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 enlarge | Author: Matt Flynn; Sunny Mehta; Ed Miller
Publisher: Two Plus Two Publishing LLC
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $14.96 (50%)
New (27) Used (11) from $14.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 10443
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 314
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 188068540X
Dewey Decimal Number: 795
EAN: 9781880685402
ASIN: 188068540X
Publication Date: July 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Worth its weight in gold November 12, 2007
This is the best NL poker book out there.
Also 2 plus 2 has a dedicated forum section to discuss the book with the authors.
It help beginners and advance players with easy to understand descriptions.
I'm actually buying a second copy and sending it to a friend of mine.
Superb title for no-limit cash game players November 5, 2007
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
I review poker books for Card Player magazine, and here's the piece I submitted about this excellent new book from Two Plus Two (in its November 7 issue):
A lot of amateur players seem to believe that no-limit hold'em is a game dominated by feel and aggression instead of mathematical rigor and brutal rationality, but this powerful new book dispels that notion in no uncertain terms. "It's not the one gut-wrenching decision for all the chips that counts most," the authors write. "It's the thousands of small strategic decisions that the pros get right and the amateurs don't."
Don't misunderstand. Feel and aggression are critical to success in no-limit hold'em. But the most consistent winners use analytical skill to complement their decision making, and in no-limit hold'em, the math is a lot more difficult than it is in the limit game. In limit, you're playing for one or two or three more bets; in no-limit, your entire stack may be on the line in every hand. And that makes the analytical aspects of no-limit hold'em a lot more complicated.
No surprise, then, that the book includes a lengthy discussion of stack sizes, which "are critical to most no-limit decisions." Stack size effectively determines your risk/reward possibilities, and that idea prompts a long and very valuable analysis of "commitment." "'Am I committed?' is the first question you should ask yourself on every street," write Flynn, Mehta, and Miller. If you understand the concepts in this book, you'll know how to answer that crucial question. But here's the real challenge: You have to make the all-in decision before you play a large pot. You must know if you're at the "commitment threshold" and how you're going to respond if you're facing an all-in bet. Those are the situations than can build--or destroy--your bankroll, and you have to be prepared for them.
The book is primarily about the analytical (i.e., mathematical) aspects of no-limit hold'em, but Flynn et al. do a good job of illuminating topics like hand reading. It's not mystical (unless your name is Kenny Tran), but it's not purely rational or logical either. In particular, the book points out the folly of putting someone on a specific hand instead of range of hands. And that leads directly into the meatiest concept of the book, "the REM Process": "Range, Equity, Maximize."
Range, of course, refers to the spectrum of hands your opponents could have (we all know players who only raise with AA or KK, but most raisers have a much wider range of potential hands). Observation of showdowns will help you assign a range to a specific player, and of course you'll add physical tells and intangibles (is someone on tilt? stuck big-time? flush with chips?) to your analysis.
Equity is the value of your hand compared to the range of hands your opponent has (Harrington fans will recognize this concept in his "Structured Hand Analysis" in Harrington on Hold'em, Volume II). Only a savant could perform these calculations at the table, but you'll learn some shortcuts to getting there.
Finally, maximize "means choosing the action or series of actions that makes you the most money in the long run." What's the optimum size of a value bet (which of course depends on the size of the pot and the size of the stacks behind)? Of a bluff?
If this makes no-limit hold'em sound complex, well, that's the reality. Get used to it or get used to going broke. The mantra of this book is "Plan your hands." But you can't plan effectively if you don't understand REM, if you don't understand the concept of relative stack sizes and the stack-to-pot ratio, if you don't understand when you've reached the commitment threshold. And that's why you need Professional No-Limit Hold'em--and the tenacity to learn what it has to offer.
Check out my other poker reviews at web.mac.com/tbpeters.
 A "REAL" review of this book: Practice VS Theory October 25, 2007
12 out of 40 found this review helpful
It's amazing how all the positive reviews for this book have not been backed up by any real life sessions. I have been playing poker for 4 years now and I am a middle stakes NL Hold'em player (2-5;5-5;5-10 blinds). I have read just about every major poker book out there and have a good idea about what is what.
All in all this book provides a good and sound foundation in NL Hold'em theory cash games. The emphasis here is on theory. However, in practice what the authors preach in terms of creating Target SPRs between you and your opponents is not so easy to achieve. As well in most casinos outside of Las Vegas you are limited in the amount you can buy-in and most of the time you are either short stacked or middle stacked. This immediately affects your SPRs. I have tried the strategies in this book at the Bike Club in Bell Gardens, CA NL Hold'em games where the blins are 5-5 and 5-10 and your buy-in is limited to $500 and $1000 respectively.
I have had many many losing sessions using the concepts in this book with huge swings raising my variance quite high. I have been able to achieve SPRs of 3-6 at times with big pocket pairs (mainly Aces and Kings) and still lose when I get all my money in good on the flop. The draw out factor is so much larger than the authors in this book would like you to believe. And when I say I'm a big favorite I mean pre-flop I'm at least 70:30 to 90:10. On the flop I'm about 80:20 and get drawn out repeadtedly with 2-3 outers as well as runner runners.
And believe me this isn't just a bad run. This is very consistent in results with people who have some of the worst luck. I know many good players that lose a lot of money playing poker. The reason is because they get all their money in good as good poker players should and get sucked out repeatedly. I am sure anyone reading this will agree with me that the majority of times when they sit down at a poker table the player with the most chips is often times the biggest donkey, although it is rarely the same donkey that has all the chips the next time you sit down and play. The luck factor is huge and most professionals are not willing to admit that.
My gripe with this book and many others is that they assume the math will work out in the long run for everybody, which in real life is not the case. The authors of this book have been very fortunate to have had the math work out for them. In order for the concepts in this book to work you have to assume that the math will work out and that is just not the case in practice.
So take this book with a grain of salt. The concepts are very good but be sure to adjust your playing strategy to your particular game and style of play. Because what works in theory often times at the poker table does not work. You have to assume that the people you play with have a similar thought process for the concepts to work out properly. This is just not the case as 8 out of 9 or 10 players at any poker table have no clue how to really play.
So buyer beware if you apply these concepts too literally you'll either be the next donkey who wins the WPT or a solid player who is broke.
Stroke of genius! September 24, 2007
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
Professional No-Limit Hold'em: Volume I is the royal flush of poker books! It has outstanding descriptions of scenerios and strategies with clear explanations of the reasons for making the decisions that are detailed.
This book is a winner. I can't wait for Volume II.
Relevant material!!! September 22, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
A good book about odds and hand reading analysis. It could go more in depth about what 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 odds actually means to the mathematically impaired, but its a solid read. and if you cant comprehend ratios id recommend phil gordans little green book as a companion. he levels with the average joe. but none of the material really goes over your head.
if the people complaining about math being too hard, wahh wahh too complicated check out chens mathematics of poker itll make your eyes bleed. you have to have a little knowledge of college algebra to understand it.
i would recommend this book to anyone looking to understand the mathematical aspects, stack sizes, HAND READING DEVELOPMENT. i am currently reading this one, the harrington series, phil gordans collection, david sklanskys nlhe theory and practice, and the mathematics of poker...just to give you an idea of where my interests are.
awesome book, solid investment!!!
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