Customer Reviews

Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1 (D&B Poker Series)

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I probably have more than 60 poker books and I have read them all at least twice. For people who want to be competitive in MTTs as they are currently played, I think that Little's book is kind of essential. This first volume presents a number of valuable information, mainly about how to play the big stack. It is pretty much on the LAG side from the style perfective, and therefore I would suggest to read it just before reading the Elky's recent book. The reason why I did not give it a 5 stars, is that I found the section on how to play the re-shove stack a bit too short. That section would have profit of a more extensive analysis of different opponents stacks, stats and position opening in order to derive optimal re-shove ranges. I am looking forward the second volume.

This was an interesting book. It is not meant to be an algorithm for exactly how to play. Instead it gives a lot of general guidelines and walks you through a lot of common situations. It is very helpful to get you into the mindset of a good player and also the mindset of his opponents.

Jonathon Little has set the new standard for tournament poker books, although I don't think this new standard can be met by anybody else. I am a successful and experienced professional poker player myself but always stay up on the ever changing game through books and training videos . . . I am thankful this one showed up. I have read almost every No Limit Hold Em book and expected this to be a lot of what I have already read but it simply wasn't the case. I almost wanted to write a bad review so other players don't read it, because it is that good. I see the sequel is coming soon, I already have it on order.

I tend to the LAG style of play and have gone well in getting into the money and often (relatively speaking) with a good sized stack. However, I felt I was hitting and missing some important concepts and not getting to the final table enough nor getting enough firsts out of the final three. This book has shown me where I was leaking and where I was doing good. It's great to read such a strongly affirmative exposition of LAG play and that TAG play is not the only way to win; I never could keep my stats in the recommended ratios. So this book has helped liberate my play and shown me how I could improve. I feel better about my game now, it's more solid, and my 'success' rate has improved.

However ... when he explains various points there are a lot of provisos to be aware of. In my first implementation of some of his advice I had missed one of his provisos and found myself rather deeply in a mess. So if you do read it, study his advice carefully. This book is a serious case of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" as his style of play is probably further out than the average player will feel comfortable with. Consequently, you should be willing to make an effort to genuinely understand exactly the principles he espouses.

Overall, he helped me learn how to play "my game" sensibly. Thank you, JL.

(For the record, I have no affiliations or biased groupy involvement.)

At first I was troubled by the deep stack approach. Unless you live in Las Vegas, or have a huge bankroll, sections on 125BB plus are of little help to the average player, who probably plays in tournaments with faster structures.
HOWEVER, as I read, I found that all sections of the book have very helpful strategies. He tells you what moves to make, and how and why to make them. I had never heard moves like floating and checking medium strength hands explained so clearly. He details when these moves only work in deep stack modes. The majority of the strategies seem like they are very good for any tournament and even for cash games.
There are sections on smaller stacks, and these are very helpful.
The book is not simple, and that is a good thing. It takes time to digest the strategies. He clearly notes that you need to work hard and study to become a pro. Even those who don't want to be pros will get lots from this book.

I found this book to be well written and easy to read... Has taken my tournament game to the next level by giving me a better understanding on all levels of tournament play, like early, middle, end and final table play. A must read for anyone.

After reading jl's book for the umpteenth time have started placing higher in MTTs. A few times have actually won money. jl has energized my game. I can't wait for the second book to come out.

Easy to understand, makes plenty of sense and not too technical that it is a bore.Hurry up with the 2nd volume please.

I'm not even finished with the book but I feel like I've learned enough already to give it 5 stars. While it started a bit slowly, it quickly became apparent that J.L. was really giving some great insight into the modern aggressive game. His explanation of pot control alone is worth the purchase price. There is definitely enough in here to justify multiple readings. It sounds like pure hype when J.L. says, "Commit everything in this book to memory and you will be well on your way to becoming a professional poker player." But at this point I'd hate to face the player who actually had fully digested this material.

Hi. I had this book for 3 weeks now and i like it alot. I like the explaining of various stack sizes. How to play a stack of 125BB and all the way down to 5BB. This book have improved my game a bit. Getting to more finals tables. Im just waiting for the Volume 2 now. Nice work on the book :)