Whats a good NLHE book for low stakes online play?

[zer0]

I've read through Largay's book, but don't really think its suited for online play. Maybe i missed something, but a lot of it seems to focus on becoming sort of a table captain and the social aspect of poker. It's a good book for a blueprint to beat $1/$2 at the local casino, but PNL and NLH:TAP seem like better choices for beating online poker.

[jeffnc]

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I've read through Largay's book, but don't really think its suited for online play. Maybe i missed something, but a lot of it seems to focus on becoming sort of a table captain and the social aspect of poker. It's a good book for a blueprint to beat $1/$2 at the local casino, but PNL and NLH:TAP seem like better choices for beating online poker.

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Interestingly enough, PNL came under fire here specifically because of its lack of applicibility to online games.

Now that isn't true - PNL is applicable to all games. What those people were whining about was the fact that they couldn't achieve the SPRs they wanted with TPTK and still have the best hand. But that is not a criticism of PNL, since PNL never promised they could do that.

The basic point is, online play in general is tighter and tougher for each particular limit than live play is. But that is another matter.

I agree Largay's book is mistitled, and it is actually geared at
1) cash play
2) live play
3) lower limit play
4) full table play

Far from the "NL Complete Course" it claims to be. Having said that, it does address many of those issues fairly well.

No one book is going to do it all. Largay's book is worthwhile reading though.

[Tim Peters]

I'd like to weigh in the Angel Largay's book, No-Limit Texas Hold'em: A Complete Course, which I read, admired, and reviewed. It's a good book for capped buy-in, low-limit NLHE, and while it may be more applicable to live play than online play, it's a good book for people who aren't interested in the more analytical approach of a book like Professional No-Limit Hold'em or No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice. You can learn a lot from it; I wrote the review pasted below just to clarify my own thinking about the book:

No-Limit Texas Hold'em: A Complete Course: by Angel Largay (ECW Press; $24.95)

At the end of this fine book on no-limit hold'em cash games, Angel Largay, a former dealer and creator of a poker "boot camp," articulates exactly what every poker strategy author should acknowledge and what every reader should understand. No-Limit Texas Hold'em "won't make you a great player—or even a good one," he writes in his conclusion. "Only you can do that."

What does he mean? He means that you have to do the work to transform knowledge into skill, insight into execution. The book is nothing more than a tool to get you started, but it will give you plenty of knowledge to become a competent player in low-limit no-limit games, the capped buy-in games that are spread everywhere these days.

Largay articulates the primary object of no-limit hold'em: "to bust or double through your opponent." No-limit is not about picking up or saving an extra bet (keys to limit success), and it requires a very different set of strategic skills. Above all else, no-limit demands an ability to understand your opponents. Towards that end, he relies heavily on Al Schoonmaker's player typology (discussed in detail in the excellent book, The Psychology of Poker): loose-aggressive, loose-passive, tight-passive, and tight-aggressive. What makes Largay's analysis so compelling is that he discusses how to play against each of these types, encapsulated by this fascinating and subtly brilliant line: "If you meet the needs of your opponents, they will meet yours." The LAP, for example, craves attention; give it to him. The LPP player wants to avoid conflict; befriend him.

Is this good gamesmanship or out-and-out manipulation—and does that matter at the poker table? Largay acknowledges that "this chapter will make some people uncomfortable." It made me squirm a bit; could I ever cajole someone into a bad call or a bad fold? But even if you're unwilling to go too far down that route, it's vitally important to understand what makes your opponents tick.

Largay also offers some very practical advice on cultivating your reading skills. I tried one of his exercises at a recent tournament, picking one good player and trying to articulate specific tactical observations about his game. (To wit: He loves to float in order to pick up a draw or take the pot away on the turn or river, but if he raises preflop, he has a real hand.) I may change my views on his game later, but at least I have a foundation for guiding future encounters with him.

The strength of Largay's book is based on the strength of its advice as well as its presentation. In one of the book's best features, each chapter is accompanied by a quiz, so you can evaluate your ability to apply what you've read about. And when Largay makes an assertion or suggests a tactic, he always follows it up with a cogent rationale. And while this book doesn't have the analytical rigor of, say, Professional No-Limit Hold'em: Volume 1 (by Flynn, et al.), it does incorporate the essential mathematics of low-limit no-limit games.

The more I learn about hold'em—particularly its no-limit variation—the more I believe that you've got to chart your own journey to competence and ultimately to mastery. But that doesn't mean you have to make the trek without a guide. Books like Angel Largay's No-Limit Texas Hold'em will show you the way, but it remains up to you to take the trip. [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]