19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long Live the Sit'n'go!, February 8, 2009
This review is from: Secrets of Sit 'n' Gos: Winning Strategies for Single-table Poker Tournaments (D&B Poker) (Paperback)
As a small stakes sit'n'go player who is successfully building a bankroll from a $60.00 deposit (increased 500% to $360.00 in 6 weeks and fewer than 500 sit'n'gos), I was glad to discover this excellent contribution to sit'n'go poker literature. If you are looking to build a bankroll through sit'n'go play then this book is a must read. Some of my favorite topics this book touches on are:
Reasons for playing sit'n'gos as opposed to MTT's and cash games
Maximum realistic ROI's for small, medium, and high stakes sit'n'go play
How to turn a $200.00 bankroll into $100,000.00 in a year using sit'n'gos and good bankroll management
ROI differences between turbo and standard sit'n'gos
What stack sizes are good and not so good for defending blinds
How to play various crucial bubble situations
Ranges for all in pushes and calls based on stack sizes, distance from making the money, and opponent playing styles
Many valuable hand examples with recommendations
One thing I noticed was that the author seems to have an attitude that favors making the money first and then afterward gambling in many situations but other authors I have read are very comfortable with risking elimination on the bubble to double up and have a greater shot at the first place lion's share of the money. I would much rather be a 40% ITM player if it meant more 1st place finishes than a 50% ITM player with only a rare 1st place finish.
Also, the ICM recommendations will probably work better for tougher competition but at the small stakes I play in with many loose callers, the results can be disastrous since all of the donkeys just don't give you much fold equity. I still find some situations in which the ICM recommendations are useful but I find that in my small stakes games when I am a short stack that shoving on a hand that rates to be the best preflop hand (as opposed to 9 10 s or k 8 ) gets plenty of loose calls and doubles me up quite often. The bottom line is that I don't have to steal too many blinds to build my stack but just shove on good hands and I get plenty of double ups. After almost 500 sit'n'gos my ROI is near 15% so obviously my fairly straightforward play with a slightly reduced all in pushing and calling range when small stacked is working well at these stakes.
To the author's credit, he is a successful sit'n'go player at all stakes and anyone who takes his/her sit'n'go game seriously will benefit from this book. I know I will be rereading it several times throughout my sit'n'go career.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good supplement, February 19, 2009
This review is from: Secrets of Sit 'n' Gos: Winning Strategies for Single-table Poker Tournaments (D&B Poker) (Paperback)
I read Sit N' Go Strategy at the beginning of the year and found it to be mathematically sound. The tone of Secrets of Sit n' Go was a little easier to read and had a lot to do with psychology. I wouldn't recommend reading Secrets without reading Strategy as well because the two compliment each other very well.
A couple of disappointments: lots of typos as the first review said which is kind of annoying because the typos would actually MAKE a difference and contradict the author's point. Second is that the reader is only getting about 130 pages of reading material the other 90 or so pages are quizzes. The quizzes part is pretty normal it's just easier to count the amount of material because the quizzes have their own section opposed to being integrated into each chapter.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review of Secrets, December 27, 2008
This review is from: Secrets of Sit 'n' Gos: Winning Strategies for Single-table Poker Tournaments (D&B Poker) (Paperback)
This book can be great for learning strategy for sit'n'go's...however you wonder just how much to trust in the writings of the Author because this book is PACKED full of typo's and on at least one page there was conflicting information(page 204). Phil Shaw is suppose to be a writer and journalist.....this books writing reflects badly on his credibility as either of those and therefore makes me slighty cautious about his "poker advice" as well. However, if you can wade through the many errors, it offers some great information for playing all levels of sit'n'go's that you may chose to investigate further through other readings or practice.
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