Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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57 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book but I expected more, June 10, 2006
I had been looking forward to this book coming out since I first heard about it. Scott Fischman is one of the great under 30 players. To read what he has to say on the topic of online poker had me quite excited.
With that being said I couldn't wait to write a review of the book giving it five stars, but the deciding factor was `would I be in trouble if my opponents read his book?' ....no. I play a lot of cheap sit and gos and I currently do rather well. However, I was looking for something to help me move more into the ring games where I think I could do better on profit per hour. Is it going to help me move to the ring games and make money there? Perhaps.
I was looking for great insights into the differences between the online game and the in person game. Not a lot in depth deep insight. I was also looking for strategy differences between different monetary levels, like what kind of plays to avoid at lower levels and at what levels skill changes change. The other day I watched a $530 SNG, I was surprised by how little differences there was between the $11 game and the $530 game. I wish that could have been addressed in the book. What time of the day is most profitable would have been another good discussion. The book at a whole is pretty much an overview of poker.
When I do play online I do breakdown my game after I am done playing I do analyze my game what I did and where, why it worked, what would have worked better....etc. There were two major things I got from the book to get better at online poker you have to PLAY the game to learn it and the way I am approaching the online game is correct. I feel like I could have written about half of this book with what I have learned. That gives me a lot of confidence in my game.
Another nice thing about the book, Scott does not talk about online poker sites individually at all. There is no recommendation of any sites or any discussion of them.
The book is 224 pages long and it is a fast read. It took me two days to read it. Would have taken me one day but life events got in the way. If you have read any poker book prior to this one the first 45 and last 35 are pretty much filler or roughly a third of the book.
If you have not read a poker book prior to this one it will help your game. You will find it all very useful. It is a great book to make your first poker book, especially if you do not like math. It WILL help you. I highly recommend the book to you.
If you have read more than say 10-12 poker books, make a few visits to the bookstore and read it there because it is a good read but not really worth having in your home library.
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
departure from the norm..., June 17, 2006
I thought the book was excellent; it was not a re-write or clone of everything else already out there. Although it is a niche book-addressing mostly online play- it is one of the best niche books I've read so far. Unlike many other poker books, Fischman's books teaches you how to "think" about the game in ways your opponents might not consider. There are more "nuggets" in this short text than many of the "cookie cutter" approach books coming down the pipeline.
His format and style are also very refreshing after so many rehashed "clone" type poker books. Although he doesn't provide a "hand chart" type book, his strategic ideas are worth their weight and he gives away much more in the way of "secrets" than many of the other high profile authors seem to be willing to.
If there is a drawback to his style, it is that he seems to have developed a great feel for the game which may be unique to him personally and is somewhat difficult to learn other than just by doing what he did. His insights and those shared by several other top pros are good food for thought and definitely got me thinking deeper about my game and online play specifically. He also covers several psychological factors that are not often discussed which make the book particularly valuable(tilt, burnout, boredom, etc). Overall a solid 5 for content and a 5+ for the bonus intangibles he provides. Highest recommendation.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very Disappointing, November 17, 2006
If you're looking for your first poker book, this is not the one. If you're looking for your 20th poker book, this still isn't the one. If you're stuck on a plane for two hours and the choice is the in-flight magazine vs. this book, then this book is for you.
Scott Fishman said in an interview with Phil Gordon that he hates reading books, and that he wrote this book so you can skim it in a couple of hours. He's certainly accomplished that, as this book is almost completely devoid of any content. It is full of "filler" material, like the rules of the game, hand rankings, a bunch of blank forms for keeping track of session notes, sample tournament structures, etc.
Also, he asked a few pros "What is your #1 tip for aspiring players?" The result are platitudes like "practice makes perfect", "do not dwell on your mistakes", and "focus on exploiting weaknesses in players who are worse than you". This kind of stuff takes up another dozen pages.
His main "message" can be summed up like this: there isn't a single correct style, you'll have to find what works best for you. Don't read books (he didn't), just put in time at the tables, talk to experts, practice a lot, and you'll eventually get pretty good.
Here's my favorite bit of "advice" from his book: "Before I choose a Sit-n-Go, I like to take a look at two or three that are already running to find a 'lucky seat.'...I know this sounds ridiculous, but I'll talk more about positive superstitions in the next chapter." Now mind you, the book doesn't talk about pot-odds until the appendix, where he goes on to say that they're not really important, because "odds are nearly impossible to calculate accurately." Wow! Picking a lucky seat is worth talking about, but basic concepts like pot-odds aren't?!?!
The only thing that makes this book two stars rather than completely worthless is his chapter on Sit-n-Gos. He actually shares some specific strategy ideas that are pretty interesting.
Finally, there is almost nothing in this book that is specific to online poker. Any decent discussion would have to cover the tools specific to online, such as Pokertracker and how to interpret the various stats it generates, which he barely mentions.
I think you get the picture: a quick read, lots of generalities, a waste of time.
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