Harrington on Holdem Vol 1

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Red_Devil

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Ok guys so i'm 80 pages into Harrington on Holdem Vol 1, after finishing Phil Gordons Little Green Book last weekend. Felt it was a slow starter, regarding intro to no limit, how to think about a hand (other than your cards), different player styles, different tournament types etc, but now into the problems which appear to be the true value of the book. Concepts such as check raising super aggressive players, rope a dope & THE HAMMER... are well explained. Pages 71-72 where we have KQs in the sb v a super agg bb in a single table tournament. Blinds 15-30, Hero has 960 Villain 1850. Hero raises 100 pre bb calls (pot 230). flop 5d3c2c he mentions 2 ways of playing from here & the second was eye opening for me. 1st being the standard c bet half of the pot (which most of the time is going to result in fold vs fit & fold aggs, given the board texture) & subsequently we gain no more value from the hand. 2nd way: check to the aggressive player, let him take a stab at the pot & shove!! Hero checks villain bets the pot & we shove and we gain an extra 230. Haha who says Harrington is a conservative nit? & if he is he almost certainly has a good grasp on how to play other styles if and when required. Despite already knowing how to exploit certain player types I felt as though his explanations were really well written & served as a good refresher. Hopefully the problems will get better!!
 
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This was the first poker book that I read all the way through and I'm actually rereading this again as a refresher. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and volume 2 in the series, which I felt was a little more advanced and you might find more your speed if you've been playing for a while.

I hope you enjoy it -- I'd love to discuss topics in the book as well.
 
Jacki Burkhart

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It's a great read. I've read it twice already. I don't think he's exactly a conservative nit, I think he's very tight and very aggressive.

If you pull that aggression out at the right time vs. the right opponents, then they pretty much have to have flopped the nuts to beat you
 
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hey guys, currently on page 144, pot odds & hand analysis section & onto the problems again. I love the way he teaches the reader how to break down & evaluate an opponents range in an all in showdown & stop playing the guessing game. Harrington's Law - assigning a bluffing frequency of at least 10% to an opponent (most of the time more, depending on the opponent) made a lot of sense to me! I will have to read the implied odds chapter a few more times before I fully grasp it, especially towards the end, as it gets pretty deep, but overall a lot of things are falling into place while reading this book & so far I am really happy with it! can't wait to get onto volume 2.
 
MediaBLITZ

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Yup - very good book - IF you are willing to do your part (which sounds like you are). He doesn't hand it to you on a silver platter like Phil Gordon, BUT Gordon is really only Beginner level and Harrington is more Intermediate. Keep digging - there's gold in there.
 
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cheers Media. Any recommendations for after Harrington? Or do you think I would be better off just nailing the content in 1-3? Any tournament books you have read that are more advanced than Harrington?

Cheers
 
MediaBLITZ

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cheers Media. Any recommendations for after Harrington? Or do you think I would be better off just nailing the content in 1-3? Any tournament books you have read that are more advanced than Harrington?

Cheers

Yeah, there's some stuff to look at, but do Harrington Vol 2 first. Vol 3 is optional being made up of all "practice" hands.

Some really good stuff is the Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series. Also the Jonathon Little books - terribly disorganized stream of consciousness writing but good stuff. I would skip Vol 2 if I had to do it all over again.


The Poker Tournament Formula should be required in this bunch to help round you out. You may never actually play like this but you can easily recognize who is if you've read the book and knowing what the other guy is doing is half the battle. I must say that even though I am not a strict advocate of this "style", some of the foundations Snyder lays down helped trigger me to more cashes.
 
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Yeah, there's some stuff to look at, but do Harrington Vol 2 first. Vol 3 is optional being made up of all "practice" hands.

Some really good stuff is the Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series. Also the Jonathon Little books - terribly disorganized stream of consciousness writing but good stuff. I would skip Vol 2 if I had to do it all over again.


The Poker Tournament Formula should be required in this bunch to help round you out. You may never actually play like this but you can easily recognize who is if you've read the book and knowing what the other guy is doing is half the battle. I must say that even though I am not a strict advocate of this "style", some of the foundations Snyder lays down helped trigger me to more cashes.

Yes I'll definitely be reading volume 2 after this. Also got volume 3 on the way as we speak. Got Poker Tournament Formula 1 & 2 waiting also, as well as wptohat vol 1. Heard mixed reviews about Littles books, Andrew Brokos doesn't have many good things to say about them on his website Thinking Poker. Have you read Kill Everyone or Raisers Edge by Nelson? Heard good things.

Cheers
 
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Yes I'll definitely be reading volume 2 after this. Also got volume 3 on the way as we speak. Got Poker Tournament Formula 1 & 2 waiting also, as well as wptohat vol 1. Heard mixed reviews about Littles books, Andrew Brokos doesn't have many good things to say about them on his website Thinking Poker. Have you read Kill Everyone or Raisers Edge by Nelson? Heard good things.

Cheers
I can understand the mixed reviews on Little - he doesn't write nearly as well. he is pretty much hopping around aimlessly but there are some nuggets in there.

Yes - sort of - to Raisers Edge. I have it on my phone and have skipped around through it waiting for tournaments to start. Didn't see anything new for me though.

I have not read the KILL.... books but have heard good stuff about them.
 
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I tried reading it early on but didnt really get a lot out of it until I had played a great deal more. Once I went back to it, it was very helpful. I'm trying to find the time to get into volume two now.
 
Jacki Burkhart

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I read kill Phil and Kill Everyone. Both good.

Kill Phil will give you some quick easy to understand and apply strategies....that even if you don't use them you'll see other players use them and you can recognize them and understand that player's thought process a little better.

Kill Everyone is very good, with advanced concepts. I think I'll need to read this book at least 1 or 2 more times to fully grasp it, and be able to put it to use quickly during play.
 
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Have you read Kill Everyone or Raisers Edge by Nelson? Heard good things.

Cheers
Raiser's Edge is an excellent book! (as is Andrew 'Focault' Brokos at analyzing hands in Training vids.). I felt there was alot of updated/new stuff in there (vs. other tourney books).
I'd recommend 100% but I would read WPT 1 & 2 first.
 
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Winning Poker Tournaments Vol. 1 was also really useful, I'm looking forward to checking out Vol. 2 & 3 so I'd recommend that series as well.
 
el_magiciann

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If you want to learn something that can cange your philosophy of the game by 80% you can read KILLER poker online/2 by John Vorhaus. This is mostly about ONLINE , its hard to find good book only about online. Harrington books are really good too i've read volume 1 and 2 , great stuff, should re read them from time to time.
 
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cheers for all your suggestions guys. Will give them all a read at some point. 264 pages into Harrington 1 as it stands & I am ready to take on Phil Ivey!! Bring him on.... Can't wait to get cracking with vol 2. Although I might throw some lighter reading in before the second volume to mix it up a bit, keeping it fun! Have Annie Dukes autobiography sitting around so might give that a whirl. Anyone who has actually taken the time to STUDY Harrington & not just read it, will realise they are not an easy read, even for an intermediate player. This has taken a lot out of me, I have to admit! I'll also be sure to play some this weekend & apply some of the concepts to my game.

Hope ev is well ;)
 
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