Professional No Limit Hold Em

[Gunslinger]

I got my pre-order from Amazon this weekend. Anyone else get this? I'm about halfway through it, just getting into the real interesting concepts (commitment threshold, stack to pot ratios, and how to use them to plan your entire hand). I'll post more when I've finished it and had a chance to absorb and/or use it.

[kingetje]

i ordered it on amazon, but it says that the estimated time of arrival is like the end of august

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

I'm just waiting and hoping it will be available at the Stars FPP store so I can get it for "free."

[Gunslinger]

I finished it, and I think it’s a very impressive book. I think I lot of players will be helped by it.

The first part of the book reviews the basics and fundamentals of no limit. I say review, because I’ve studied all of this stuff before, and most of us here will know it. But I realize that new players, or those transitioning from limit, probably don’t. Outs, pot odds, implied odds, stack sizes, and others. And it’s really put together well.

The next part explains REM: what Range do we put our opponents on, what is our Equity against that range, and what decision will Maximize our expectation. The decision process that a player should go through at every point in a hand. Again, this is something that a lot of us have studied, but I’ve never seen it explained in one spot so well before, and beginner and intermediate players will benefit a lot from this section.

The last big section has the big concepts of the book: the commitment threshold and SPR. What the authors try to do is explain how to use information available to you to help you plan your entire hand from the beginning, so that you aren’t faced with difficult decisions on later streets. It basically helps you plan whether to commit to your hand or not. The commitment threshold is the point of the hand, which could come at any time, past which you should not put any more chips in without a plan of whether to commit or not. Basically, if you have made or called a few sizable bets, but have to fold later in the hand because you don’t where you’re at, you have made a mistake getting to where you are at. The book helps you plan and calculate, using stack sizes (which you always know), at what point in the hand you need to commit or not. If you’re committed, you try to get the money in. If not, you exercise pot control. They give excellent examples of when not to use pot control even if you are not committed. Meaning, you know the reason why you are betting or calling, even if you are not trying to get it in.

The commitment threshold tells you when you need to decide to commit. To help with the decision itself is the stack-to-pot ratio (SPR).

The best analogy of the authors' section on SPR I can think of is Harrington’s introduction of using M in late MTT strategy. Before HOH came out, I’m sure lots of experienced tournament players intuitively knew how to play their dwindling stacks, and best use their fold equity. HOH concisely instructed how to calculate your M, defined the green zone through the red zone, and the best courses of action for each. SPR is similar, in that it’s a calculation you can easily make as the flop comes out, and the book shows you how to use it to help plan the rest of your hand.

The SPR, calculated only on the flop, is simply the smallest remaining stack divided by the pot on the flop. The book gives you good SPR ranges for hands you commonly flop after you raise, like top pair and overpairs. Good SPR ranges mean that if you get all your money in, you expect to have a positive expectation in the long run. If the SPR is higher than you want it, you have an awkward stack size to play: to large to want to commit without a monster, but not deep enough to be able to make any moves on later streets, and put your opponents to a tough decision. Even higher SPRs are again desirable, because it allows for real deep stack play.

It's very intuitive as you think about it. You raise with aces, get one caller. If the caller’s stack is only twice the size of the current pot, you will probably feel comfortable getting all in on almost any flop, even against the tightest of opponents. If he has twenty times the current pot, you probably won’t have the best of it on lots of flops if your opponent wants to get all in.

The SPR section finishes by explaining how to adjust your pre-flop raises to try to hit a good SPR range. For example, two loose players limp to you on the button with a raising hand. The blind are tight, you expect them to fold and the limpers to call. You can calculate how many big blinds to raise, based on the effective stacks, that, with two callers, will result in a good SPR range for the hand you are most likely to flop. This will help all of your decisions later in the hand.

Reads are obviously very important in all this, and the book helps you adjust to them. In fact, it explains a lot of adjustments to various conditions you must make to fine tune using SPR. It is a very well thought out concept.

The book is very well written, straight forward, and easy to follow. This is no Sklansky theory fest. Matt Flynn and Sunny Mehta are the primary authors, but those familiar with Ed Miller’s work will recognize how well everything is laid out and explained. This is NOT a strategy book, like Super System or one of Phil Gordon’s books, as in, this is how I play ace-king. The first part is a great layout of fundamentals that will really help new players. The concepts of the commitment threshold and SPR will obviously take a lot of practice to try to use, but I think it can only help one’s game. And throughout the whole book, the process of HOW to make poker decisions is really emphasized, using the REM process, and this really qualifies it as how professionals think through a hand. Overall, I highly recommend it.

[kingetje]

Basically, if you have made or called a few sizable bets, but have to fold later in the hand because you don’t where you’re at, you have made a mistake getting to where you are at.

but sometimes you are brought in ugly positions because of the board
what if you flop bottom two on a 7-5-4 board... obviously you will put alot of money in here.... but when turn and river are a 7-5-4-3-7..... or 7-5-4-2-3.... often times you'll have to back down there.... but that doesnt make jamming your bottom two earlier in the hand a mistake right. i'd say its a mistake not to go away

i havent read the book though, was just reading your review and thought about this when i read that part

[Gunslinger]

You're absolutely right, king, and they explain this very well. When they say you need a plan whether to commit or not, that includes what to do if the situation changes. In your example, you would be committed on the flop, but it would be OK to get out if you get counterfitted or four cards to a straight show up. You haven't made a mistake.

There are very good examples where, before you bet the flop or turn, you need to have a plan of what you will do if a scare card hits, and/or your opponent starts betting. Have a plan before you get to a sticky spot later in the hand.

[kingetje]

i got it today!


will read

[TheSalche]

I hope this book helps you towards reaching $300 in gross rake at rakerebate.net. I want my $50 =)

[Gunslinger]

I'm trying, I'm trying! I have two kids, I can only put in so many hands a month.