Sklansky's Book On Nl Hold'em

[SuperJon 175]

I was at the bookstore today and I purchased Small Stakes by Sklansky. I noticed he has a NL book out. I've never seen it before, so I assume it's new. A few questions.Is it any good?What stakes is it for?

[SCS 0]

It's super.The information in the book can be applied to all limits.

[djnumb 0]

The Small Stakes book you bought was pretty weak and redundant. It is a limit book.If the other you are referring to is No Limit Holdem: Theory & Practice, it is brilliant. But it is for the advanced player. It's a tough read, but a great book.

[SuperJon 175]

The Small Stakes book you bought was pretty weak and redundant. It is a limit book.If the other you are referring to is No Limit Holdem: Theory & Practice, it is brilliant. But it is for the advanced player. It's a tough read, but a great book.

Really?I think a lot of people would disagree with you. I thought this book was one of the must reads for a serious poker player.

[David_Nicoson 1]

The examples are mostly use stakes of 2/5 to 10/20. Here's my short recycled review from Amazon.It's an interesting book.But a lot of the examples assume:

• Your opponents have their heads firmly implanted up their butts.
• You can never fold your big pair.

To a certain extent, these are just simplifying assumptions to make the math easier. They lead us down some silly paths, though, in my opinion.I think Miller and Sklansky have played predominately in strip casinos at a level where they don't play the same people that often. I think that's why they're not too worried about leaking information with their bet sizing. I've been playing a lot with the same people for a long time now, and we're exploiting patterns we discovered in hands played years ago. (Maybe the hidden lesson is that with good game selection you can play against opponents who aren't paying attention.)On the whole, the book goes against the conventional wisdom. It makes for a more interesting book because of it, but I think they're wrong sometimes. Don't make it your first NLHE book.

[SuperJon 175]

The examples are mostly use stakes of 2/5 to 10/20. Here's my short recycled review from Amazon.It's an interesting book.But a lot of the examples assume:

• Your opponents have their heads firmly implanted up their butts.
• You can never fold your big pair.

To a certain extent, these are just simplifying assumptions to make the math easier. They lead us down some silly paths, though, in my opinion.I think Miller and Sklansky have played predominately in strip casinos at a level where they don't play the same people that often. I think that's why they're not too worried about leaking information with their bet sizing. I've been playing a lot with the same people for a long time now, and we're exploiting patterns we discovered in hands played years ago. (Maybe the hidden lesson is that with good game selection you can play against opponents who aren't paying attention.)On the whole, the book goes against the conventional wisdom. It makes for a more interesting book because of it, but I think they're wrong sometimes. Don't make it your first NLHE book.

Thanks for the reply, Dave.Lately, I've been a fairly consistent winner at the NL ring games. Now I've decided to try my hand at limit, hence the reason I purchased SSHE. I'll go back to NL in a few months, and when I do I'll want a study guide.

[djnumb 0]

Really?I think a lot of people would disagree with you. I thought this book was one of the must reads for a serious poker player.

Let me go into more detail. I thought Small Stakes Holdem (Limit) was boring and did not find much to add to my game. Now previous to this I had read Holdem Poker for Advanced Players, another limit book by Skalansky. Even much of the stuff in SSHE was very close to first Harrington on Holdem which I read previously also. Even though that is tournaments, game & plays are same just different application. Most important thing I should have mentioned was I never play limit cash games, only No limit cash, sometimes pot.If you are looking for No Limit, I would really look for a NL book. I just bought Russell Fox/Scott Harker and Angel Largay NL cash books. Will post some reviews when as I get through each, and I already mentioned my support for NL Theory & Practice.

[Moneyball16 0]

Let me go into more detail. I thought Small Stakes Holdem (Limit) was boring and did not find much to add to my game. Now previous to this I had read Holdem Poker for Advanced Players, another limit book by Skalansky. Even much of the stuff in SSHE was very close to first Harrington on Holdem which I read previously also. Even though that is tournaments, game & plays are same just different application. Most important thing I should have mentioned was I never play limit cash games, only No limit cash, sometimes pot.If you are looking for No Limit, I would really look for a NL book. I just bought Russell Fox/Scott Harker and Angel Largay NL cash books. Will post some reviews when as I get through each, and I already mentioned my support for NL Theory & Practice.

Yeah if you dont play LHE then SSHE isnt gonna be that useful to you, but if you start playing limit it will help a great deal. A few chapters in the book are good for both NL and LHE though. The chapter on counting outs and hidden outs comes to mind.

[Marchione 0]

the nolimit cash book is a must for all poker players

[Snamuh 0]

Yeah if you dont play LHE then SSHE isnt gonna be that useful to you, but if you start playing limit it will help a great deal. A few chapters in the book are good for both NL and LHE though. The chapter on counting outs and hidden outs comes to mind.

As a NL player, I agree with most of this. But I still consider SSHE a must read, as there's a lot of concepts that are important to understand.