Booking a Win

My wife and I are book collectors. No, not first edition foo-foo type books or so-called "classics", but pretty much anything that catches our fancy, both fiction and non-fiction. I'm a rank amateur compared to my bride when it comes to book hording, with probably 85-90% of the books in the house ones that she's picked up over the years. But I'm no slouch, either, with a whole lot of books on things like engineering, writing, automotive, house building, stock trading, and of course poker books. Lots and lots of poker books. How many? Good question. I've never counted, but the number is easily north of two hundred. Maybe even three hundred. And this doesn't count the hundreds of old Cardplayer magazines I've kept, or PDFs, newsletters, and online articles that I've collected over the years.

Most of my poker books have come from used bookstores, library sales, and the odd garage sale. Occasionally, I'll pay full price for a new one on Amazon, and lately when I do my preference is for e-books, primarily so that I can have a wide variety to choose from when sitting on airplanes and in airports on biz trips.

I mention this fact about my poker book obsession because I'm trying to lay out a more structured approach to studying MTT strategy in advance of the WSOP. In addition to videos and podcasts (and of course seat time), I want to read some serious MTT books.

There are literally scores of tournament poker books on the market, and yes, I own many of them. The trick is sorting through them so that I can prioritize my reading/studying. Here's my list of some of the better ones on MTT play that I currently own that I want to get through between now and June, when the WSOP rolls into Vegas.

Tournament Specific:

• Harrington on Hold'em, Volumes 1-3, by Harrington and Robertie. I've read these before, but I'll probably go through them once again, at least at a high level, quick read-through. While they are clearly the standard upon which many other tournament books are judged, one issue I do have with HoH is they're getting a bit long in the tooth, especially given how much better the opp has gotten over the years. Ask any serious amateur poker player to name a book on poker tournaments, and odds are they'll know these... and that means that  they know what you know if all you're going by at the tables is this book series. Still, it's worth refreshing on this ABC-approach to MTTs, if not for any other reason than to make sure I understand what other amateur players are thinking.
• The Poker Tournament Formula, 1 and 2, by Snyder. I'm just now finishing reading the first one, which is all about low patience factor tournament, and I've started the second, which is about high PF MTTs. The books are best described as unconventional, which I love, as they really make me question all the standard conventional poker wisdom. I definitely recommend these two books if you want to be challenged to think. Not sure I fully agree with everything written in them, but there is a ton of really good, though-provoking advice in both books.
• Winning Poker Tournaments - One Hand at a Time, Volumes 1 and 2, by Lynch, Turner, and Van Fleet. These are two really, really good books that are written from the point of view of three really good poker players, working through hands that they've played in previous MTTs. The first book is just random hands taken from hundreds of online and live tournaments that theses three pros have played. Each hand typically takes between 1-4 pages of analysis. The second book is similar, but focuses on the end game of three MTTs that the three guys each won, respectively. Really good stuff. Rumor is they have a third book out, which I may buy if I get through all the other books on this list.
• Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, by Little. This book has been talked about a lot recently by guys like Bart Hanson as well as in the forums, and is rumored to be one of the best books on modern, post-Black Friday, live MTT strategy. I own an e-book version, and I'm looking forward to diving into it.
• Every Hand Revealed, by Hansen. I read this one a few years ago, and I remember thinking this guy is crazy... like a fox. The book details, just like its title suggests, every hand played by Gus Hansen on his way to winning a major Australian poker event, with his thought process on each hand discussed. Fascinating stuff, but potentially damaging to the game of a mere mortal; I'll re-read it with caution.

Miscellaneous Poker and Other:

• How to Read Hands at No Limit Hold'em, by Miller. Another one that has gotten really good reviews. I picked up an e-version a few months ago, and intend to get through in on one of my many upcoming long flights across the Pacific. The focus is cash games, but I think a significant part of the material can be transferred to MTT play.
• Elements of Poker, by Angelo. This one is hard to describe. Part zen, part strategy, part psychology. Tommy Angelo is a (very expensive) poker coach who has helped some of the top players in the game get even better. I've only skimmed this book before, but I think it's worth taking the time go through more slowly now.
• Let There Be Range, by Nyugen. Another book on hand reading in NL Hold'em. I've had an old dog-eared copy of this one for years, and it's time to dust it off and re-read it. Good, solid, hand-reading stuff.
• Reading Poker Tells, by Elwood. This is another one that has been getting a lot of buzz lately. It's supposedly chock-full of good live advice. 
• You Can't Lie to Me, by Driver. This one is a non-poker book, but a lot of poker guys read it. It's all about body language and discerning lies by how a person sits, talks, and acts. It's a short read, and the little bit I've skimmed looks actually quite good.

Ones I Don't Currently Own, But Am Considering Buying:

• The Raiser's Edge, by Grospelier, Dunst, et al.
• The Mental Game of Poker, by Tendler

The trick to all of this of course is separating the wheat from the chaff, and spending my limited time on just those sources of material that will return the biggest bang for my reading buck. Oh, and I'm always looking for suggestions; drop me a line if you have an idea for a good read that focuses on MTT play that hasn't yet found its way onto my list.

On to the next entry on the WSOP-2013 journey...

All-in for now....
-Bug

WSOP 2013: MTT Boot Camp

One of the challenges of mastering poker is simply the glut of available training media and methods to choose from. There are countless books, videos, and software packages that each promise to make you a better player. There are also literally scores of qualified coaches and database reviewers that can elevate your game, as well as countless online study groups, chat groups, such. Then add in all the available forums and email lists to the mix, and the student’s head begins to spin at the options. How does one go about prioritizing and focusing to maximize their bang for the improvement buck?

I’ve been pondering this question for a while now that I’ve decided to play in next year’s WSOP. As I’ve stated before, my cash game skills are pretty good, but my MTT abilities needs some serious work. The way I see it, to improve my game there are a few areas I can/should address:

• Active MTT Book/Video/Software Self-Study. The problem with most forms of self-study is that the activity tends to be passive. You read a book. You watch a video. You listen to a podcast. Sure, some of the information is going to get absorbed, but the efficiency of this method is pretty low. Enter active study. If you read a chapter of a book, you need to follow up each session with ten minutes of writing down notes and/or blogging about what you just learned. If you watch a video, you need to similarly write down what you’ve learned. Even when playing an online game, it’s all too easy to just go on autopilot and not *learn* anything during the process. You have to actively try to get better. Here are some ideas:
• Hand Reading. You can do this simple exercise during play (i.e., call out other players hand ranges) or, even better, go back through your poker database and sort on hands that went to showdown. Then hide your opponents hands, and verbally work through groups of hands, calling out the likely hand ranges of your opponents. Do ten of these a day and keep score.
• PokerStove and/or Flopzilla Drills. Fire up one of these programs, enter hand ranges against specific hands, and then *before* you hit the evaluate button try to guess what the equity actually is. Do 10 of these a day and keep score.
• MTT Book Learnin’  I’ve got a handful of really well-reviewed poker books I’ve purchased but haven’t gotten to reading yet. Two in particular near the top of my to-do list are J. Little’s book on tournament play, and E. Miller’s book on hand reading. The secret of course is to actively read these and take notes.
• MTT Video Learnin’ My cardio/card-io exercise method has worked in the past to improve my cash game, so I’m going to dust it back off and start treadmilling my way through a couple dozen MTT videos I own.
• Blog. As always, I intend to continue to use this blog to improve my own game, but with a new focus on MTTs as much as possible.
• Put in the Hours. There really is no better way to learn something as complex as poker than just sitting down and putting in the hours. You can theoretically learn how to fly an airplane by reading a book and playing with a Flight Sim program, but does this really sound like the best way to prepare to take a Cessna up for the first time? Poker is similar in this respect, and actual seat time is vital. To address this for my own WSOP adventure, I need to play a lot of tourneys. Worse, I need to play a lot of live poker, which is neither cheap nor convenient. Ergo, my goals include:
• Play 4-5 online single table SnGs every week
• Play at least one 100-man or bigger online tournaments per week.
• Play in a live tournament twice a month.
•  Play at least one SnG blind every week. We’ve all seen the amazing Annette O. demonstration of playing blind in a tournament and winning. The reason she is able to do this without seeing her own hole cards is she got the whole board texture/stack size/opponent “play the player” thing down cold. If you really want to learn to focus on everything but your own cards, I think Helen Keller poker might be the key.
• Actively Participate in the Forums More. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge floating around on the web, especially in places like 2+2 and flopturnriver. Again, the key is to not just read the forums, but participate. Posting questions and answers, and debating can only serve to make me a better player. I used to post at least one cash game item every single workday morning on 2+2; it’s time to start that tradition back up, except this time do it in the MTT forums.
• Hire a Coach Even Tiger Woods has a swing coach (and, no, it’s not his wife wielding a nine iron). I can’t afford a lot of coaching hours, but I can probably pick up a few hours here and there from a specialist on hand and database reviews. This method has been successful for me in the past while I was working on my cash game, and I don’t see why it can’t work for MTTs, too. I need to poke around and find an MTT coach that a) does serious hand history and database reviews; and b) fits my personality and linear “engineers” brain approach to learning. It’s still very early in the process for me to invest in a coach, but as the WSOP draws near I’ll probably spring for a few quality hours.
• Get Body In Shape. No rocket science here; it's really just eating better and exercising more consistently. The better your body is at pumping and delivering oxygen, the more alert your brain will be. Specifically:
• Cut way down on the sugar and carbs. For me, dropping my carb count to under 40g per day has and will drop weight faster than pretty much any other method I've tried. The trick is actually doing it religiously, day to day. Then of course keeping it off.
• Exercise. For me, this means 3-4x per week on the elliptical machine, daily lunchtime walks, and 2-3x per week of weight training.
• Stretching. Sitting for long hours at a poker table is tough on my lower and upper back. For me, the key to minimizing pain has in the past been getting limber and stretching. Studies have also shown that Limber=Better Blood Flow.  

On to Week #0

All-in for now…

-Bug