Customer Reviews

World Poker Tour(TM): Making the Final Table

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book might be encouraging for someone who has never won at all and needs a push to do so, but it contains very little real information other than to be aggressive. I read this book with a highlighter pen in hand and only used it a half a dozen times or so and I was being generous. It reads much more like he sat around and talked about how he likes to play and then had somebody type it up than any sort of useable strategy advice.

A little information is a dangerous thing...and this book reads like he wants you to have just enough of his attitude to think you can play him, but he doesn't want to give you enough insight to actually win. You are left with the feeling that he has withheld much more than he has shared. I for one would be happy to think that my opponents were basing their strategy on this book.

Be aware also that this book is shockingly padded. Listed as 191 pages, Erick Lindgren wraps up his portion on page 129, followed by 30 pages of completely irrelevant and instantly outdated useless lists of WPT money leaders which even if they were helpful could easily have been condensed into 2 pages tops. Next comes 20 pages by his co-author which delve into all sorts of math that can be replaced with 2 simple charts that are included.

Very light on content, I would rate this a definite pass. It mostly is beneficial to show that if you DO win on the WPT, you will get all sorts of cushy, fluffy, lucrative offers to cash in away from the poker table!

Not the book for you if you are a beginner. It does not cover anything basic. I like that. Was tired of reading everyone's version of learning the basics of Texas Hold'em. However, if you've been playing for a while and have mastered the basics and have been thinking about jumping into bigger Multi-table tournaments then this book is all that it claims. Be careful not to mis-interpret what Eric says - I've seen a lot of players turn into radical loose canons after reading it. Perhaps they need to re-read the book. It's theme - play to win not survive makes perfect sense. While his strategies pertain to World Poker Tour events - it has it's place in normal bricks and mortar settings as well with on line Multi-table games. Good poker math and bluffing info bonus by Matt Matros at the end.

I wanted to buy a book that was written by a newer younger professional. I figured their view on poker today would be fresh and would address the current poker environment. Half the book satisfies that need.

The first half of the book does discuss strategy. Lindgren is aggressive and plays to win first place and sticks to that philosophy. The most valuable part of the book is the first half in which he tells you how to play his way. It is a bit hard to swallow for tight conservative players but if you choose not to adopt it then you'll at least understand your other type of opponents.

The book changes gears and starts telling you how to handle the bright lights and television cameras of the final table. Huh? He then has a chapter on what to do with a million dollars. Huh? There is then a section that spans a number of pages on a list of the biggest winners in poker. Huh?

The last two chapters are from the co-writer addressing poker math/odds. There are different approaches and I didn't adopt the ones from this book. It wasn't as clear as I wanted it to be.

If I could give the first half 5 stars I would then I would give the other half 1 star. I'll give the book the average of the two.

The book is cheaper than the more popular ones and even cheaper on Amazon. Use this book as a supplement. If you are a serious player, get the Dan Harrington books first.

Erick Lindgren is one of the legions of young, aggressive players who have taken the professional poker world by storm. Tight and conservative players are finding themselves getting run over by the new aggressors in Hold Em poker tournaments. Lindgren's results speak for themselves, and as a result I decided to get this book to get into the mind of a successful aggressive player.

I will start by saying that if you are looking for details on specific situations in poker play look elsewhere. While Lindgren's book details a handful of situations, this is nobody's idea of an extensive workbook on NL Texas Hold Em. If you are looking for something like this I personally suggest the Harrington on Hold Em book trilogy first. The book's second half also covers subjects such as what to do with your winnings from a huge WPT windfall. While this is a great subject that rarely sees the light of day, it is odd to combine this in a book with a primer on aggressive poker play. As such, it is the rare person who will gain valuable content from both halves of the book.

With that said, there is likely something in here for many people, and for a relatively low cost compared to most poker books this one rates a BUY. For me, the first half of the book is tantamount to changing your poker game in large tournaments. This can be adjusted to anything from a WPT main event tourney to a free bar league tournament in your local bar (if these tournaments are legal where you live). What Erick aims to install is not a detailed primer on each situation you face, but an ATTITUDE of selective aggression. He sells the idea that chip accumulation, not survival, is the goal of poker tournament play. He's selling it, and I suggest that you buy it. By combining this with the fundamentals I've learned in the Harrington books I have drastically improved my results. I go to final tables WITH A STACK, not with a chip and a chair, and I regularly WIN as opposed to make cameo final table appearances.

Lindgren's Making The Final Table is short on specifics, but it's still enormously valuable in drastically changing your poker game. I highly recommend buying it, because the part that discusses selective aggression and chip accumulation is worth the price of the entire book.

There aren't many good books on tournament Hold 'Em play. So considering the competition, this one is definitely worth having and worth perusing. It is certainly lighter and easier to read than many poker books with their tables of hands and intricate descriptions of specific situations. Erick writes mainly about his general style (stay aggressive) and how it relates to the different stages of a poker tourney.

If you want to read only one book on tournament poker play, this isn't it. But as a matter of fact, none of the other books on tournament poker play are it either. So if you want to read just one book, I would LOVE to see you forkin' up some of your money at a poker table with me.

There is some filler and propaganda about getting involved with the World Poker Tour and how not to blow your first million after you win, but that is a minor issue. Generally a good, enjoyable read.

This book is named appropriately. I played TJ Cloutier tight for a long time. I made the money a lot but I was always short stacked once I made the money. I still play tight-aggressive in the early levels of tournaments but this book really changes my image of the middle levels and bubble play. A week after I bought this book I won two events with over 2000 entrants each (only $20 entries and I made over $15,000). I credit this book. If you a beginning player, this book is not for you. But if you are a solid tournament player looking to improve your game, this book is a good place to start.

This book is solid and I have learned a lot from it. Some I already knew, but great ideas can always bear repetition: 1. Be aggressive, not passive. 2. Play to win, not to finish in the money. Etc.

Lindgren is personable, though his egotism does show through in many passages. I don't hold this against him, as he has won a lot of money and it would be stupid to be too modest about that fact. And at least he hasn't let his ego totally overcome him, as Mike Matisow and Phil Helmuth have.

Like Doyle Brunson, Lindgren believes you should see a lot of flops. That makes his starting hand selection much looser than the guidelines provided by many books. He also puts a lot of emphasis on "taking control of the table." I would quibble a bit with the importance of always having the lead. I have often found the rope-a-dope to be very effective.

I especially liked his discussion of newbies overbetting or underbetting a pot and how to take advantage of them.

That being said, this book is also an infomercial for the World Poker Tour. WPTE should give it to their shareholders as a dividend. I found the emphasis on the WPT and the PPT, combined with the scarcity of mentions of the World Series of Poker, to be a bit irritating. It reminds me of the days when The National Football League tried to pretend there was no American Football League. Any time I read such a biased approach, it makes me more skeptical of the other information in the book

But the book is excellent overall and you have to just grit your teeth while you are shilled about the WPT.

This book was very dissapointing. With a key message of 'play to win, not to survive', i've just given you every piece of information I gleaned from this rant. If you are into hearing a guy gloat about how he plays to win and thinks he is teaching you valuable insights, then this book is for you.

The content covered is so light on that any insights are quickly lost. There are no in depth explanations of any of the concepts Lindgren presents. The whole thing seems to present as an egotistical drop out frat boy, that managed to work out how to be a successful poker player (well done for that) but is no where near able to write a decent instructional poker book.

The book is written in a way that is meant to build your ability to win, by taking on qualifying in satellites, the various stages of the tournament, the final table, heads up and then how to spend your winnings (a house in vegas with no less than 6 plasma TV's). Lindgren also continually refers you back to previous chapters where you supposedly learnt valuable insights and somehow are a WPT millionaire.

This book has no substance. If you want to learn better poker, try the Harrington on Holdem series, if you want to learn to be more aggressive try Gus Hansens, Every Hand Revealed.

The WPT sponsored advertisement that this book is, complete with out of date WPT information on highest money winners etc, is not worth it. Don't waste your time.

This is a great introduction to the super-aggressive style of playing. While Harrington, Sklansky et al go into much more detail, they both, and many others such as TJ Cloutier, tend toward a much tighter (though still aggressive) approach to tournament poker than that advocated by Lindgren here. Given Lindgren's successes, not to mention those of Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey and others, clearly this is an approach that works, and it's great to hear about it from a top practitioner. Now, to all accounts this style is a lot more difficult to use successfully than Lindgren might lead you to believe, but he does give you a great insight into the philosophy behind it. The writing is conversational, very entertaining, and there are many useful things to learn between these covers. Highly recommended.

This book is not a beginners book. If you're looking for a list of which hands to play, basic odds or old war stories from the likes of Doyle & Co, go find other books that are closer to your level of interest in the game. Eric's book is indeed a manual that's very deep in its content. Most of the folks who read it won't really even understand what he's trying to say. That's not to say he's not a great writer (cuz he is); it's more that he's simply speaking to you as if you're already a great player. A lot of books have quotes about them that say something like, "this will take your game to the next level" and then end up rehashing the same basic tools that all their competition books explain. But this book truly does notch up your game, helping you think of hands and the players behind them in a much more complete fashion.

Eric's style of solid poker playing is much more than mere agression. It's understanding when agression is correct, and when it's not. A number of the ideas in this book are brand new, including tips on how to size people up before even sitting down, why and how to keep the pots small (he suggests not overbetting), and so much more.

I give this book 5 stars, with the caviate that you'll need a fairly high understanding of the game before it's truly approachable as a text.