Things I think I learned from HOH

[hummusx]

I just got HOH about a week and a half ago and read it over vacation this past weekend. There was lots of great stuff in the book, but in particular there were two general things which I applied right away to my SNG play that I think have really helped:

1) Reduced my post-flop bets. I was in the habit of almost always making my post flop bets about the size of the pot. I've reduced that to somewhere between 50-80% of the pot in most cases, depending on my holding and the board, etc, etc. It seems like there are a few interesting results. Firstly, I still win a large portion of the pots when I bet. In many cases it seems like people are folding to a bet of 200 into a pot of 300 just as they did to a bet of 285 into a pot of 300. Secondly, I'm winning a lot more money because I am getting callers now and then and my hand is usually considerably better than theirs. Also, it's easier for me to let hands go if needed because I haven't invested as much money.

2) Value betting. I'm betting much more often on the end. HOH stresses the amount of money lost by mediocre players as a result of not betting with the best of it, probably often as a result of being scared of lurking monsters. I think I got some real understanding of the 'only called if you're beat concept' and now see that in most cases it's really not applicable. I do much more betting on the end, whatever I think I can get my opponent to call, and most of the time I do have the best hand and it's just extra chips in my pocket.

[DasLeben]

HOH has definitely helped my SNG play as well. I like the idea of betting 1/2-2/3 of the pot on the flop, especially on Party's structure where conserving chips is a big deal. Also, I've noticed that doing this has some other good side effects: 1. People are often scared that you're slowplaying a big hand (and fold), and 2. People tend to think that you're weak, so they like to play back at you against your big hands.

I personally see the latter example the most (playing the 10+1s), and I'm loving it. I can flop a huge hand, bet half the pot, and someone will come over the top all-in. Money in the bank.

[zambonidrivr]

I personally think this is the best book I have read. I can't wait for volume 2. I have gone form a break even player to over tripling my br over the last 2 months. granted it's only 2k but i love the game and have a burning desire to be the best.

also, everyone always talks about poker tracker as being the best. i think more people should check out pokeroffice. with the screen overlay capabilities and history you keep on each player... i find the software to be extremely powerful, expecially when dealing with loose players in tight situations

[GtrHtr]

I agree. Interestingly, you can also begin to pick out players that have also read the book or are perhaps better players by their betting patterns.

I am always asking myself "how can I get the most money out of this caller" when I have the nuts.

[shejk]

The art of valuebetting hasn't got much in common with having the nuts. The hard thing about valuebetting is not getting the maximum when you have the nuts, it's knowing when you can bet your mediocre holding and get called by a worse hand.

[GtrHtr]

I wasn't refering to value betting.