Poker Book Reviews

April: The Month of Poker Books | Episode 229

By Sky Matsuhashi on April 2, 2019 0

In this episode, I share my plans for “The Month of Poker Books” and some of the strategy goodies coming in April.

Bookmark this page because it’s your #1 resource for learning from poker books. It’s a repository of all the poker book-related content I create this month. There are also links to some items from the past that you will find useful.

The Month of Poker Books

Poker books are great sources of information. Ideally, the author writes about a subject that they are thoroughly knowledgeable in, and they’re able to communicate a great deal to you in a way that helps you learn it.

But, people don’t get the most they can out of the poker books they read. This is because poker book authors tell you strategy, but they don’t tell you how to practice it.

If you’ve read any of my books or heard my podcasts, you know I give challenges and Play with Purpose and Study with Purpose tasks that help you to practice the strategies I teach. We learn best through action, not by reading, so practicing what you’re reading is the best way to learn from books.

It’s not the books that you read, nor the order that you read them in. It’s what you do with the information that counts.

Here’s the simplest way to step into action with every poker book: read a chapter, put 1, 2 or 3 things into practice over the next 1 to 3 weeks, then move on to the next chapter.

That’s it!

In each episode this month, I’ll give you two things:

A review of the book at hand
Multiple action steps to help you take action and improve your skills

First Book: Waiting for Straighters by Tommy Angelo | #230 with (9) action steps!

What a great book! Short and simple, yet the ideas are powerful enough to revolutionize the way you choose your preflop hands. If this book also doesn’t get you to strive for more IP play, I don’t know what will.

Study with Purpose Video:

Second Book: Exploitative Play in LIVE Poker by Alexander Fitzgerald | #231 with a bonus (10) Action Steps PDF!

I truly enjoyed this book by Alex, and I recommend to EVERY poker player. Doesn’t matter if you’re a LIVE player or not, MTT’s or not. There are great exploitative strategies to take away and apply to anyone’s game.

Play with Purpose Video:

Third Book: Poker’s 1% by Ed Miller #232

I enjoyed this book, but I don’t necessarily recommend it to my audience. I’m on the exploitative side of the poker debate (non-GTO), but there are plenty of good strategy takeaways I got from it.

Fourth Book: Poker Satellite Strategy by Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter #233

I loved this book! So glad I read it and within an hour of reading just chapter 2, I already paid for this book with my improved Double or Nothing SNG play. Highly recommended.

Poker Book-related Items From the Past

How to Learn From Poker Strategy Books | Podcast #21

Poker Book Review: The Mental Game of Poker

The ONE Thing | Podcast #3

The Miracle Morning | Podcast #13

Next month’s theme: The Mental Game Month of May

Check out last month’s theme: March: The Month of HUD.

Support the Show

The Effective HUD Use Webinar (10% off) was a huge success and I’ve received lots of great feedback from these wonderful poker peeps: Kevin Summers, David Ridge, Chris Dumas, Debbie Blakesley, Mike O’Neill, Frank Tanner, Justin R., Johan Cederlund, Eric Anderson, Matthew H., Alex Kirwald, Alan Shakespeare, Luigi Cappel, Jim Reid, Ben File, Jim Rush, Donald McDougall, John Gray, Annelies Vits, Melanie Sindelar, Herbert Bieber, Juan Perez, Brian and Stephan Destraz. Thank you all so much for attending.

Up Next…

In episode 230, I’ll give a review for Tommy Angelo’s new book, Waiting for Straighters (Amazon affiliate link). I’ll also give you multiple Study and Play with Purpose tasks to get you practicing the strategies he discusses in the book.

Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.

How to Learn From Poker Strategy Books | Poker Podcast #21

By Sky Matsuhashi on February 2, 2016 13

Poker strategy books have so much to teach you, and this is the first of 11 podcasts that will show you how to get the most from the books you read.

Click below to support this show and get 27% Rakeback on Americas Cardroom (use promo code SPSPOD)

In case you missed it, in episode 20 I got introspective and discussed the path I’m taking to reach my poker goals and what changes I’m going to make in the coming month to keep myself on track.

How to Learn From Poker Strategy Books | Podcast #21

Podcast Mission

My mission for today: At the end of this podcast you’ll know how to get the most from every poker strategy book you read, and no longer will you finish a book, shelve it and promptly forget all you read.

Are you ready to get more from the poker books you read?

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7-Step Process for getting the most from poker books

The first time I read Jared Tendler’s epic book ‘The Mental Game of Poker’ I got nothing out of it. Zilch. Years later when tilt was still a factor, I decided to read it again. But instead of just jumping back into it, I went online to research how we learn from books. I took what I learned there, adapted it to learning from poker strategy books, and put it to use in my second reading of TMGP. It took quite a bit longer (2 weeks as opposed to 3 days), but I got an unbelievable wealth of useful information from it and still use that knowledge daily.

I want to give you the strategy I developed from my own research. It’s a 7 Step Process that pulls the most beneficial information from each chapter and helps you utilize it in your game on a daily basis.

1. Skim

Skimming means you’re only looking for the main ideas of a text; for key words and important details that stick out to you. The goal isn’t to read everything, but to internalize the major concepts we are about to apply to our game.

2. Set a Goal

Now that you have a basic understanding of the chapter, the most productive and effective way to read is to know the questions you want answered beforehand. Learning more about the answers to the following 3 questions is your goal:

What skills can I learn from this chapter?
Why are they important or relevant to my game?
How can I implement them in my game?

3. Read

Now that you know your goal (what you want to gain from the chapter) it’s time to read. Read with a pen and take notes in the margins of the book as necessary. If something is important, mark it so you can find it easier in the future. Quiz yourself on any chapter summaries present.

4. Summarize and Analyze

After reading, it’s time to summarize as necessary all of the important points that you want to take with you. You can do this in a notebook, a Word document, a mind map or Evernote as well.

Next analyze the info learned. Use your poker tracking software, Flopzilla, Equilab or any other software necessary to test the effectiveness of the strategies presented.

5. Take Action

Now for the most important part – taking action on what you’ve learned. Use FOCUS Sessions where you play only 1-2 tables and work on adding one skill to your arsenal.

6. Assessment

This is a hand history review of the entire Focus Session played the night before, with particular emphasis on the hands that you marked. Use the proper tools (tracking software, analysis software, calculator, pencil/paper) to determine if you made good plays and killer decisions.

7. Rinse, Repeat, Review

Now that you’ve made an initial assessment, it’s time to take action again in a focus session with your new findings, and then assess again afterwards. Do this as many times as necessary until you feel you’ve got a great grasp on the skill, then move on to the next chapter in the book.

Challenge

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: download the How to Learn from Poker Books one-sheet from the show notes and use it for one chapter of the current poker book you’re reading. Commit to doing each step for the one chapter and see how effective this learning strategy is.

11 Episode ‘The Course’ Series

This is the first in an 11 episode series all about Ed Miller’s incredible cash game book, ‘The Course’. Over the next 10 episodes I’ll break down one small part of each chapter in the book using the 7 steps above. You’re going to get so much from the upcoming episodes and I can’t wait for you to hear them.

Head directly there:

Contact Me

Please leave any CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS or REQUESTS in the comments section below.

Or… Tweet me @SmartPokerStudy and email to Sky@SmartPokerStudy.com.

Join the Facebook Poker Discussion Group to talk all things poker.

Please send me your poker strategy questions, and I’ll answer them on the FRIDAY Q&A EPISODES!

Up Next…

In podcast #22, I’ll discuss skill #1 in ‘The Course’ which is “Play a Simple and Effective Pre-flop Strategy.”

Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.

‘The Mental Game of Poker’ | Podcast #19

By Sky Matsuhashi on January 31, 2016 3

‘The Mental Game of Poker’ will help you get out of that mental game funk you’re in while improving mental clarity and a positive outlook on the game.

Click below to support this show and get 27% Rakeback on Americas Cardroom (use promo code SPSPOD)

In case you missed it, in episode 18 I helped you discover which common poker leaks you’re suffering from and gave you some smart ways to begin working on each.

‘The Mental Game of Poker’ | Podcast #19

Podcast Mission

At the end of this podcast you’ll rush to get your own copy of ‘The Mental Game of Poker’ so you can start working on improving your mental game.

‘The Mental Game of Poker’

So ‘The Mental Game of Poker’ sat on my shelf for years before I actually put it to use what was in the book. I picked it up back in sometime shortly after Black Friday when I got back to online poker here in the US. I read it, didn’t put any of it to use and promptly shelved it.

My tilt kept getting worse as time went on. It got to the point that every session I played I would end it earlier than intended b/c of tilt. The smallest thing would set me off. If I got sucked out on by a fish, I started to tilt. If I lost the first of 15 SNG’s planned for that session I would start to tilt and make bad decisions leading to more losses. I would miss the money in one tourney then spew off my stacks in other tourneys trying to make up for that one loss.

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Poker got to the point where I would start each session already angry with the mindset of, “Well, it’s going to be another shitty session.” If I continued on like this for too much longer I would’ve quit poker. In came TMGP to the rescue.

Fix me, book!

To fix the issue, I figured reading the book again couldn’t hurt, so I picked it up for a second read through to see if it could help my game. And boy did it.

This second reading was so enlightening. The book is very well written and to the point, not any fluff at all. The text concisely taught me how to recognize tilt and my other mental game issues. I thought tilt was the only issue, but confidence and fear were issues too, so those chapters really helped out as well. I found the Client’s Stories also very useful, as they’re kind of like testimonials for Jared’s ideas. The stories were very relatable and gave good insight into mental game issues from other player perspectives.

I put to use the techniques I learned right away and saw a marked improvement in my mental state as I played: I wasn’t tilting as much, not quitting sessions as often, starting off in a positive mindset, and situations that caused tilt did so less often and my tilt was less severe.

The chapters were arranged in a very logical manner, with each building upon the last. The first four expertly give readers an understanding of mental game problems and how to resolve them: 1) Understanding how our game suffers due to tilt; 2) How we learn effectively (the Adult Learning Model, Inchworm concept and the Process Model); 3) The role emotions play in our poker game play; and 4) Strategies for resolving mental game issues.

The Adult Learning Model

Reading about the Adult Learning Model in chapter 2 was very enlightening, especially when they talk about the Unconscious Competence and how the goal is to develop skill sets to that level so that we naturally revert to these at times of stress or high emotions. I discussed the UC a little bit in podcast episode #8, about FOCUS Sessions. The reason why we want to develop skills to the level of the UC is b/c skills that reside here are used without even thinking about it. It’s like automatically folding 72o pre-flop, we don’t even consider this as a hand to play. But what if we developed the skill of double-barreling or 3betting pf to the level of the UC? Then we’d free up so much brain space for other even tougher decisions at the tables.

Podcast #5 was about warm-ups and cool downs, and this book is the reason why I do these now. It’s become a ritualistic part of every session I play, and I credit it a lot for helping me to minimize tilt.

The Inchworm approach is a novel idea to me, and it’s working to improve the lagging parts of your game while adding skill sets to your ‘A-game’ or Unconscious Competence. So you’re systematically improving your game from both ends: which is improving your A-game or how often you play it, and lopping off those leaks that are part of your C-game.

Injecting Logic

Another concept that’s really helped me is the idea of injecting logic. This is an awesome strategy that the book discusses which is simply saying logical statements to yourself to help your mind cope with an undesirable situation. These logic statements are peppered throughout the rest of the book in sections where they can have the biggest effect on different tilt issues.

One LS I’m currently using is: You can’t control how you run, so don’t focus on it.

And of course I got a ton out of chapter 5, which is 80 pages covering 7 different types of tilt and how to recognize and resolve each. For me, Running Bad Tilt, Injustice Tilt and Entitlement Tilt are the big areas of focus and these sections have really allowed me to breakdown my tilt issues and begin resolving them.

Beyond the chapter on Tilt, this book also covers three very important aspects of the mental game: Fear, Motivation and Confidence. These opened my eyes to a lot of underlying psychological ideas that were stalling my progress.

I highly recommend The Mental Game of Poker to every player in the world, regardless of game or stakes played. The concepts covered and skills you gain from it are invaluable and will lead to major improvements for everyone. This is a timeless piece of poker learning, and I’m sure that 50 years from now players will still be talking about it.

Challenge

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Get your copy of the TMGP right now (order it with the Amazon link in the show notes). And I mentioned earlier about getting it for free, well you can do so by visiting audible.com through my affiliate link here and for doing so you’ll get a free copy of any audiobook of your choice. I recommend this one, of course. Get it, read it (or listen to it), implement it, and kick tilt to the curb.

Contact Me

Please leave any CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS or REQUESTS in the comments section below.

Or… Tweet me @SmartPokerStudy and email to Sky@SmartPokerStudy.com.

Join the Facebook Poker Discussion Group to talk all things poker.

Please send me your poker strategy questions, and I’ll answer them on the FRIDAY Q&A EPISODES!

Up Next…

In podcast #20, I’ll give you an update to my poker game and my progress in hitting my SMART poker goals for 2016.

Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.

Poker Book Review: The Mental Game of Poker

By Sky Matsuhashi on July 6, 2015 0

I just completed my second reading of Jared Tendler and Barry Carter’s book, The Mental Game of Poker, and I got so much more out of it this time.

Maybe this was because I’m much more in tune with my poker game and I’ve come to realize that I was seriously lacking in some mental game skills. This book has been instrumental in improving my game and my positive state of mind before, during and after each session of poker I play.

Watch on YouTube: The Mental Game of Poker video review

Some of the topics I found most beneficial within this poker strategy book are:

Injecting Logic – an awesome strategy that the book discusses which is simply saying logical statements to yourself to help your mind cope with an undesirable situation.

Tilt – there are 7 different types of tilt covered with steps on how to recognize and resolve each. Find your particular tilt issue, read up on how to diagnose and resolve it, then implement those steps to become a better player.

Fear – this was an eye opening chapter for me as it shined a spotlight on an area of my poker mind that I didn’t realize was totally effecting my play.

Motivation. – I often have motivational issues caused by laziness, running good/bad, burnout and a few other causes. This chapter helped me solve many of my issues, and now I play more frequently and with longer sessions.

Confidence – downswings, long bouts of break-even play, bad beats and negative variance all effect a player’s confidence, which in turn effects the mental game. This chapter will help you resolve your issues with confidence.

I highly recommend this mental strategy book to every poker player out there, and please click here to read the full review.

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Make your next session the best one yet!