Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller: the book every limit player should read

Last week I gave a short review and recommendation for Getting Started in Hold'em by Ed Miller. If you’ve read it, you’re on your way to becoming a winning player. Assuming you’ve decided that limit hold’em is your game, there’s one more book every beginning player should read. Assuming you didn’t ride the short bus to grade school, if you read this book, and make some attempt to apply the principles laid out by the author, you WILL become a winning player. The book is Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play by Ed Miller.

If you’re a relatively new limit player looking at all the poker books out there and trying to decide, which book do I read first, look no further. There is absolutely no question that Small Stakes Hold 'em is the one correct answer.

Theory of Poker by David Sklansky is the single most important book ever written on poker. It is a seminal work in the field of poker literature. Every serious poker player should read it. But it is a book on theory, and where it leaves off, Small Stakes Hold 'em, picks up. Small Stakes Hold 'em essentially takes Sklansky’s book and puts it into practice for the small stakes hold’em player, in an easy, step-by-step manner.

Essentially, Ed assumes that small stakes players are mostly very loose, that is that play too many pots with sub-par hands. Ed uses the principles laid out in Sklansky’s book and uses them to extract as much money as possible from those players, and he does it in a way that is extremely readable and understandable for the average beginning player.

Because the book assumes loose play, its primary goal is to teach you to give yourself the best possible chance to win big pots, while generally avoiding throwing money away to stay in small pots. One difference between Small Stakes Hold 'em and most other beginner books is that while they seek to teach a beginning player to tighten up his game, Small Stakes Hold 'em instead teaches them to tighten up somewhat pre-flop, but use focused aggression post-flop.

While I’m calling this a beginner’s book, Ed points out that it is not really. The book is for small stakes players that know how to play the game, but don’t necessarily understand what it takes to consistently beat the game. If you’ve digested Getting Started in Hold'em and are looking for a next book, Small Stakes Hold 'em is perfect for you. If you’ve been playing awhile, understand the rules but aren’t winning consistently, Small Stakes Hold 'em is perfect for you. The reason I refer to it as a beginners book is not because it teaches beginner concepts. Small Stakes Hold 'em takes advanced concepts and makes them accessible to the novice player. However, if you’re a somewhat accomplished player, this is still a great book and one that will earn you money if you can apply its principles. Although the book teaches a way to apply the principles to a small stakes game, the concepts of implied and pot odds, pot equity, position, evaluating the board, etc. are equally important in higher games.

As I stated in a previous blog entry, my progression as a player during my first couple of years ran from tournaments to no-limit cash games to limit games. The adjustment from no-limit to limit was difficult for me. First I played too loose. I tightened up, and made money, but not much. This was the book that really made me a winning limit player. It can do the same for you.

If you’re a limit hold’em player and looking for something to take your game to the next level, Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play by Ed Miller is the one book you have to read.

My Poker Quest: Goals and a Plan

As I stated in my welcome post, I’ve been playing for awhile but just recently decided to significantly intensify my efforts toward becoming a really good poker player. I think the best way to go about this is with a disciplined and systematic effort. What I mean by this is that like any journey, it’s tough to get someplace if you don’t know where you’re going.

So I think identifying goals is important. I’m primarily going to be playing single-table sit-n-go tournaments. I'll also play multi-table holdem tournaments, so I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to be doing a ton of reading about small-stakes limit games (although there is one book in this area that is truly outstanding and I intend to write a review in the next few days). I’m developing a plan to get where I want to go.

My primary goal is to achieve a 40% ITM rate and 16% ROI at the $33 level sit-n-gos. My secondary goal is a significant cash in one multi-table no-limit tournament. Let’s define “significant” as, say, a $10,000 cash.

In addition to playing, I think the best ways to improve my play is a thorough reading of applicable poker literature, reading through relevant articles online, and through reading and discussing the game with accomplished players such as those posting at 2+2.

There aren't really any sit-n-go books out so I'll read through everything I can find online, as well as the STT forum on 2+2.

I’ll also work on my MTT tournament book list. I’ve divided it into two areas -- no-limit play and tournament strategy. There are also quite a few books that cover both areas. After a through perusal of available literature, as well as consulting with a number of accomplished players, the following are the books I’ve identified as the very best to help me reach my goal. Some of these I’ve read, but it’s been quite awhile and they definitely deserve a re-read.

- No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice by David Sklansky and Ed Miller -- I’m currently reading this book. When I’ve completed, I’ll get a review out.

- Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky -- This book is acknowledged as the gold standard on its subject by most skilled tournament players that I’ve talked to, as one would expect given its author is poker's foremost theorist.

- Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Strategic Play (Vol. 1) -- I’ve read this one once, but it’s definitely great and worth a re-read. Author Dan Harrington won the world championship at the 1995 World Series of Poker, but his back-to-back final tables at the 2003 and 2004 WSOP main events is arguably he greatest accomplishment in poker history given the size of those fields. He's also a skilled author, writing in a style that is both entertaining and understandable.

- Harrington on Hold'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Endgame (Volume 2) -- I bought this one awhile back when I was playing a lot of tournaments, and never got around to reading it.

- Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III--The Workbook

Word on the street is there is also a new small-stakes no-limit book coming out from Ed Miller and some very good co-authors. I’ll also be giving that a read when it comes available given Ed’s previous work. And World Champion Greg “Fossilman” Raymer is expected to have a book coming out. Given the Fossilman’s great posts on the 2+2 forum, he’s got an amazing ability to identify the important skills and teach them in a way that’s even understandable for a donk like me.

I think this reading list is more than enough for me to start with, but if you have other suggestions for me, I’d love to have them. Please feel free to leave them in a comment.

The 2+2 Forums: Your Free Poker Tutor

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you'll probably notice that quite a few of my posts relate to the 2+2 Poker Forums. The reason is simple. Although I do read elsewhere, I'm convinced the 2+2 Poker Forums contain the highest concentration of poker brainpower on the Internet by far.

Names you may have heard of include regular 2+2 posters such as David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, Ed Miller, Ray Zee, World Champion Greg "Fossilman" Raymer and others. In addition to household poker names, there are hundreds of posters there that play poker for a living and are willing to answer your questions. Think about that. Almost any serious poker question will be answered there by someone that probably makes a six-figure income playing for a living.

Why not piggyback on the knowledge that they've acquired through thousands of hands over thousands of hours, particularly since they're more than willing to share it with people who want to learn?

Here's an example of a few great posts there that I've been reading through this week:

Don't slowplay your big hands

Putting opponents on a range of hands

Small edges early in a tournament

Review: Getting Started in Hold 'Em by Ed Miller

For those of you who are new players and happened to stumble across my little place on the Internet, your first question is probably where to start? The obvious answer is Getting Started in Hold 'Em by Ed Miller, who is definitely one of the best poker authors around right now.

The book gives a thorough overview of hold ‘em poker. GSIH takes a shotgun approach, aiming for breadth rather than depth. It doesn’t try to focus on limit, no-limit, tournament or cash games, but covers the basics of each. This is perfect for beginners who may not have decided on what kind of games they want to play yet, or who have been dabbling in all of them.

By explaining the most critical concepts, the book does a good job of giving a novice the basic tools he needs to go from “fish” to winner in small-stakes games. And despite its broad approach and beginner audience, the book does highlight some more advanced concepts such as Ed’s no-limit small-stack theory. Ed has a great talent for explaining difficult concepts so that anyone can understand and apply them. Not only that, he makes them interesting.

If there is a negative to this book, it’s simply that Ed tried to go too broad. There are better limit books, better no-limit books, better tournament books, but no better novice text covering them all. For that reason, I think it’s the perfect starter book to provide a sound foundation for future learning.

One note on poker books in general: My opinion is that there are a few good ones and a lot of bad ones. But I tend to take the view that if I learn one thing from them that helps me win one pot (assuming their teachings don't also help me lose pots) then they've probably paid for themselves.

For those of you who say poker books are expensive, I'm going to tell you a story. I had an acquaintance not too long ago. I'll call him "Rick". Rick, like many players, started watching World Poker Tour (WPT) or the World Series of Poker (WSOP) on television and started playing. He started making weekly trips to the local casino. I'd usually run into Rick at the bar where he'd invariably piss and moan about losing $50 or $70. Rick couldn't really afford to keep losing that kind of money. I recommended a couple of books for him, and he said he'd take a look at the local bookstore. Next time I saw him, he'd just lost another $70 and told me the books were just too expensive. He couldn't afford them. Well, you can see where this is going. "But, Rick," I said, "You just blew $70 because you don't know how to play. Why not just buy the $20 book? If it helps you break even next trip, it's already made you money because at least you didn't lose it all!" As far as I know, Rick still hasn't bought any of the books I've recommended. Hopefully you will, and with a little luck, you'll run into Rick next time you're at the casino.

Welcome to The Bake Poker!

Welcome to The Bake Poker!

If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of the explosion in poker, both online and live, over the last few years. You’re probably also interested in becoming a better player. You may have played some home games or small-stakes games poker online, and now you’re hooked. You’ve read about players in their teens making six-figure incomes without ever leaving their bedrooms. You’ve heard about middle-aged players that have retired from their corporate or blue-collar jobs and replaced their income and more. There are genius academics having trouble maintaining their focus because they’re thinking about poker all day. They’re hooked. So am I. If you’re still reading, I’m guessing you are too.

So what is The Bake Poker? Why do we another poker blog?

The Bake Poker is my odyssey to become a better poker player. I hope you’ll come with me on the journey and that my musings and rantings will help you become a better player too.

I’ve been playing for a few years now, and I’m a winning hold 'em player. But, I’m not a good player – at least not nearly as good as I’d like to be. I was lucky enough to stumble across some good books and websites that helped me to become a winning player very quickly. However, I never put in the time or effort to become as good as I’d like. After a few months hiatus from the game, I’m jumpstarting my poker education. I started playing mostly small-stakes no-limit multi-table tournaments. Then I played Sit-n-Gos for a few months. Then NL cash games, and finally I moved to limit before my hiatus. But I think I enjoyed the no-limit MTTs the most, so that's where I'll be spending my time and tend to focus with this blog.

In doing so, I’ll be making a disciplined and systematic effort to learn the game. I hope my process will not only make me better, but serve as a blueprint for others to follow. There are much better players blogging and I hope you’ll be reading their blogs as well as mine. I know I will, and one of the things I’ll be doing with my blog is posting a weekly digest of good articles, blog posts, forum posts, etc. that I’ve found useful and hope you will too. I also intend to post some reviews of books I’ve read or will read. If I convince you to read them, I hope you’ll buy them through my links.

What I won’t do is go through discussions of hands I play. I’ll leave that to better players in other places. I’ll try not to post brags or bad beat stories. We’ve all got them and they’re a waste of everyone’s time. I also won't spend much time on "who's who" or gossiping about your favorite poker TV stars.

So this is it…post #1. I hope you’re here to learn and you’ll come back for #2 soon!