Negreanu's Power Hold'em Strategy Book Review

BlondeFish

After cursing since last year why I pre-ordered Daniel Negreanu often-delayed Power Hold'em Strategy book, I was about to change my order to Gus Hansen's latest book or Kill Everyone, then the book suddenly arrived last week! It is not officially released yet, but I noticed that the online price has actually gone down since I pre-ordered. :( Remind me never to pre-order a poker book again!

Since nobody will buy the book because of the chapters by Evelyn Ng and four other friends of Negreanu which unfortunately is 60% of the book, I immediately started reading his single "Small Ball" chapter.

My initial impression is one of disappointment. The weak-tight passive flop plays seems so exploitable by smart aggressive players. If there were quizzes in this book like the great books such as Harrington and Sklansky, I would fail since my aggressive plays would be opposite the passive plays he advises. Had I made so many passive plays on the flop such as checking a set of 9s on a flop of
:9h :10h :js
I would have had a lot less in-the-money finishes.

Unlike the 2+2 books which target advanced players, the audience intended for this book seems to be more novice players who are fans of Negreanu. While Negreanu was my poker god when I was a poker newbie in 2004, I'm not surprised now that he has won only one major MTT since then against the new generation of smart 3-betting and 4-betting players.

While I wouldn't mind everybody reading this book and facing an army of exploitable "Small Ball" bots in tournaments, there are many better books to read first. I hope that I will edit this review if I find mind-blowing epiphanies in the rest of the book like I experienced with the following great tournament books:

- The Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder. I can't wait to buy his upcoming PTF 2: Advanced Strategies for Big Money Tournaments.
- Harrington on Hold'em. Volume II is the best, followed by III and I.
- Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, especially Andy Bloch's chapter.
- Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky, even though a lot of players keep misapplying his advice to the BEST player of passing up on +EV opportunities.

I would grade the first three above as "A" and Sklansky's book as B+. My tentative grade for Negreanu's book is a B.

Graham

Thanks for the review... guess I will be skipping that one ;)

JimmyHo

with your writing background, ever thought about writing your own book Blondefish? Poker strategies from silicon north. It would probably be a lot more useful than most of the books out there.

FalkyBones

Very good review.

a B grade for Negreanu's book is too generous IMO.
its about on par with johnny chans book,
not much substance unless you're totally green.

The other books you mentioned, Poker Tournament Formula,
HOH 2, and the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide are all
bargains at twice the price.

actyper

BlondeFish;155100 wrote- Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, especially Andy Bloch's chapter.

I've been preaching this book every since it first came out, but it seems to skip the masses. Most underated book ever, and Andy Bloch's section is easily the best piece of poker book strategy I have ever read IMO.

Daniel's book, was reading on another forum but I thought it was a joke. Did he diss online players and come out saying that he wasn't gay?

JimmyHo

FalkyBones;155117 wrotethe Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide

Is it available at Poker Bay, etc.?

westside8

pokerJAH;155124 wroteIs it available at Poker Bay, etc.?

Is it really that hard to just go to those sites yourself and do a search?

AFAIK, probably not on TPB unless I missed something in the past.

And thanks for the review BF, saved me the trouble of making a trip to the bookstore, reading through a bit it first and then decided I wasted an hour of my time. Full Tilt's Strategy compilation is definitely a diamond in the rough in terms of books...would recommend that one as well.

BBC Z

Andy Bloch's section is easily the best piece of poker book strategy I have ever read IMO.

Can somebody give a few hints as to an example of whats so revolutionary? It's highly unlikely that I read this book but I'm curious anyway.

m_dolens

BBC, i pm'ed you suggesting that we bury the hatchet and stop the direct berating of each other. i asked you to be civil and please respond to my suggestion. instead, you ignore my gesture and change your signature to directly insult me.

fine. you win. i'll leave cpf. grats.

BigChrisEl

BBC Z;155129 wroteCan somebody give a few hints as to an example of whats so revolutionary? It's highly unlikely that I read this book but I'm curious anyway.

It is eye opening for some people.

He basically shows how certain hands are not so bad compared to other hands and the idea that two unders vs. two overs or something like K-Q vs. A-9 is not such a big dog as people think it is.

Nayr_Eh

BlondeFish;155100 wroteMy initial impression is one of disappointment. The weak-tight passive flop plays seems so exploitable by smart aggressive players. If there were quizzes in this book like the great books such as Harrington and Sklansky, I would fail since my aggressive plays would be opposite the passive plays he advises. Had I made so many passive plays on the flop such as checking a set of 9s on a flop of
:9h :10h :js
I would have had a lot less in-the-money finishes.

The greatest of all time did this with out second thought or fear every time he sat at the table "Stu Ungar"

Read Gus Hansen Every Hand Revealed

Started reading when I busted out of a tourney was on the table and I went out and bought it next day

JimmyHo

westside8;155125 wroteIs it really that hard to just go to those sites yourself and do a search?

this is why I put "etc", if someone knows of where its available online as a pdf.

JimmyHo

m_dolens;155133 wroteBBC, i pm'ed you suggesting that we bury the hatchet and stop the direct berating of each other. i asked you to be civil and please respond to my suggestion. instead, you ignore my gesture and change your signature to directly insult me.

fine. you win. i'll leave cpf. grats.

just ignore it; he will get bored of it eventually and find something else useless to comment on.

ReefAquarium

I ordered the Negreanu book a couple of years ago and then canceled it.
Thanks for the review.

You'll like the Gus Hansen book.
It lets you get into the mind his head and feed your inner Gus.

He makes a lot of plays getting 2 to 1, Something that I should start doing more often.

Want to know how to play lag pre and post flop? Gus shows you how.
It's a play by play of his thoughts hand by hand as he wins the Australian open.

There are some errors and it would be nice to have the hands the opponents didn't show (I guess it's released before the telecast) , but overall it's a good book.

If people want I'll post some hands from it.

Amazon.ca doesn't have Kill Everyone or Elements of Poker last I checked. Anyone know of a good way to get them? They are next on my reading list.

BBC Z

just ignore it; he will get bored of it eventually and find something else useless to comment on.

Aww thats so cute, you two are bonding.

BlondeFish

OK, please post your favourite Gus Hansen hand in a new thread. First I want to be like Gus Hansen, then I want to Kill Everyone! ;) By the way, you can Kill Everyone for only $18.05 at Chapters.ca .

ReefAquarium;155155 wroteIf people want I'll post some hands from it.
Amazon.ca doesn't have Kill Everyone or Elements of Poker last I checked. Anyone know of a good way to get them?

westside8

ReefAquarium;155155 wroteI ordered the Negreanu book a couple of years ago and then canceled it.
Thanks for the review.

You'll like the Gus Hansen book.
It lets you get into the mind his head and feed your inner Gus.

He makes a lot of plays getting 2 to 1, Something that I should start doing more often.

Want to know how to play lag pre and post flop? Gus shows you how.
It's a play by play of his thoughts hand by hand as he wins the Australian open.

There are some errors and it would be nice to have the hands the opponents didn't show (I guess it's released before the telecast) , but overall it's a good book.

If people want I'll post some hands from it.

Amazon.ca doesn't have Kill Everyone or Elements of Poker last I checked. Anyone know of a good way to get them? They are next on my reading list.

I've read that Gus have some details wrong in terms of bet-sizing and what not, but I guess it happens when you try to record down every detail about a hand. Probably an interesting book to read to see his thought process - maybe I'll give it a read or soemthing more as a casual read than an actual strategy book in the future.

WaterLooser

Anybody sign up (or take a tour of) the pokervt thing? (vt = virtual trainer)

Seems to me like a monthly subscription to an audio book.

In the software industry we call it maintenance, charge you money every year and keep giving you little tidbits each month to make your life better.

Here it just sounds like a cash grab. It is easier to talk about stuff then write it down. So pay me money and each month I will talk about more stuff and you take your own notes. Just keep paying me money and I will throw you a bone every now and then.

actyper

In terms of overall value, there are other training sites with better bang for the buck, but pokervt is indeed a good product.

westside8

They seem to have gathered a few decent "pros" so far, but I'm not sure if its ready to overtake Cardrunners or PokerXFactor yet as one of the leading instructional sites. Time will tell I guess.