Customer Reviews

How to Beat Sit 'n' Go Poker Tournaments

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Is this book even new? I think every chapter in this book is soo cliche filled that it has to have come out of some other Cardoza book before.

This book is the standard play tight early, stay alive, than steal like crazy with position and trap hands to hopefully double up to get into the money SNG strategy... etc etc.. Does this strategy sound familiar? Oh yeah you have read about it in every online forum post, every generic other book there is. Even his bankroll guidelines are off the mark.

I have a huge problem with a lot of the recent SNG books. The authors are touted as having these huge results yet there is no contact info for the author or any online nickname information either so that you as a reader can even see the author is genuinely the real deal and indeed has the results he claims to have.

My main problem with this title is this though how is anybody writing a SNG book without a mention of ICM (Independant Chip Modeling)? This basicly is the be all end all of SNG strategy! Putting a book together on Sit N Go poker and not mentioning ICM and ICM Strategy is absolutely attrocious! It has been talked about on forums and discussed in depth for years yet a publisher and author have the nerve to leave such vital information out?

Avery Cardoza I hope you have the decency to offer a refund... you should absolutely be ashamed to have your name associated with such lazily, fluff filled reading.

Let me begin with a tip for the publisher. The next time you print a poker book let a poker player read it first!

I usually don't comment books unless something really annoys me. I've read about 40 poker books and this is the worst one! Neil might have a talent for playing SnG's but not for writing. In fact after reading this book, it's hard to believe he can make a living on it (as he claims to do). He doesn't even use the words bet, raise and reraise correctly. For instance, on p 55 he writes "Instead of raising, ..., you can go for a check-raise". Of course he means "Instead of betting" but stuff like that happens all through the book and you often have to reread the sentence to understand what he means. Some other comments:

Bluffing: In the section about playing AK and AQ on the flop on p36 he says "In general, the more players that there are in the pot, the more inclined you should be to bluff." Of course opposite is true since the more people there are in the pot the greater the likelihood that someone has hit the flop hard.

Math: On p85: "Remember that even if your opponent have three to one chip lead over you, you are still only two double ups from being even." Let's say your opponent has 30 chips and you 10 (3 to 1) and you get all in and win. Then you have 20 and your opponent 20 and you are even after one double up not two!

Betting patterns: On p105 he refers to Mike Caro's famous advice about that when someone acts strong they are usually weak and when they act weak they are usually strong. Caro is talking about physical tells while Neil is writing about betting patterns. He does not mention that. Also on page 144, he states that one of the worst mistakes is to bet minimum on the flop since it shows weakness. That contradicts one of his best advice about betting patterns. If you use Caro's statement, a minibet should mean strong, shouldn't it? It's confusing.

Continuation bets: On p133 he states that continuation bets should be used 90% of the time heads up. On the next page he continues with an example but then claims that you should make the continuation bet 75% of the time "just to get your chips back" whatever he means by that. There is no info about the bet size or how often your opponent need to fold for this statement to be true so that makes this advice useless. The book is still confusing.

Math: On p135, This quote is about taking the lead against the preflop aggressor: "You have to remember that your opponent will miss the flop two thirds of the time, so mathematically, if you bet two thirds of the pot with your lead you will come out a winner in the long run." Wierd sentence and mathematically he doesn't know what he is talking about. If he does assume that you bet every pot and your opponent folds 2 out of 3 flops (every flop he miss) then the break even bet size is twice the pot and not two thirds! If he means that you should bet 2 out of 3 flops (not two thirds of the pot size) then break even is dependant on bet size and the fold frequency which he does not mention. Honestly, how should you apply this advice when playing?

Recommended reading: On p158 he recommends reading Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players and says it has great theories for short handed play which is vital for later stages of SnG's. This is a great book. However this is a FIXED LIMIT CASH GAME book and that's a completely different game. Late stages of SnG include a lot of pushing all in, which limit players rarely need to consider.

Also, I've played a several hundred SnG's on many different sites on the limits this book is intended for and I don't recognize his description of the SnG environment at all!

On the plus side, this book is a very quick and easy read, and probably improved my game fairly immediately.

On the minus side, that's about all it's good for. It has no depth nor detail.

I recommend breezing through this book quickly if you're a beginner (preferably through your library), then pick up Collin Moshman's book: Sit 'n Go Strategy.

This book is another great beginner's book for online Sit & Go tournaments. Neil Timothy gets right to the point teaching winning play for single-table sit and go newbees. Not that an experienced sit and go player could not learn a thing-or-to from this book, but it is a well written and easy to follow (with regard to straight forward sit and go play). Colin Moshiman writes a good book on sit and go tournament play ("Sit and Go Strategy: Expert Advice for Beating One-table Poker Tournaments"), yet it falls short of teaching sit and go basic strategy and play (for the beginner). Neil Timothy's book teaches basic play for those of us starting our online sit and go careers. Cheers to Neil and the staff at Cardoza Publishing for writing this simple, yet effective manual on winning sit and go tournament play.

This book is an excellent guide for people who wish to understand core concepts of sit and go-s and want thorough help how to play them. The style is simple and easy to understand. It covers every major aspects of the game and is an excellent starting book for novices to sit and go-s.

i bought this wanting to improve my game and learn some solid advice on how to play sit and go tournamnets.
The book gave a good understanding of the aggression needed around the bubble and some good concepts you need to know around this stage of the tournament.
I feel my game improved 8 fold after reading this and found it a pleasant read.

There is money to be made in low level poker tournaments. "How to Beat Sit & Go Poker Tournaments: A No-Limit Hold'Em Guide to Beating Sit & Gos" is a guide to winning these sit & go tournaments. The most common form of these tournaments exist online and take only one or two hours, yet can be very lucrative if one takes into account the strategies found in this guide. Examining the flaws in failed strategies while providing alternatives and more successful tactics, "How to Beat Sit & Go Poker Tournaments: A No Limit Hold'Em Guide to Beating Sit & Gos" is highly recommended for anyone looking to improve their game.

Thought it was well written and easy to understand i only play for fun so this type of book was ideal for me, to many time i have bought a poker book only to find there was writting for a A+ math student to understand. The only thing that disappointed me was the "in the money chapter" which i though could have been longer, other than that, some great advice on what hands i should start playing at what stage of the tournamnet ect. good read all in all.

The book was a pleasant read and had alot of sound advice for beginers, a lot of new material in here that i didnt know,loved the plays chapter.