Tournament poker books

esool

Regarding tourney play I have only read, "Tournament Poker for Advanced Players" (numerous times), S.S.II as well as numerous articles online as well as print.
I am looking to pick up another book or two to help me find that missing link from my game.

Any suggestions? (other than books by Hellmuth sorry)


Thanks,

Bill

ScottyZ

Harrington on Holdem, Volumes 1 & 2 are insanely good.

ScottyZ

esool

Thanks Scotty. Does volume II update Vol I or should I pick up both?

ScottyZ

They are truly different books (not just different editions of the same book), so it's worth getting both.

For the most part, they're designed to be read in sequence, so you could always get Volume 1 and pick up the next volume later if you end up liking the first one.

ScottyZ

esool

Thanks! I will try to pick up a copy tomorrow..

BBC Z

agreed.

RAM_Eh

Harringtons books are by far the best.

Flint Bones

I liked Cloutier and McEvoy's Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold 'Em.

I haven't read Harrington, yet. I am getting it next. Santa? Are you listening?

Unknown

you can get the Harrington books online through amazon.ca for $23.50 each. If you buy both the shipping is free as well. I lot cheaper than the local bookstore and you should have them within the week.

PokerJim

Wolffhound

I have Skalansky's Tournament and Harrington's.

Harrington's books are amazing, they do refer to a few concepts in Skalansky's book. So, once done H Vol 1/2, go back to
your Skalansky.

mrdeeds

Have not read a lot of books specifically on tourneys, but I gotta say Harrington's books are fantastic! Great concepts and lots of examples given.

esool

pokerjim wrote:

you can get the Harrington books online through amazon.ca for $23.50 each.  If you buy both the shipping is free as well.  I lot cheaper than the local bookstore and you should have them within the week.

PokerJim

I wanted to pick the book up right away so I checked with chapters: $37 + tax from the store or $23 + tax, shipping from their site.
I have now uploaded the book via an amazon link and will buy it through my own site and wait for it to arrive at my door. Plus I will make a huge commission!!

pkrfce9

Flint Bones wrote:

I liked Cloutier and McEvoy's Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold 'Em.

Really? I've read a couple Cloutier & McEvoy books and I haven't found them nearly as useful as Harrington. Anyone else?

rroarr

I'm halfway through Harrington on Hold 'em Vol 1 and it's great. I highly recommend it.

SirWatts

HoH books are amazing, definitely all you need to read for NL tourneys. The Cloutier/McEvoy book is not very good really. It has some stories but a lot of the advice is very weak/tight that Cloutier would never actually follow.

SteveA

ScottyZ wrote:

Harrington on Holdem, Volumes 1 & 2 are insanely good.

ScottyZ

I can vouch for Volume 1 - awesome book!

Volume 2 is on my xmas list.

moose

Does anybody know of books that would deal with limit holdem tourneys and omaha h/l tourneys?

ScottyZ

moose wrote:

Does anybody know of books that would deal with limit holdem tourneys and omaha h/l tourneys?

Though these may appear very odd on the surface, they are genuine recommendations.


Limit Holdem tournaments: Middle Limit Holdem by Brier & Ciaffone

The truth about limit holdem tournaments is that stack size doesn't matter too much. Also, in limit poker, it is difficult for good players to generate large overlays against bad players at all stages (more to the point, future stages) of the tournament. Therefore, a lot of the "Variance vs. EV" tournament thinking doesn't apply.

On the whole, I think you'd be best off learning the underlying game, rather than focussing on tournament nuances in terms of limit holdem tournaments. The Brier & Ciaffone book seems to me to be the most appropriate overall cash game style to bring to a limit tournament.

Of course, supplementing your LHE knowledge with some of the tournament literature is never going to hurt. Harrington Volume 2 is most appropriate, since your stack size (for the most part) begins to affect your strategy in a limit tournament only when it gets small.


Omaha Hi-Lo limit tournaments: "Seven-Card Stud High-Low Eight-or-Better" by Todd Brunson (from Super System 2)

This is the best writing I've ever seen on how to play split-pot (with 8 qualifier) poker.

If someone pressed me for a "real" Omaha H/L recommendation, I'd go with Ray Zee's book.


Omaha Hi-Lo big bet tournaments

If stack size matters, you're going to also need to know the "usual" tournament theory in addition to the underlying game.

IMO, Harrington 1 & 2 and TPFAP are best.

ScottyZ

SirWatts

FWIW the only thing i've ever read on Stud 8 is Todd Brunson's section in SS2 and I've had several good results in Stud 8 tournaments. If Scotty thinks it's awesome too then there's gotta be something to it. Don't mean to hijack but is Ray Zee's split pot poker for advanced players any good? I've been thinking about trying to actually learn to play Stud 8 and O8 because the split pot games seem really interesting and people are generally terrible at them. if not what can you reccomend oter than playing 10000000 hands to try to learn these games?

BBC Z

s Ray Zee's split pot poker for advanced players any good

Read it at a chapters or something. Don't buy it.

if not what can you reccomend oter than playing 10000000 hands to try to learn these games?

I've posted some stuff on O8.. basically learn what the odds are for various hands to improve.

Hork42

Ray Zee's book is actually two separate books in one (on Omaha8 and Stud8), although some of the concepts repeat in both halves of the book.   I've read the O8 book a few times and I found it very informative, although he focuses more on tight limit games with good players than the typical low-limit game or tournament.  I have yet to find a game where most of the concepts are very useful.

It's kinda like reading HPFAP and then going to play the .50/1 games.   Many of the concepts won't work because the opposition is not observant enough to pick up on the subtle tricks... a more straightforward game is the optimal way to play.

I've glanced through the Stud8 book, and do plan on studying it more intensively but I've been focusing more on other games.

mrdeeds

Has anyone read Sylvester Suzuki or Issa Jouaneh's books on tournament poker?

Hork42

I've read the Suzuki book. Don't bother with it.

esool

HoH I is very good so far. Both have arrived and I am happy with what I have read so far.
I should have read these books a year ago.

Thanks for the help guys!

BlondeFish

Do Chapters stores pricematch their online site or do they force you to buy online? Unless you live in a cave and don't have Internet access, why would anybody pay over 60% more buying from a Chapters B&M store instead of online? Does anybody know if Chapters stores will have the same 1/3 discount on Boxing Day?

esool wrote:

I wanted to pick the book up right away so I checked with chapters: $37 + tax from the store or $23 + tax, shipping from their site.

westside8

BlondeFish wrote:

Do Chapters stores pricematch their online site or do they force you to buy online? Unless you live in a cave and don't have Internet access, why would anybody pay over 60% more buying from a Chapters B&M store instead of online? Does anybody know if Chapters stores will have the same 1/3 discount on Boxing Day?

No, they do not pricematch their online site simply because there are numerous overhead costs to the B&M lcoations compared to running it online.

Metro

Damn - I just bought Harringtons second book in the B&M store last night - for 37.50.

I can damn near get both copies for that price online.

I hope you can do returns at Chapters during boxing week.

BlondeFish

Yes, Boxing Day at Chapters and almost all other stores was very disappointing. I only bought a couple of deals after shopping for hours.

Beware that Volume 1 is out of stock for at least two weeks, but Chapters.ca still misleadingly shows it as "ships in 24 hours". I did receive Volume 2 in two days, but unfortunately, it did not help me in my biggest loss yet in a cash game last night. I am considering cancelling my order for Volume 1.

TNORTH wrote:

Damn - I just bought Harringtons second book in the B&M store last night - for 37.50.
I can damn near get both copies for that price online.

pkrfce9

BlondeFish wrote:

I did receive Volume 2 in two days, but unfortunately, it did not help me in my biggest loss yet in a cash game last night.    I am considering cancelling my order for Volume 1.

I do hope these two points are unrelated? Volume 1 is pure gold as is Volume 2.

ViperDeck

I'm going to have to agree with everyone here about the Harrington books. The information on NL tournament strategy is priceless. There are two books (Volume 1 and 2) but it reads like one big book. Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 leaves off.. even the chapters continue at the same spot the other leaves off.

I've also heard a lot of good things about "Kill Phil" by Blair Rodman

BBC Z

, it did not help me in my biggest loss yet in a cash game last night.

Yeah, using a book written for tournaments in a cash game will do that..