First Casino Tournament - Which Book to Read?

I have a week before I play my first live tournament in a casino (have only played online until now) and am trying to decide which book to read this week: Caro's Book of Poker tells or Harrington on Hold em Vol. 1.

I've already read a number of good books so far: Theory of Poker, Phil Gordon's Green & Blue Books, Cloutier & McEvoy's Championship No-Limit & Pot Limit Hold Em, The Poker Tournament Formula, etc.

It's a small buy-in, so there's not a lot of money at stake, but any recommendations you all could provide would be greatly appreciated!

You should be fine with the books you have read but if you must read another, read HHV1

HoH Vol 1.Get ready for your hands to start shaking and heart beating out of your chest.I never knew someone that played for the first time that this didn't happen to.
Welcome to CC.

lol i remember the first hand i played in a live tournament. It was AKo and I just open limped UTG, i got to scared and didnt raise

Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about it - I have enough trouble with my heart pounding like crazy and forehead sweating when just playing alone in front of the computer! (But usually only when trying to pull off a bluff) LOL

Out of the two you've listed I'd read Harrington on Hold 'em though with the other books you've read it won't really be a revelation or anything. If you haven't already got it I wouldn't be going out to buy it just for the tournament or anything.

Personally I'd pick up Read 'em and Reap by Joe Navarro, particularly if you're planning on playing more live events after this one. It's a book on tells that's really easy to understand and apply, it has a great section on concealing your own tells and it's a bazillion* times better than Caro's Book of Tells.

Good luck in your tournament.

* seriously. Exactly a bazillion. I did the math.

I remember my first one and I was so nervous. My dad and I was joking about my first hand and sure enough it was pocket aces...got a ace on the river for a boat and a big purse but i was nervous..Once you play a couple of hands you will calm down..

Try to enjoy yourself!

Live poker is awesome!

Dont bother buyin' a book on 'live tells'. Just look it up online (You can even find a site by Mike Caro.... I think it was called Caro's University ___ or something like that??). 'or', look up 'Joe Navarro' online & you'll find lots of good stuff.

As far as 'strategy' book goes for the tournament - - know that most smaller buyin, live tournaments have really fast structures. If you're keeping in tune with the ever-increasing blinds, get ready to start shoving!! (guar. you'll be ahead of a large % of the other players if you just start getting your stack in before you're down to 15bb's). Look for spots to re-raise allin over players who you feel are raise/stealing too often. 'or' if you're playing with really bad players & a bunch of them are still limping in at highblinds with short'ish'/small'ish' stacks, just SHIP IT!

also, please come back to this thread & let us know how it goes for ya. Guaranteed you're going to be SHOCKED at just how freak'n bad most of them play.

I am going to my first tournament ever (live) this thursday. I have played SnG's online at FTP and came 1st or 2nd almost all the time. I have played cashgames at this casino live before and did well until I spent too much time there and most of my winnings.

How similar is a tournament to a SnG?

Good luck to you sir.

Thank you all for your suggestions and moral support!

So, wouldn't ya know it - I got dealt 2 Kings right away! And boy, did the adrenaline kick in and the trembling hands started - LOL! Fortunately, things were moving so fast that no one seemed to notice. A King hit the flop and my hand developed into a beautiful full house with lots of aggressive players in the pot. I ended up with a huge stack after that, but eventually lost it all playing AQ's a few times and the rest eventually got blinded away.

It was a pleasant surprise to see how fast things move in a live game. I was expecting it to be agonizingly slow. Fun experience overall!

WoW! Nice hand to get things started off.

nice....heart starts pumping and you just lose all thoughts running thru your head.....

Luv2Play said:

Thank you all for your suggestions and moral support!

So, wouldn't ya know it - I got dealt 2 Kings right away! And boy, did the adrenaline kick in and the trembling hands started - LOL! Fortunately, things were moving so fast that no one seemed to notice. A King hit the flop and my hand developed into a beautiful full house with lots of aggressive players in the pot. I ended up with a huge stack after that, but eventually lost it all playing AQ's a few times and the rest eventually got blinded away.

It was a pleasant surprise to see how fast things move in a live game. I was expecting it to be agonizingly slow. Fun experience overall!

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Nice! Unluckily the daily tourney wasnt running at Turning Stone casino as there was a bigger tournament for "Summer Classic" going on.

I started reading Arnold Snyder's "The Poker Tournament Formula" and learned how fast these types of tournaments actually go. Good to hear you had fun, that's what it's about.