Did i just buy two useless books?

[Biggenx]

I ordered Small Stakes Hold'em and Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players thinking they would be like TOP in that they would have info on Limit and NL.

After skimming through them (VERY briefly) to see what they covered, it seems there isn't one word on No Limit.

I'm NOT looking to be a well rounded poker player, since i switched from limit to NL very early on, I've dedicated myself to one game and one game only Small Stakes NO LIMIT Hold em Full Ring games.

I imagine that there is quit a bit of useful information in these two books i bought that can be applied to fixed and no limit games, but I'd rather not filter through them to find it. Knowing me I'd probably end up contaminating my game with additional leaks.

Can anyone suggest specific chapters that i can glean useful NL tools from in either of these books?

Are there any books actually geared toward Small Stakes NO LIMIT hold em? Or do i have to buy a tournement book for NL.

[GrunchCan]

Sorry, Biggenx:

You bought 2 books that are worhtless to you. In fact, they are of negative worth to you. If you were to apply what you learned in SSH to a NL game, you'd go broke quickly.

You might glean some general concepts at a very abstract level. But honestly, I think you should just not even open those books.

Try HOH and ciaffone instead.

[Bukem_]

As of yet there aren't any ssnl books out.

As for those books, any example with hand reading is good.

The section that rates hand strength based on the flop is good for nl(ssh). Waiting for the turn to raise a good but not great hand should be helpful also.

hpfap section on heads up and sh helps you think more directly about how to beat a specific opponent.

I still think you should play limit before nl to drill basic ideas into your head.

[webmonarch]

I don't think they are "useless." Hold Em is the same game, same rules, but for the limits. That being said, I think that you should read and understand those books without being too hung up on follwoing them to a "T." There are definitely bertter NL books out there, though.

I read Small Stakes Hold 'Em three times, thinking that I could apply it to SSNL, but I do not recall anything in there that has advanced my NL game. It's a good book, but IMO, you are better off getting your money back.

I also read HE for AP, and I think you should keep that one for its general mathematical discussions throughout. When Sklansky talks about things like whether bluffing ought to be slightly +- or neutral EV, I think this applies equally. I don't have my copy here, but I was just reading the chapter on bluffing last night, and I felt like the concepts were easily enough employed in/adapted to, NL.

Based on your desire to complete specialize on full-ring SSNL those books are useless.

Just my $0.02 though, being a good limit hold em player is a desirable thing.

[intheflatfield]

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The section that rates hand strength based on the flop is good for nl(ssh). Waiting for the turn to raise a good but not great hand should be helpful also.


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I also found that to be the case. In addition, I think that a lot of the concepts discussed, (those which work on higher limits but don't apply to small stakes) as well as the psychology of small stakes, are relavint to both NL and Limit play.

For instance someone attempting to apply Super System at the smaller stakes are probably not going to be happy w/ their results.

[ QUOTE ]

For instance someone attempting to apply Super System at the smaller stakes are probably not going to be happy w/ their results.

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Although much of doyle writes assumes deeper stacks then 100xBB what about SS do you think would lead to unhappiness in results at the small stakes level?

[gulebjorn]

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For instance someone attempting to apply Super System at the smaller stakes are probably not going to be happy w/ their results.

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Although much of doyle writes assumes deeper stacks then 100xBB what about SS do you think would lead to unhappiness in results at the small stakes level?

[/ QUOTE ]

In order for many of Doyle's strategies to work, you would need much more fold equity that you would get in small stakes. Among other reasons.

[DWarrior]

The structure is precisely what makes these games so different.

[Biggenx]

I started out playing fixed limit, and i've always felt that you need to be good at limit to be good at any hold em game.

But, i hate playing fixed limit, mostly because when i first started playing, i had an extremely frustrating time trying to play winning fixed limit poker at the small stakes.

[LethalRose]

I've read both of those and a ton others. You will get something out of all of them. Be sure to read theory of poker too.

[jt_patriot]

The good news, as far as I'm concerned, is that there are no good small stakes hold'em books in print. I only just started reading Theory of Poker and I've been playing for a couple years now. I'm a winning player, and I've learned alot from playing, posting, reading posts and developing better lines and more ways to maximize my EV. I'm glad that some rookie can't just pick up a book and be half way to knowing what I know in a couple days of reading. So in closing, read the books, take what you can apply to NL out of them and just keep playing.

[pokerjoker]

get harrington on hold em vol 1. best strategy for SSNL out there, you have to make small adjustment for ring game, but it will help your game a ton. vol 2 is pretty good too but 80% of it is really geared to playing short handed tournies

[betgo]

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get harrington on hold em vol 1. best strategy for SSNL out there, you have to make small adjustment for ring game, but it will help your game a ton. vol 2 is pretty good too but 80% of it is really geared to playing short handed tournies

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HOH vol.1 and the first chapter of vol. 2. The rest of volume 2 is oriented toward things like preflop pushes with short stacks and has no relevance to cash games.

There really aren't any decent books directly oriented to small NL games. Brunson's chapter in "Super System", "How Good is Your Pot Limit Holdem" by Reuben, and the Reuben/Ciafonne book are really all that's helpful.

Since all of the reasonable books are discussing something different from what you are playing -- tournaments, high stakes games 30 years ago, or pot limit games -- you can't just apply everything literally. Harrington's and particularly Brunson's material are brilliant works by top players that you really should practically memorize if not always follow.

Limit books are pretty useless. Baldwin's chapter on an older version of limit holdem from SS1 has some discussion of flop textures that applies. There is also some material aling these lines in "Small Stakes Holdem" that might be relevant.