Play Optimal Poker: Practical Game Theory for Every Poker Player

I have readed only fews pages und boring...I dont like such books. So much theory und exemples thats useless. Get Harringthon books if you want to learn poker.I will send it back.

This book is great. You should buy it.When The Mathematics of Poker came out in 2006, I had a hunch it was going to transform the poker world. Not because it was going to be the book that taught everyone to play differently, but because it was going to inspire someone to write the book that made everyone play differently. That never quite happened; the GTO mindset did take over the professional poker world, but there never really was *the* book. Part of it was the onset of training sites replacing poker books, part of it was the UIGEA, and part of it was the steep curve that kept all but the most-interested recreational players from diving into game theory. But nobody sat down and wrote the book that explained to the amatuer player how to systematically understand and apply GTO and exploitative strategies.I think Andrew has finally written the book.The book is laid out as a serious of toy poker games that get progressively more complex. As you explore the equilibrium strategies of each of the toy games, you learn concepts directrly applicable to real-world NLHE. Andrew carefully walks through both the toy games and the implications, many of which are not obvious.This is not a book for beginners. One of its chief aims is to broaden the intermediate player's mindset. Too many decent recreational players are only decent because they figured out the exploitative strategies to beat their small-stakes player pool, but don't really understand---at a deep level---why those strategies work. And why they can't figure out how to beat the better players.This book breaks down, clearly and concisely, how those recreational exploitaitve strategies fit into the larger playing surface of optimal and exploitaitve play. It then rebuilds your thinking from the ground up, such that your new mindset understands those same strategies in correct context, and also sees why they work, and why they don't work in situations that call for other exploitiatve deviations from optimal play. As such, I think it is best geared toward people who can already beat their neighborhood home game or the $1/$2 NLHE game at the local casino.The discussion occurs at both the strategic and tactical level, but the ultimate result is not tactical toolkit. One comes away from the book with a whole new perspective on the game and, if my experience is indicative, a lot of homework to do regarding the tactical eurkeas that emerge from that new strategic perspective.One problem with a lot of poker writing about game theory is that it is either too dense on the game theory, too light on the actionable implications, or both. Not here. Andrew is meticulous in explaining the toy games, but does not overwhelm you with math. Likewise, the implications are extensively discussed, and the read is not left feeling short on insight.This book takes some effort. It's not going to transform the poker world overnight like Sklansky's early books did, because the next phase in the evolution of good recreational players isn't as simple as memorizing a group chart of starting hands. But make no mistake, this is the next plateau for the best recreational players. And Andrew has provided the roadmap to gret there.

worth the wait half way through and finding it very useful. thanks Andrew for taking the time to right it..

This book is fantastic, I'm just reading it for the second time. Unlike other strategy books this one creates a game much simpler than poker. From these simpler games we see how game theory, player exploits and strategy can be used then incorporated into the complex game we all love. We also learn why game theory often trumps table experience.For a lighter more entertaining read I loved all the thinking poker diaries that Andrew wrote selecting interesting hands from the WSOP main event where he often finishes deep.Andrew has so much more content out there and is one of the most underrated players going. Also happens to be incredibly down to earth and reachable. Buy this book and enter the world of a great, disciplined poker thinker.

Andrew has an amazing poker mind and this was the perfect book for me to start improving my poker game from a gto perspective. I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants to take poker more seriously and also for the player who plays for fun but is tired of losing (like me)