Customer Reviews

Professional No-Limit Hold 'em: Volume I

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I review poker books for Card Player magazine, and here's the piece I submitted about this excellent new book from Two Plus Two (in its November 7 issue):

A lot of amateur players seem to believe that no-limit hold'em is a game dominated by feel and aggression instead of mathematical rigor and brutal rationality, but this powerful new book dispels that notion in no uncertain terms. "It's not the one gut-wrenching decision for all the chips that counts most," the authors write. "It's the thousands of small strategic decisions that the pros get right and the amateurs don't."

Don't misunderstand. Feel and aggression are critical to success in no-limit hold'em. But the most consistent winners use analytical skill to complement their decision making, and in no-limit hold'em, the math is a lot more difficult than it is in the limit game. In limit, you're playing for one or two or three more bets; in no-limit, your entire stack may be on the line in every hand. And that makes the analytical aspects of no-limit hold'em a lot more complicated.

No surprise, then, that the book includes a lengthy discussion of stack sizes, which "are critical to most no-limit decisions." Stack size effectively determines your risk/reward possibilities, and that idea prompts a long and very valuable analysis of "commitment." "'Am I committed?' is the first question you should ask yourself on every street," write Flynn, Mehta, and Miller. If you understand the concepts in this book, you'll know how to answer that crucial question. But here's the real challenge: You have to make the all-in decision before you play a large pot. You must know if you're at the "commitment threshold" and how you're going to respond if you're facing an all-in bet. Those are the situations than can build--or destroy--your bankroll, and you have to be prepared for them.

The book is primarily about the analytical (i.e., mathematical) aspects of no-limit hold'em, but Flynn et al. do a good job of illuminating topics like hand reading. It's not mystical (unless your name is Kenny Tran), but it's not purely rational or logical either. In particular, the book points out the folly of putting someone on a specific hand instead of range of hands. And that leads directly into the meatiest concept of the book, "the REM Process": "Range, Equity, Maximize."

Range, of course, refers to the spectrum of hands your opponents could have (we all know players who only raise with AA or KK, but most raisers have a much wider range of potential hands). Observation of showdowns will help you assign a range to a specific player, and of course you'll add physical tells and intangibles (is someone on tilt? stuck big-time? flush with chips?) to your analysis.

Equity is the value of your hand compared to the range of hands your opponent has (Harrington fans will recognize this concept in his "Structured Hand Analysis" in Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II). Only a savant could perform these calculations at the table, but you'll learn some shortcuts to getting there.

Finally, maximize "means choosing the action or series of actions that makes you the most money in the long run." What's the optimum size of a value bet (which of course depends on the size of the pot and the size of the stacks behind)? Of a bluff?

If this makes no-limit hold'em sound complex, well, that's the reality. Get used to it or get used to going broke. The mantra of this book is "Plan your hands." But you can't plan effectively if you don't understand REM, if you don't understand the concept of relative stack sizes and the stack-to-pot ratio, if you don't understand when you've reached the commitment threshold. And that's why you need Professional No-Limit Hold'em--and the tenacity to learn what it has to offer.

Check out my other poker reviews at web.mac.com/tbpeters.

Overall, the best book on NL cash games in print.

The writing is very clear and direct. It is an "easy" read, even if some of the concepts require thought to digest. Kudos to Ed Miller, whom I am sure is at least partly responsible for the imminent readability.

The first half of the book breaks no new ground, but is an excellent primer for NLHE play. Basics, Fundamentals and REM (Range, Equity Maximize) should be nothing new to, but a good refresher for, experienced players. It will be excellent material for beginning players who don't think much beyond their own two cards. These sections account for pages 1-138.

Pages 140-295 include the Commitment Threshhold/Planning and Stack to Pot Ratio discussions. This is the groundbreaking material which I have never seen written about. Some of it is intuitive. Some of it is not. But it is explained in clear terms, and based on my limited experience employing the ideas, it provides an excellent framework to guide your actions at the table.

I was generally aware of building pots and exercising pot control and implied odds, but I had not thought explicitly of stack to pot ratios, nor what types of hands preferred what ratios for what purposes.

Same for "pot-committed." I generally knew when someone was pot-committed, but the commitment threshhold and planning hands around it is new to me.

I shudder to think how many bad spots I have put myself in by making the "standard" play.

This book will get you thinking about the right things. Which will make you money. Kudos to Matt and Sunny for the new ideas presented in the second half of the book.

Looking forward to Vol 2 in '08.

Well, this is not No Limit: Theory and Practice which was a landmark masterpiece of poker literature; however, it is a solid book...and then some. One of the problems with these reviews on Amazon is that we can only give out star ratings from 1 to 5. That being said, I would rate NL: TAP a 10 on a scale from 1-10 and Professional No Limit Hold `em an 8.5. It's not perfect, but it is a solid addition to our overall knowledge base.

Of course, this text is not meant for beginners in any sense. The authors created it for players with a solid and developed skill base which enables them to appreciate their positions and then make use of their nuanced augmentations and insight. There are a multitude of valuable ideas here. The REM Process is deceptively simple--Range, Equity, and Maximize--but it is undeniably integral to solid, profitable play. There are several explanations here of current buzzwords such as "fold equity" as well. The author's main theme, "plan your hand," is invaluable as not doing so is what separates the losers from the winners. Yes, I do agree that the Stack-to-Pot Ratio segments went on a little too long, but one cannot pretend that their concepts are unimportant. This book does not reinvent the wheel but it does make a significant contribution. It certainly betters our understanding of the game.

Like most of the other reviewers, I feel like this should be considered one of the classics. Right up there with Sklanky's Theory of Poker.

I have played online, mostly single-table tournaments, for about 4 years. But have found that because of the time commitment necessary for those, I have been migrating to the ring/"cash" games. I dominated the $10 to $30 tournaments for a solid ROI, but found that even at the $2/1 cash games, I kept being "pushed around". It felt like I was always up against a group of pros, not knowing what to do on the flop or turn.

Now, after getting through this book a SECOND time in a month's worth of reading, I find that it feels like I'm playing against a bunch of children. It feels so easy. They key has been to plan the hands from before the flop.

This book is the first of about 20 NL or PL Hold-Em books I have read that really, really explains what is meant by planning your hand and manipulating the pot size to your advantage. You will find out how to position yourself in situations so that you'll know in advance what to do when the flop comes. It gives an excellent explanation of the target Stack-to-Pot ratio you need to aim for depending on your cards (are you going for top-pair, or is it a drawing hand: Suited ace, connectors, small pair...)

You'll find yourself constantly NOT CARING how your opponent acts on the flop. The play of the hand has already been established. You will either commit or fold. And rarely will there be a Turn decision.

If you pair this book with a decent online tool to track your opponents (so you can tell the set-farmers, from the action-kids, from the tight-rocks) you will find that you can easily play 3 or 4 tables at once and NOT be a predictable player yourself. After about 12,000 hands I'm showing that on average I play 1.8 tables at a time, and I'm making close to 10 BB/100. (Yes... yes... not enough hands... STD Dev is over 20... but it feels like it is not luck...)

If you are a NLHE cash player at the small stakes, you NEED this book. If you are a Limit player... WHY? Limit is so mechanical and technical. You can never hope to be THAT much better than the field. In No-Limit, 10 to 20 BB per 100 hands is achievable at the small stakes, and counter-intuitively with LESS variance.

I can't wait for Volume 2. Those $10/5 games look promising!

A book that highlights the message "plan-the-hand" for NL play. Sounds simple. In reality it often isn't.
The authors take you through the planning proces and give advise that is very helpful, not just in theory but also in the heat of the battle. Key advise is, prior to making a pre-flop bet, to decide on which flops you do want to commit your stack and on which flops you don't, and to estimate for your starting hand the percentages of both types of flops. Subsequently bet/raise pre-flop such that you realise the right stack-to-pot ratio on the flop for the purpose of your planned post-flop play. The authors give practical advise for various classes of starting hands/flop combinations what is the optimal stack-to-pot ratio. Some of the analysis leads to pre-flop betting that - prior to reading the book - I would have classified as over-betting. However, the analysis in the book is sound, and it definitely helps keeping a robust rational approach to the game.

I've read and re-read all the classics (i.e. Theory of Poker, Super System, Harrington on Hold em, etc etc etc) I cannot say for sure that this book is a classic, but I definitely feel that it stands out amongst all other poker books who have not yet acheived classic status but still want you to pay classic prices. Other reviews give specifics about SPR (stack to pot ratio), planning hands, and other topics in the book, I wont get in to that. I will say that they manner that these topics are presented in the book are innovative, straightforward, and an advantage to the strategy of a serious poker player. Will the use of planning your hand before the flop allow you to outplay your opponents and show a profit? Maybe - Maybe not, but the thought process of how to use this information is a definite advantage because I feel that many players think exploitively but not necessarily in the context that this book presents the material. Poker is the type of game where if you are static instead of dynamic, good opponents will exploit your tendencies. This book gives a different perspective on (i.e pot odds) ratios when discussing SPRs. This book is the type of reading that will truly improve your game because it causes you to think on a different level. When you think on a different level it always improves your game because it adds variables that you consider in making important decisions. The more information you have to make that decision, you will undoubtedly make better decisions. In my opinion, the method that they present some of the material is not discussed in any other book I've ever read, which to me indicates that they're doing something right.

This book will do a good job of helping to turn marginal players into successful ones. The ideas presented of REM, commitment, and stack to pot ratios do an excellent job of describing how to eliminate some huge flaws I have seen in other players (and to some extent, myself). As a mid limit pro, I was already aware of these concepts in a vague form, but as described they really helped me understand them in theory and practice.

This book is really ground breaking as far as literature goes. It offers an interesting mix of insights of how to think about poker and how to plan a hand. It may take a while to work some of these ideas into my game but I think it will be well worth the effort. I've really started to focus on commitment thresholds as I play, and I really watch the pot and possible future bets in comparison to my stack. It definitely helps lessen the number of tough decisions I have to make at the table, though poker is a lot about tough decisions so I will never be rid of them entirely.

I'd have to say most of the materials in the book are geared towards play with "aggressive" or "tricky" opponents which as you move up limits you will find more of. But you will find benefit from this book no matter what blind level you play. You will just find more benefit from certain parts of the book when facing different types of opponents.

This book is very useful to me personally because of the opponents which this strategy is geared for. I don't have much trouble playing against a straightforward or passive opponent. I do however have issues against aggressive players. They seem to build huge stacks stealing (or appearing to steal) lots of medium size pots when people get too far in and then fold. I now make sure to either get out quick or commit to the pot (or have a plan).

I have little to add to P. Binion and Felson's thorough reviews, but here goes:

Although it's a gross simplification, for me the value of this book is primarily some new ideas about how to play good one-pair hands -- top-pair-good-kicker or an overpair. Anyone who's struggled a bit with postflop NLHE decisions probably knows what I mean. You bet your pocket aces on the flop. Call. You bet the pot on the turn. Call. Now your not-entirely-straightforward-but-not-maniacal opponent bets the pot from out of nowhere on the river. It could be a big bluff, but you're probably beat, right? Can you really lay your aces down and sleep at night? HELP!!!!

This book won't give you a magic recipe for what to do in this situation. That's ridiculous -- NLHE is far too complex for one-size-fits-all algorithms. But this book can help you plan so that you're less likely to GET to those tough one-pair situations. In particular, it's sobering to realize that with 100 BBL stacks, your "standard" preflop raise called by an opponent is getting the pot to exactly the *wrong* size for one pair. And as the authors point out -- what are you most likely to flop with AA, KK, or AK if it hits the board?

When you look at your cards and see a big pair or big ace, this book will help you start thinking about where you'd like the pot to be on the flop and beyond. (I've neglected small pairs or other drawing hands, because they're not as harrowing as one-pair hands to play correctly, but the book talks about their preferred pot size too.) Your planning won't always work out right -- sometimes five loose opponents decide to call your raise instead of one; sometimes you want to limp/reraise but no one raises. But if you've been planning, the big decision that puts you to the test won't catch you unawares. It's not a silver bullet, but it is an effective framework to help you start looking ahead from the moment you get your cards.

And that's the theme of this book: "Plan your hand."
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DISCLAIMER: Although I take part in 2+2's forums I'm hardly a personal acquaintance of the authors, and I would criticize any of their books that merited it. I'll never tell you that Sklansky can write or that his "Hemingway preface" is a reasonable attitude to take toward one's audience, for example. I praise Ed Miller's work only because it's really good.

I noticed that 10 out of the 11 reviews (all 5 star!) seem to be reviewed by those who have naver reviewed any other book than this. They also reviewed the book the same week. It would seem as if Mr. Flynn has a number of friends who are willing to shill for him. Having actually read the book, I find it to be merely adequate. Sorry, Matt.

Like many other poker players, I read most of the current and interesting books on poker. As I am a particularly big fan of Ed Miller's writing in Card Player magazine, I thought I'd give this particular book a try.

Wow, was I pleasantly surprised. This book is both unique and very practical. It does a small bit of explaining concepts that many other books do, but then it opens up the entire mathematics of commitment, a concept which I definitely did not understand well, and to-date, no one I've talked to about poker, at least in person, understands these concepts well. Your edge with this information will increase substantially. Although the authors tried to make this information accessible, and even mechanical, to players who are relatively new at No Limit Hold 'Em, they do such a great job explaining it that stack-to-pot ratios and commitment will become part of any player's vocabulary with some soak-in time.

I'm glad that most, if not all, of my opponents don't understand this information, or have been too lazy to really comprehend the concepts contained in this book. Most people play NLHE without a plan. They wing it. Their results will vary tremendously. "Planning around commitment" is the crux of this book, and if you really are a poker student, this information will step up your game more than a single level like many books. Read it a second time, and you will probably know more about the mathematics of this game than 95%+ of your opponents. I'm not talking straight and flush out math; I'm talking about avoiding 13-1 stack-to-pot ratios with premium hands, and conversely seeking them intentionally in a future positional attempt at bluffing.

Though the authors geared this book toward cash game play, many of the concepts apply to tournaments and sit-n-gos as well. Do yourself a favor; but this book today, and be prepared to read it twice. You'll never look back, and your game will be changed forever for the better.