2 poker book reviews: 1. Small Stakes Poker by Sklansky. This is actually a re-review. I read the book a couple of years ago and after trying it's system, and getting killed, thought it left a lot to be desired. However, I have re-read it and find that it is my comprehension of it that was lacking, not the book's content. First of all, the title is misleading. It is really about how to dominate loose, full table limit hold 'em. The stakes are immaterial. Some high stakes games are loose as a goose and some small stakes games are tighter than Madonna's, well, nothing very tight there. <G>
My mistake was that I tried to use the concepts in any small stakes hold 'em game. With the tight games, you are much better off with the tight, aggressive approach recommended by Bill Lee in "Low Stakes Poker." But, Sklansky's aggressive approach really does work in loosey goosey games. Games where 5 or 6 players regularly see the flop. BTW, this is only for cash games, not tournaments, and limit games only.
2. "Winning in Tough Hold 'em Games" by Grudzien and Herzog is great reading. They are focused on short handed games. Both are extremely successful online pros, but their system is Too Loose Lautrec for me, at least right now. Perhaps in two years, I will come back to this one. Lots of graphs and numbers. But the key seems to be that "Stoxtrader" Grudzien and "Zobags" Herzog are willing to bet a huge chunk of money with the slightest of advantages over the opponents' range of possible hands.
They recommend the average player have a bankroll of at least 300 big bets. So, in Stox's $150-300 game, he has to have $90,000 in backup gambling money. I'm not talking net worth. I am talking money set aside for gambling only. Also, he mentions that he actually has to have a larger amount than that, because at that level, most of the other players are pretty good. He expects to make 3 big bet per 100 hands. That is about 3 hours at a casino or half that long online. To me, this reeks of hedge fund management techniques of risk a huge amount to make a little amount, though you win more often than you lose. I just hope he avoids the tails of that bell curve. I wonder if they have heard of Long Term Capital?
I do not doubt that their system has worked for them. I just think it is too much capital chasing too little profit for my liking. They also play 6-8 tables at the same time. My guess is that some day we'll see them begging for food on some street corner. But I wish them well. And maybe they are really that much better than we common folk. |
