makes no sense to re-raise dead. People think it's a good book for nl-holdem, but it has never had anything to offer (anyway it's just a couple of pages), it being something like messy random thoughts that are somewhere in the middle; no start, no end, no sense.

Improve Your Poker is a million years old abc-book about poker.

SS1 is SS2, better to reread the SS2, a great book, nothing too much new ever since, other than better preflop strategy. And a better IQ about when to move one's stack in.

TOP is a beginner book to get an understanding of some basics, but if one understands pot odds and implied odds and doesn't play limit poker it has nothing to offer. Mainly common sense that one gets by playing, written on a theoretical manner, nothing one won't know without reading it, just formulated text.

The little green book of Phil Gordon has something to offer though it's not how I would play, I am not that stupid, but it will improve one's play.

Leadere's Preflop strategy has lot to its favor, being tighter than what is usually offered, a great piece, one gets it free form the net or then not. The idea is not to call with hands that are not the best often enough, and not to raise with hands that won't get dominated action, until one can steal/semi-steal.

But one has to add passive limp when it's the right move and steal when it's the right move and cold calls with suited connectors and pocket pairs when it's the right move. All put together from Brunson to T.J (gives a tight passive strategy not that the book is any good or anything that comes from T.J and McEvoy but it gives much the opposite view to Brunson's view though the common meat and theory is from Brunson like in all other sources), Gordon to Leaderer and all the understanding from limit poker in case one has a complete study from there, that does the trick as far as books go.

I doubt there's anything significant missing from my knowledge of nl-holdem anymore but it has nothing much to do with the games out there that's the practical part, and I know there's a much more aggressive way of play that is to be used as long as the opponent plays more than pocket aces though I think I can make him fold that too, and in limit no-one is going to win anything from me without a solid hand and even in that case it has to win. There's no book for such, holdem simply being an invalid game with the current structures. Or I will play solid and grind it out by the book if the opponent just will not fold; this way or that way, except in no-limit holdem when it's a $2 average pot size game with up to 100 stacks, it not being worth my time.

I play only a minor time no-limit as it's such a garbage game with those small blinds. One example is playing WPEX 50 and 100 nl with a couple dollars average pot sizes. No-limit is such a nonsense game until it's shorthanded and there's at least one sucker. No-limit is actually not even a game with the small blinds (and no antes), just a game to look if somewhere happens to be some juicy game and hope to get lucky vs. the fish, that's more likely shorthanded though it can take hours there too (I don't even play the full ring games anymore, it would be stupid). No-limit holdem is a game of the past and will go back there until they start doing some changes to create action (they never did that with 5-stud except with the scandinavian 5-stud that's a major pot-limit game especially heads up and when the structure is right to create action); dynamic games like the tournament games at the point where one must play looser, but there's no value in those tournaments as one can't play for value and the wild horses take the top positions and the grinders take the highest positions that won't get paid. Limit holdem is a different story, it's action and skill hand after hand, street after street. The problem at limit is the rake as it's a more marginal game vs. decent players.

The book of bluffs if worth a read (basically a great book, and better ones will follow) not directly much about nl-holdem though, limit mainly, but has some nl-holdem too.

Holdem is about understanding, game types, theory is basic and that's why T&P type of books are good if one doesn't know stuff like that already. But there's no book that will teach how to play limit and no-limit the best way and how to deal with different types of hyperaggressive players (the current litterature calls them basically more or less maniacs but it's the winning style vs. basic 2+2 players, like the old time players were the aggressive ones and so winning, the new time players being still more aggressive and they are the new winners, there not being a way to beat other 2+2 player by playing as they do) and moves and how to make them yourself, holdem being just a game that needs one to use dynamite against the tight-aggressive solid players and they will lose. Books teach some solid style, and the theory, but it's not yet holdem as far a practise goes.

[Hallett]

[ QUOTE ]
.......

Leadere's Preflop strategy has lot to its favor, being tighter than what is usually offered, a great piece, one gets it free form the net or then not. The idea is not to call with hands that are not the best often enough, and not to raise with hands that won't get dominated action, until one can steal/semi-steal......

[/ QUOTE ]

Which book is this?

[Hallett]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
.......

Leadere's Preflop strategy has lot to its favor, being tighter than what is usually offered, a great piece, one gets it free form the net or then not. The idea is not to call with hands that are not the best often enough, and not to raise with hands that won't get dominated action, until one can steal/semi-steal......

[/ QUOTE ]

Which book is this?

[/ QUOTE ]

Never mind, I think this is reference to Lederer's DVD.

[Off Duty]

Hellmuth's "Bad Beats and Lucky Draws"

[Al Mirpuri]

[ QUOTE ]
No Limit & Pot Limit, well it at least says that when others check to you on the flop in a raised flop and one of them was the raiser, especially if he was the first to act, and you are the last to act, one could bet with up to anything. And that's about it. I think I would just call on the BB with 66 vs. a steal open-raise as it generally makes no sense to re-raise dead. People think it's a good book for nl-holdem, but it has never had anything to offer (anyway it's just a couple of pages), it being something like messy random thoughts that are somewhere in the middle; no start, no end, no sense.

Improve Your Poker is a million years old abc-book about poker.

SS1 is SS2, better to reread the SS2, a great book, nothing too much new ever since, other than better preflop strategy. And a better IQ about when to move one's stack in.

TOP is a beginner book to get an understanding of some basics, but if one understands pot odds and implied odds and doesn't play limit poker it has nothing to offer. Mainly common sense that one gets by playing, written on a theoretical manner, nothing one won't know without reading it, just formulated text.

The little green book of Phil Gordon has something to offer though it's not how I would play, I am not that stupid, but it will improve one's play.

Leadere's Preflop strategy has lot to its favor, being tighter than what is usually offered, a great piece, one gets it free form the net or then not. The idea is not to call with hands that are not the best often enough, and not to raise with hands that won't get dominated action, until one can steal/semi-steal.

But one has to add passive limp when it's the right move and steal when it's the right move and cold calls with suited connectors and pocket pairs when it's the right move. All put together from Brunson to T.J (gives a tight passive strategy not that the book is any good or anything that comes from T.J and McEvoy but it gives much the opposite view to Brunson's view though the common meat and theory is from Brunson like in all other sources), Gordon to Leaderer and all the understanding from limit poker in case one has a complete study from there, that does the trick as far as books go.

I doubt there's anything significant missing from my knowledge of nl-holdem anymore but it has nothing much to do with the games out there that's the practical part, and I know there's a much more aggressive way of play that is to be used as long as the opponent plays more than pocket aces though I think I can make him fold that too, and in limit no-one is going to win anything from me without a solid hand and even in that case it has to win. There's no book for such, holdem simply being an invalid game with the current structures. Or I will play solid and grind it out by the book if the opponent just will not fold; this way or that way, except in no-limit holdem when it's a $2 average pot size game with up to 100 stacks, it not being worth my time.

I play only a minor time no-limit as it's such a garbage game with those small blinds. One example is playing WPEX 50 and 100 nl with a couple dollars average pot sizes. No-limit is such a nonsense game until it's shorthanded and there's at least one sucker. No-limit is actually not even a game with the small blinds (and no antes), just a game to look if somewhere happens to be some juicy game and hope to get lucky vs. the fish, that's more likely shorthanded though it can take hours there too (I don't even play the full ring games anymore, it would be stupid). No-limit holdem is a game of the past and will go back there until they start doing some changes to create action (they never did that with 5-stud except with the scandinavian 5-stud that's a major pot-limit game especially heads up and when the structure is right to create action); dynamic games like the tournament games at the point where one must play looser, but there's no value in those tournaments as one can't play for value and the wild horses take the top positions and the grinders take the highest positions that won't get paid. Limit holdem is a different story, it's action and skill hand after hand, street after street. The problem at limit is the rake as it's a more marginal game vs. decent players.

The book of bluffs if worth a read (basically a great book, and better ones will follow) not directly much about nl-holdem though, limit mainly, but has some nl-holdem too.

Holdem is about understanding, game types, theory is basic and that's why T&P type of books are good if one doesn't know stuff like that already. But there's no book that will teach how to play limit and no-limit the best way and how to deal with different types of hyperaggressive players (the current litterature calls them basically more or less maniacs but it's the winning style vs. basic 2+2 players, like the old time players were the aggressive ones and so winning, the new time players being still more aggressive and they are the new winners, there not being a way to beat other 2+2 player by playing as they do) and moves and how to make them yourself, holdem being just a game that needs one to use dynamite against the tight-aggressive solid players and they will lose. Books teach some solid style, and the theory, but it's not yet holdem as far a practise goes.

[/ QUOTE ]

So this is what happened to RussG. He is hiding out in Finland.