Different material in TOP and Hold'em Poker for Advanced players?

cats... · #1 02-18-2005, 12:38 PM

is there different material in TOP and hold'em poker for advanced players by sklansky, or is it mostly the same?

I have only read HOH, and am just playing NL cash games with $10 buy-ins with friends. Would it be advisable to get both of those books? I am also considering SSHE by Miller.

Thanks.

Beavis68 · #2 02-18-2005, 12:59 PM

I have not read HPFAP, but TOP is not a book on how to play a game, more on why you play how you do. It is a concept book, most of the examples are 7-stud examples.

larrondo · #3 02-18-2005, 01:13 PM

Totally different. Get TOP for sure, then get SSHE or HFAP depending on which kind of game you play.

cats... · #4 02-18-2005, 01:15 PM

SSHE is geared towards what kind of game?

HFAP is geared towards what game?

I'm just playing a $10 NL buy-in cash game right now with .25/50 blinds.

Thanks again.

That guy · #5 02-18-2005, 01:36 PM

I'm just playing a $10 NL buy-in cash game right now with .25/50 blinds.

Reading both TOP and HPFAP will help your overall poker a ton. That said, for what you are doing it would be total overkill. Kind of like reading an entire statistics book to learn how to calculate probabilities...

Low limit NL cash games are so different than what HPFAP is geared for that it might actually hurt your results if you actually try to apply it... Eventually, it will make you a much, much better player but don't bother if you don't have your sights set higher...

HoH is clearly the best NL book out there. The only other decent NL book on the market is Bob Ciaffones No Limit and Pot Limit Poker. That is definitely worth reading next.

cats... · #6 02-18-2005, 02:11 PM

I will eventually move up i suppose, but for now i'm just playing whatever my friends play. Would you recommend SSHE for me? Why would TOP be overkill?

Hellmouth · #7 02-18-2005, 02:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I will eventually move up i suppose, but for now i'm just playing whatever my friends play. Would you recommend SSHE for me? Why would TOP be overkill?

[/ QUOTE ]

Small Stakes Holdem is strictly for Limit Holdem games. Although some concepts such as pot size, odds etc may be somewhat applicable, there will be large sections that are not.

Theory of Poker is really more of a conceptual than a mechanical book in my opinion and will probably not help you much directly. Although it is a good read and has many important concepts inside.

By the way, why are you playing with such high blinds? It pretty much makes your homegame a crapshoot. Typical buyin is somewhere around 50X the big blind which should be $25 in your case.

HM

cats... · #8 02-18-2005, 02:32 PM

i understand that the blinds are large relative to the buy-ins; i've suggested dropping the blinds to .10-.20 but everyone else thinks that would be dumb. Then, since most kids do not have jobs, nobody wants to put in more than $10.

pretty much the first pot I enter I have to win, but from my experience it doesn't seem like they are too good (but who am i to judge). So far it has been pretty profitable in my opinion, but I am thinking when I go to college next year the kids might be better, plus I would like to make this situation even more profitable.

Hellmouth · #9 02-18-2005, 02:42 PM

[ QUOTE ]
i understand that the blinds are large relative to the buy-ins; i've suggested dropping the blinds to .10-.20 but everyone else thinks that would be dumb. Then, since most kids do not have jobs, nobody wants to put in more than $10.

pretty much the first pot I enter I have to win, but from my experience it doesn't seem like they are too good (but who am i to judge). So far it has been pretty profitable in my opinion, but I am thinking when I go to college next year the kids might be better, plus I would like to make this situation even more profitable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, just focus on your game. I think that you'll find that there is not that much competition at college (or beyond) at low limits. Use the game you play in to work on the mechanics of your game and remember that you can't always judge how you are playing based on the outcome of your hands.

Greg

That guy · #10 02-18-2005, 02:59 PM

Would you recommend SSHE for me? Why would TOP be overkill?

If you want to play Limit, then SSH is the bible of low limit poker... You should probably read Lee Jones' book first though. SSH is actually pretty advanced despite the title... If you want to play limit, read Lee Jones book, then start playing a little online... then read SSH.

if you want to play NL, read Bob Ciaffones book..