I have a pet peeve too. (sort of long?)

[ansky451]

The obsession with Dan Harrington.

OK. That will turn some heads probably from you HOHaholics. I think his books are probably the best on tourney poker out there, and can help turn good cash players into good tournament players. I do however, think that all the "well Harrington said in HOH2 on page 63 bla bla bla," is usually a bad way to justify a play.

I have HOH1, and I've read through it once, and I skimmed through HOH2 at B&N. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT critisizing the books at all, I am critisizing the people who use it like the bible of all tournament decisions.

Getting better at poker is all about learning from YOUR mistakes. I can guarentee in a tournament you will encounter about 10000 situations which you will have to be creative about, and come up with your own decision... BY YOURSELF! Your reasoning behind every decision is more important then making a correct decision in that specific spot. If you are thinking about poker on the right track good things will happen. If you are a bot who just makes default decisions you will never win the way you want to, and against good opponents you will get absolutely destroyed.

Another problem I have with the application of HOH on these boards, is the unbeleivable misuse of some of his strategy. People see the 62o squeeze, and decide that everytime the pot has been opened and called, they have to push with 20 bbs. Well, you have to have a DAMN good read on both players to use it. Poker is a completely situational game, and you always have to recognize the current situation you are in. The squeeze may work in the wrong spot sometimes, which is another reason I say that reasoning is more important than the decision itself. You may pat yourself on the back when you get it to work, and they both fold. But for all you know there was about a 1/15 chance of it working given their respective ranges.

Another commonly misused thing, is the play with AK at the FT of the 2003 WSOP. I have seen multiple people justify cold calling with AK, then saying something about how Harrington did it. Well guess what, you arent at the final table of the world series. If you are in a 10 dollar multi, DECEPTION IS OF VERY LITTLE IMPORTANCE. Like I said, its all situational, and there are some situations for cold calling AK preflop. Guess what, usually you should jam with it. Sometimes you should fold it, sometimes you should just call. There has to be a damn good reason for any of the decisions, because it is a very common decision you will face.

So don't treat Harrington's book like it's the be-all end-all of poker wisdom. Have some balls and be creative, and figure [censored] out on your own sometimes. Harrington will help you get from level 1 to level 2, but you have to get past level 2. I don't know what these levels mean, I just made that up, but the point I'm making is clear I hope. Discovering your own strengths, and getting great reads on your opponents is up to you and only you. I play my style based on the way I feel I will perform the best. I'm probably LAG, maybe I'm a maniac. Yeah I call raises in position with 49s sometimes, I also might muck AJo in the same spot, but its all situational, and you HAVE to recognize what the situation you are in should lead you to do.