finished erick lindgren book

i just finished the new erick lindgren book (for the interest of my fellow canadians, i bought it at world's biggest bookstore in toronto)

pretty small book but packed with useful info. no explaining the basic rules or anything, and it actually starts with good stuff at page 1 (so that makes up for the pretty small page count, especially with some fluff at the end).

some very good stuff. and seems to play quite a bit differently than i do. so i have to figure out what i can pick up from him. as is my general point, i have to figure out how to adapt it to the types of games we play. most of us play SNG and small tournaments whereas he's pretty much describing large tournaments.

erick does an excellent job describing his frequent smaller raise-type play. he absolutely loves position. and he thinks post-flop play is absolutely crucial.

best part is that erick tells what is absolutely awful play and some of somewhat surprised me.

he says if you raise AKo preflop, miss the flop, then check and erick has position, he will destroy you.

he likes to represent aces alot on the flop. i.e. raise the suited connectors with position pre-flop and then represent the flopped ace when it comes back to him (my comment: two many people play any ace at lower levels).

also, doesn't agree that you have to be overwhelmingly careful with your chips at the start. (contra to that argument about how a chip lost = more value than chip gained, and i never agreed with that theory either)

anyhow, i won't give away the whole book but it seems like a great addition to anyone's poker library. very good complement to harrington 1/2 as the style is different, not too much math (don't get me wrong, i love math) and erick gets pretty specific about medium stack play and about what NOT to do (and not always obvious points).

too bad i didn't have the willpower to wait and buy this book online. oh well!!!

lastly, if anyone has the book, i didn't understand page 51 where eric is going to trap or reraise someone who barely ever raises when erick plays alot of cards (won't most opponents just jump all over that... i think erick/ivey/negreanu take advantage of players' fear of death.

all responses appreciated!!

Thanks for the review.

Is there any in depth discussion on the middle rounds when people start tightening up a bit and begin to get chipped awy by the blinds (Yellow and Orange zone)?

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Thanks for the review.

Is there any in depth discussion on the middle rounds when people start tightening up a bit and begin to get chipped awy by the blinds (Yellow and Orange zone)?

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a fair amount (although nothing is really in-depth) ... loves to steal the blinds. and have courage post-flop. seems like he's setting up alot of stuff for post-flop.

my own comment = one thing i have problems with is doing the bluff/semi-bluff on flop and turn (and sometimes even river) but i find it actually works (occasionally, someone will have trapped you, but i think it's quite +EV). not that he necessarily recommends it but his game seems to be all about smart aggression and taking advantage of your opponents' fears (and sometimes their greed and overbetting).

like most books i've read, it doesn't seem to have alot for beating the calling stations that we encounter. but i'm sure erick would think beating them is barely worthy of a mention.

we need miller to do a SSHE NL book.... or one of these top authors should spend a couple of months playing the no-limit cash, tournament and SNG games at lower $$$$$'s (it's fine that they can sort of give us advice now, but i want someone to have actually lived it to write about it)

Thanks. I agree that Harrington's books and many others are geared towards the larger buy-in/longer level tournaments and are probably inhabited by players who are much better than the average player in a lower buy-in tournament.

Advice for online sit and go's would be nice as well as the blinds become a factor very quickly since the whole tournament is completed within the time it takes one level to complete in a large buy-in tournament.

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Thanks. I agree that Harrington's books and many others are geared towards the larger buy-in/longer level tournaments and are probably inhabited by players who are much better than the average player in a lower buy-in tournament.

Advice for online sit and go's would be nice as well as the blinds become a factor very quickly since the whole tournament is completed within the time it takes one level to complete in a large buy-in tournament.

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unfortunately, erick's book is pretty similar in "level" to harrington's book... but they are complementary in alot of ways.

seems like good players always want to isolate the lousy player at the table. well that takes time you don't have in SNG's....

very few books seem to give too much guidance as to what to raise heavily at CO, button and blinds when you have 4 callers already (extremely common in SNG's). i know what's obvious to raise, but not sure about other situations (especially in the blinds when you'll be out of position post-flop).

it all gets you thinking which is good. and i'm very happy i bought this book.

had a day to think about the book....

i still like it

and it's worthwhile IF:

1) like to see how the top pro's play
2) happy to pick up 4-5 good thoughts from a book.
3) you buy 4-5+ per year

but the value isn't overwhelming.

if you are only buying one no-limit book, i would probably go "little green book".... i will be buying russell fox shortly too.

POKER tournaments with the blinds rising rapidly are 85% luck..u guys are dumb...read some more books

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POKER tournaments with the blinds rising rapidly are 85% luck..u guys are dumb...read some more books

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thanks for the trolling comment!!

i notice tons of 2plus2'ers yakking about ITM% etc.

no way it's 85% luck..... maybe 50%.

[Jbrochu]

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i will be buying russell fox shortly too.

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Unless you are completely new to NLHE I would recommend saving your money.

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i will be buying russell fox shortly too.

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Unless you are completely new to NLHE I would recommend saving your money.

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not completely new, but i do get very confused on a few things:

medium to high (77-JJ) pocket pairs.

how to play vs. many callers in CO, button, SB, BB.... seems like every book i've read assumes very few callers, whereas seems most low level games are overun with callers. with what hands should i jump in with large raise in big blind (for example)?

these are the kind of questions i need help with, is russell's book much more basic?

phil gordon's book is really excellent but i think there are a few holes. and can't remember if he's tournament or cash.