Single table Tournament poker

[Blindfolk]

Maybe publish a first draft on the internet first as an ebook?

[1p0kerb0y]

Sounds like a great idea! Don't know how well a book like this would sell, but I would buy one. I am very successful at low limit NLHE sit'n'goes, so if you end up searching for a couple ideas let me know!

By the way, I here constant remarks about your earlier post in the 1 table section. Can anyone throw a link to that on this thread? I can't seem to find it...

[Moyer]

It's a great thread

[Ed Miller]

Perhaps 2+2 is moving in this direction with Ed Miller's new collaboration, but I suspect that even that book will contain some very sophisticated concepts which will be beyond most bad players' first reading.

I have definitely NOT made the trade-offs you are talking about in my book. It is aimed at intermediate to advanced players (no "how to play Texas Hold 'em"-type material) who are already basically familiar with some of the beginners literature (e.g., WLLH).

With the exception of some of the preflop advice, I don't cut corners. I am not trying to give you "rules of thumb" to keep you out of trouble. I am discussing technical topics and helping you understand the concepts necessary to make expert decisions. Though the title would be a little silly, it really is "Small Stakes Hold 'em for Advanced Players." [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[Ed Miller]

Hey,

I think some here would be surprised how big the potential market is for poker books right now. Titles you and I haven't even heard of are selling a thousand copies a month or more.

If you work hard on the book, your timeframe is reasonable. We started working on SSH around Christmas. We have a manuscript finished now (that has already been heavily edited). We should be published and available for purchase within two months.

Something you MUST do (and it seems you have thought along these lines, but you have to be SOLID):

1. Define your audience. EXACTLY what kind of people should read your book. "Beginning to intermediate (0 to 4 months of experience), losing, low-limit online sit 'n go players who understand basic poker jargon, but who are not familiar with any poker literature," for instance. What kinds of terms and concepts will they know, and what won't they know? What kind of mistakes do they make? Are they casual readers, or are they serious students really trying to become expert players?

Every word should be written with your audience in mind. If your book is for beginning players, don't start by talking about limping under the gun with big pairs. They won't know what you are talking about. OTOH, if your book is for intermediate players, don't spend 60 pages discussing the rules of the game and how to read the board. Poker books make mistakes in this area CONSTANTLY. I probably have made a few mistakes like this, but I really tried hard not to.

2. Define your scope. What EXACTLY do you hope to teach? Are you giving basic rules that will turn beginning players into marginal winners at the 20+2 level? Are you trying to teach people the sophistcated concepts necessary to be big winners at 20+2? Do you want to provide people with the necessary skills to move up, or are you just teaching people to master the smaller buy-in tournaments?

If you write a well-organized book that teaches a SPECIFIC audience how to accomplish a SPECIFIC goal, then you will have written a quality book, even if your target audience is rank beginners, and your goal is simply to teach them to break-even at small buy-in tournaments.

Most poker books suck. Like terrible, I would be totally embarassed if my name were on it even if it was selling thousands of copies, suck. These are their problems:

1. Disorganized. Authors tend to bounce from topic to topic in a confused, "stream of consciousness" style.

2. Poor Prioritization. Authors tend to emphasize points that are really not very important, leaving important topics to only passing references. The MOST IMPORTANT topics (probably the most EXPENSIVE mistakes that you are trying to correct) should receive the most attention, the most examples, etc. Don't spend fifteen pages discussing what to do when you flop two pair or better, ten pages distinguishing between playing on the button after five limpers versus after three, and only three pages on playing the river. (A prominent hold 'em book made exactly this mistake.)

3. Erroneous information. You are welcome to use rules of thumb or simplifications. But if you do, note them as such. Don't pretend that "don't call on the flop with bottom pair without an overcard or backdoor flush kicker" is some hard-and-fast rule of hold 'em. If your point is, "this is a simplified rule intended for beginners," then say so. Otherwise, you are flat out wrong, and it's on you.

4. Lack of clear audience and scope. Some books insist on adding all sorts of chapters that are essentially not relevant/confusing. One well-known hold 'em book that is 80%+ about loose, limit hold 'em cash games decides to spend the final 20% talking about no limit hold 'em, tournaments, and other extraneous topics. At the same time, it spends about five pages TOTAL discussing play on the turn and river. If your book is about loose limit hold 'em cash games, make your book EXCLUSIVELY about loose limit hold 'em cash games. Save the other material for essays, columns, or another book.

5. Muttled advice. You are giving advice. GIVE ADVICE. Make clear, unambiguous suggestions. Your advice should be the CENTERPIECE of your book. This is one thing that Mike Caro does well (from what I've read). In his "Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker," his advice (though not always correct) is always unmistakable. You cannot read that book and not know what he wants you to do. The book is written like an infomercial (which is annoying to me), but it is better than many other books I have read because it is VERY CLEAR. In a different poker book I read earlier this year, you could literally read a whole chapter and at the end have no idea what it was about.

Hehehehe... it just occurred to me that you didn't really ask any of this stuff. It kind of turned into a rant about "What I don't like about poker books." I guess my point is: It sounds like, despite your limited experience, you could write a valuable poker book. Stick to what you know well, and make sure you write to a specific audience to achieve a specific purpose. If you do, your book will be well worth reading.

As for publication, there are several options, but I would at least explore signing up with an established publisher before I settled on self-publishing. Self-publishing is risky and expensive with a large overhead. You will also get more exposure and sell more copies if you go with an established publisher. Writing a book can open up opportunities that are based on your reputation, and you will get a better reputation if you go with an established publisher.

If you write a quality poker book, you should be able to find a publisher even though you are writing about a "niche" topic. Poker is that popular now. Good luck. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Moyer]

Nice post Ed

[monkey_love]

It sounds like you're getting some solid advice here but here's my two cents as a likely customer.

First, I don't think that it is a problem that you aren't a highly recognized expert or that this won't be a 2+2 type reference work. As long as you recognize what this does to your market I think that there is still a market there.

Second, complete hand histories of SNGs sounds extremely unpleasant. Even sample histories, while necessary, are tiring to read. Maybe an excerpted history with commentary pulling the pieces together.

Third, I think you need to cover the PokerStars two table tournaments as well. Be very specific. Show how blind structure differences at the different sites affect play.

At $10-$15 a copy, a very pragmatic guide to SNGs would be appealing. I think that one way to look at the market for this would be people that know the basics but just aren't putting it together yet. I don't want a rehash of basics in general but pointing out which basics people tend to screw up would be good. General theory is good, of course, but a lot of "situations" with bullet points can really help someone get started. Depending on how ambitious you want to be, an ebook might be entirely reasonable for this project.

[Daithi]

I think it is a good idea but I have a suggestion. Instead of writing it as a book that teaches you how to beat the SNG, I'd recommend a book that teaches NL Holdem to people that may have seen it played on TV, and to limit holdem players that want to try their hand at no-limit, BUT the book uses SNGs as an inexpensive training ground.

Once someone can consistantly beat these SNGs they would have a well rounded skill set (playing when stacks are deep on 1st level, to playing a short stack or a big stack, and playing short handed or heads-up, etc).

This would give you a MUCH bigger market. Not a book on SNGs, but a NL Holdem book that uses SNGs as a training tool!

[vulturesrow]

Daithi,

I for one think that is an excellent idea...but it may be outside the scope of what Aleo wants to teach or is comfortable writing about. IF it isnt, I think it would be an excellent idea. I for one would buy a copy, even in ebook format or what not.

Chris

[heyrocker]

I think you should stop this foolishness before you educate all the fish [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

No, just kidding. I do think the reach of such a book would be limited, but I also know your guide has been very helpful to people. In particular I think most new players have a very hard time adjusting to the fast pace at which single table games change from full table / low blind play to short table / high blind play. I think new players have a grasp of the former but drop the ball on the latter. Of course then we get back to educating the fish...

The on-demand publishing idea is a great one too. You probably end up paying more per-book, but its safer.

Best of luck