Anyone read this book?

Derek C.

How to win NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM Tournaments by Don Vines & Tom McEvoy.

Got this book the other day and finished reading it just now. Found it very easy to read and i really liked the way it progressed throughout from Beginner to Experienced.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

And in a broader question....... Does anyone recommend any books that are guaranteed to help a Tournament player like myself?

I have Play Poker Like the Pro's beside me now. Should I wait a while before I read that? (two books in quick succession)

ntlbell

Derek C. wrote:

How to win NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM Tournaments by Don Vines & Tom McEvoy.

Got this book the other day and finished reading it just now. Found it very easy to read and i really liked the way it progressed throughout from Beginner to Experienced.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

And in a broader question....... Does anyone recommend any books that are guaranteed to help a Tournament player like myself?

I have Play Poker Like the Pro's beside me now. Should I wait a while before I read that? (two books in quick succession)

if you haven't read dan harrington vol 1 and 2 then these are a must for any tournament player

Derek C.

That seems to be the cry from everyone I meet. Culchie was on at me about Harrington last week.

ntlbell

Derek C. wrote:

That seems to be the cry from everyone I meet. Culchie was on at me about Harrington last week.

The best few quid you'll ever spend

Dub13

Derek C. wrote:

Culchie was on at me about Harrington last week.

If I never meet Culchie I would think he was Harrington by reading his posts about books....:)

He must be on commission.

Ste05

I'm very much behind Culchie here, Harrington is the Bible!!!!!

P.S. The first book I ever read was Play Poker like the Pro's and without reading anything before hand it was very informative (shhhh. I didn't say that)

Bananna man

Good stuff, i just bought "Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Strategic Play" on amazon

Ste05

Bananna man wrote:

Good stuff, i just bought "Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Strategic Play" on amazon

Which Volume?? I bought 2 first - read it all, amazing book. Then bought 1 and while it was the best book I've read on general tournament strategy (i.e. Early Tournaments, general Poker strategy) there wasn't too much in it I hadn't either figured out myself or read elsewhere. (I had been playing about 4 years by then though :rolleyes: )

Culchie

Ste05 wrote:

IP.S. The first book I ever read was Play Poker like the Pro's and without reading anything before hand it was very informative (shhhh. I didn't say that)

me too me too

Ste05

Culchie wrote:

me too me too

LOL - at the time I thought I had found the Holy Grail. The concepts in the book, while basic now, seemed so deadly to me at the time..... The easiest way to make millions. And I thought I had found a treasure of secrets that no-one else had ever come across. Then I found 2+2 and other books and actually realised that Poker was quite big!! (P.S. this was before the current explosion!!)

Bananna man

Ste05 wrote:

Which Volume?? I bought 2 first - read it all, amazing book. Then bought 1 and while it was the best book I've read on general tournament strategy (i.e. Early Tournaments, general Poker strategy) there wasn't too much in it I hadn't either figured out myself or read elsewhere. (I had been playing about 4 years by then though :rolleyes: )

Aww man, thats taken the wind out of my sails. Its volume 1

Ste05

Bananna man wrote:

Aww man, thats taken the wind out of my sails. Its volume 1

It's still the best book about general Poker strategy. But order Volume 2 today, assuming you can make the mid - late stages of tournaments consistently already (which by your posts I'd say you can..)

Culchie

Ste05 wrote:

LOL - at the time I thought I had found the Holy Grail. The concepts in the book, while basic now, seemed so deadly to me at the time..... The easiest way to make millions. And I thought I had found a treasure of secrets that no-one else had ever come across. Then I found 2+2 and other books and actually realised that Poker was quite big!! (P.S. this was before the current explosion!!)

*nostalgia* ... The Power of the Raise !

Bananaman, Volume 1 is great, then read 2 ... hence their titles.
Ste05 had 4 years under his belt. There's alot of great stuff in Volume 1

Bananna man

This is my third attempt now at getting a good no limit book. The first i bought of amazon was for limit poker and the second only had one chapter for no limit :mad:

Ste05

Was it Small Stakes Poker by Ed Miller?? I actually quite liked that book.

Bananna man

Ste05 wrote:

Was it Small Stakes Poker by Ed Miller?? I actually quite liked that book.

Cant remember now. They were thrown behind the couch long ago

Pokerevents

Derek C. wrote:

How to win NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM Tournaments by Don Vines & Tom McEvoy.

Got this book the other day and finished reading it just now. Found it very easy to read and i really liked the way it progressed throughout from Beginner to Experienced.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?

And in a broader question....... Does anyone recommend any books that are guaranteed to help a Tournament player like myself?

I have Play Poker Like the Pro's beside me now. Should I wait a while before I read that? (two books in quick succession)

Just started this book yesterday and i'm loving it. Simple language with lots of meat to digest.

I would also recommend Holdem excellence by Lou Kieger and of course Sklansky s tournament poker for advanced players is a must read (several times) for series tournament players.

Ste05

Pokerevents wrote:

of course Sklansky s tournament poker for advanced players is a must read (several times) for series tournament players.

I'll admit, this is one book I haven't read, so you recommend it. Maybe I'll have to give it a go... I know, I know... :rolleyes:

P.S. Culchie - Don't like Kill Phil, seems like terrible advice, but then as a cash game player mainly the last thing I want to do is get rid of is Post Flop play.

Culchie

Ste05 wrote:

P.S. Culchie - Don't like Kill Phil, seems like terrible advice, but then as a cash game player mainly the last thing I want to do is get rid of is Post Flop play.

Agree, can't bring myself to read any more.

Ste05

Culchie wrote:

Agree, can't bring myself to read any more.

LOL, same here, I started on the basic part, thought it was crap, flicked to the advanced bit then just gave up..

spectre

IMHO Harrington's two books are excellent. I've read several poker texts and I found HOH(1&2) to be very easy to read. If you are not built for the super aggressive game (like the majority of poker players) then this IS the strategy that you MUST adopt. It takes disipline to play the Harrington way, but I can assure you that it does pay off. I have been implementing his methods almost exclusively and have made back the price of both books many times.

Also, when you finish volume one, don't stop there - volume two is equally as rich in essential knowledge, particularly in hand selection during inflection points. I cannot emphasise(sp?) how important this is. It can be very difficult to stick rigidly to his advice, especially when you your chipstack falls into the 5-10 orbit range, to me, it sounds counter intuitive to throw away low pairs preflop but it's hard to argue with his explainations. The man is a genius and must be respected. I have no reservations whatsoever in recommending both volumes of this essential material.

SPECTRE

The C Kid

Harrington's books are an excellent read, but have now completely overflooded the market. Every single medium level tournament player around appears to play like Dan.

Therefore is playing a style opposite to that recommmended in the Harrington books now the way forward in medium buy-in tournaments?

Culchie

The C Kid wrote:

Harrington's books are an excellent read, but have now completely overflooded the market. Every single medium level tournament player around appears to play like Dan.

Therefore is playing a style opposite to that recommmended in the Harrington books now the way forward in medium buy-in tournaments?

ah, I love contraians.

I think where Harrington's books have been so successful, is because he appears to have told the reader his whole thought process, he has left nothing behind, if you like he has left on the record forever more his legacy.
What's more they are very easy to read.

However, it's like education. Some people will be able to interpret the written material better than others, and some people will apply their knowledge better than others.
One of my favourite quotes I ever heard in regard to college drop outs is
"There's no such thing as a wasted education" ... because whatever you pick up on the way is with you for life and will always stand to you at some point.

Regarding your question, I guess you are the best person to answer it.
Are you winning many medium buy-in tournaments at the moment playing your contraian way ... if so, stick with it. However you'd need to know 'The Harrington Way' in the first place to know how to counteract it wouldn't you?

...*Cue* 'Kill Phil' poker ...I think over the next few months, we'll see an influx of 'Kill Phil' poker as well, and I'm sure Gus Hansen only has to get off his ass and write a book and hey presto, we got some interesting poker schools of thought in the mainstream middle ground of poker.

ntlbell

Culchie wrote:

...*Cue* 'Kill Phil' poker ...I think over the next few months, we'll see an influx of 'Kill Phil' poker as well, and I'm sure Gus Hansen only has to get off his ass and write a book and hey presto, we got some interesting poker schools of thought in the mainstream middle ground of poker.

Gus is in the process!!

Kill Phil? Don't mention the war...

The C Kid wrote:

Harrington's books are an excellent read, but have now completely overflooded the market. Every single medium level tournament player around appears to play like Dan.

Therefore is playing a style opposite to that recommmended in the Harrington books now the way forward in medium buy-in tournaments?

Yes half the country is playing like dan harrington but I think it's great, as you can spot them a mile away, they read the book, take about 10% of it in, and play like that for a whole tourny they don't seem to make one independent decision, if they didn't read it in harrington they're lost.

The real key is to study it, understand it, and take some parts of it and attach it to your game, not copy it and make it your game.

Ste05

ntlbell wrote:

The real key is to study it, understand it, and take some parts of it and attach it to your game, not copy it and make it your game.

Great advice there NTL, I'd say read loads of different books and take bits from each so you can adjust to the particular situation. Read Brunson, Harrington, Sklansky, Kill Phil etc. etc. and try and tailor your own style...

RoadSweeper

Anything to be said for Doyle Brunson - Super systems II ?

Ste05

RoadSweeper wrote:

Anything to be said for Doyle Brunson - Super systems II ?

Need a bankroll to play this style, great book though. I loved Todd Brunson's section on 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo

Dub13

RoadSweeper wrote:

Anything to be said for Doyle Brunson - Super systems II ?

Don't read SS2 if you are new to poker,It will do more damage than good.It does not live up to the hype...its a good read but he is super aggressive which is grand if you have a huge bankroll.Basically if he has an out he will make you pay to continue in the hand.


I found there is very little about tournament play.To play like brunson you would need a big big bankroll,you simply cannot play that aggressively in a tournament.Even if you have a big bankroll it will not help you in a frezout...thats one of the main reasons I was disappointed in SS2,it gives plenty of advice on how to piss away chips in a tournament but little on how to get the chips in the first place.


But its a must read...simpley to get inside the head of the 100s of people who have read his book and are playing as brunson suggests.

RoadSweeper

any reviews on Caro's Book of Poker Tells?