Applications of No-Limit Hold 'em: A Guide to Understanding Theoretically Sound Poker (No-Limit Hold 'em Books)

I've read over 20 books on poker over the years. I've been quite impressed with the quality of poker books recently, compared to several years ago.This book would be in my top two favorite and most useful poker books, with the other one being Will Tipton's "Expert Heads Up No-Limit Holdem".His discussion on how to reason balancing has been vital to me. Also, I've found a major leak in my game when playing out-of-position. I'm generally a very aggressive player and almost always prefer betting out monster hands instead of trapping, since it grows the pot. I think a common rookie mistake is to get too sneaky-trappy, resulting in smaller pots than monster hands deserve. In general, my choice of aggression vs. trappy has worked out to my advantage.But he makes some very compelling arguments where trapping is clearly superior. My major leak is that my aggressive "play big hands big" results in my checks universally being weak. The out-of-position disadvantage clearly needs to be balanced by properly trapping in the right spots.Also, he turns the calling decision of pot-odds on its head. He concludes that you should defend (i.e. call) 60% of bets on the flop (when heads-up). This should surprise most players, I think, since generally we only call if we hit, and fold if we miss. You only hit 33%, so how to call the other 27% successfully, especially dry flops? Well, it only works if your opponent is "properly aggressive", like GTO. Against straightforward players, 60% is clearly a loser. But if you fold more than 60%, then opponent's "bluff 3/4 pot always" strategy simply has +EV against you. So pot-odds thinking must be compared to "don't give bluff-always any +EV".Starting with the triple-barrel value play (balanced with some triple barrel bluffs) as a backbone of his analysis, you can understand the game much deeper. This triple-barrel play is really central to deep-stack poker. Once you've worked this out, you can reason how to shallow your strategy as stacks get shorter (like 30 Big-Blind tourneys).

This is an intense read but full of excellent theory and well worth the time to study. My only negative comment is the writing style and editing could have been much better. In many places it is hard to follow the line of thought of the author and I have to re-read page after page to follow what the author is trying to explain. But in fairness he does supply alot of examples to support his rationale. Janda's materials and math support Millers 1% Poker frequency and value distributions. To bad they did not collaborate and write a 1 or 2 vol series on this subject.R. Seckinger

Book is not for beginners. I say have a good foundation in poker before you get this book. Book is a tough read, hard to understand at first, really take your time if you don't like math. Overall the book has good concepts and ideas backed by math. This book is a good starting point for learning GTO

But easily five.This is imo the other most wanted book on NLHE (esp heads-up). Buy it if you want a solid, easy to read and/but advanced poker book. The concept is based on balanced / game theoretical optimal. Most applications are explained by equations but it is totally readable without any mathematical skills. Thus the book is probably best suited for the players who are serious about improving their game.The material is outstanding and knowingly based for years work and experience. It is actually a bit to be too practical for my taste. Some of the concept are left without rigorous proof which is understandable and probably a pro for the most readers.

This book is mostly written for advanced players who are already very good at No-Limit Holdem. If you are either fairly new to the game and/or you are a losing player across the course of many sittings I would suggest instead you check out some of the Ed Miller books.This book covers lots of important and useful concepts for how to structure your play in an optimal fashion against tough/experienced opponents both before the flop and post flop. I'm confident that it will help me be very successful at higher limits ($5-$10 and above) in the very near future.P.S. I live in Las Vegas and play 5 days/week in casino poker rooms. I consistently win at $2/$5 NLHE.

Very advanced book for the few who think beyond the typical 3/5 and 5/10 reg and want to get beyond that. It supports Ed Millers 1% book with more detail. Many players understand in general through experience or a little testing when to float certain boards, when to bluff, and when to call. But the puzzle in incomplete with specific spots and common situations. This book gives a pallet of colors in which you can use math to understand what you need to continue on in any situation, when to fold, when to raise, when to bluff. It filled in many things I thought were right and put in many missing puzzle pieces in other spots.For this year I have to say this book is the book to read. But it is not for beginners. This book is for those who have the discipline and do better than the typical winning players @ 3/5 and 5/10. Many think level 2 in a 1 dimensional form - "he bet weak on the AAx flop, he must be weak, I can bluff him" and not "why did he beat weak on the AAx board and with what part of his range" There is a distinct difference between the two statements. If you understand the latter you are ready for the book. If you don't understand the difference between the two you are not ready.Angy's husband.

Best analysis of serious No Limit Hold'em poker in book form. The pros swear by it.I would recommend more approachable books (like those by Ed Miller) for beginner and intermediate players. Then check this one out when you're ready.Lots of math. All linear equations, but won't make sense to an inexperienced player.