A couple of weeks ago I read a book that has greatly improved my online poker game, and I want to recommend it. I downloaded the Kindle version of The No B.S. Guide to Winning Online No Limit Texas Hold’em
Among the things author Chris Wilcox talks about:
- Why “play money” sites are not a good way to learn to play proper poker
- Why Sit’n’Go one-table tournaments are a good and inexpensive way to learn to play poker, as opposed to cash ring games which is where most players start
- Hands that Internet players will commonly play that usually would be folded in real poker rooms
- Online poker tells
- Sizing your bets properly when you want someone to call, and when you want them to fold
- The importance of having a good kicker to support your top pair
- How your strategy should change in Sit’n’Go tournaments in early stage, middle stage, on the bubble, and once you’re in the money and trying to win it all
- How to play when you’re at the end of the tournament and you’re heads-up with one other player
- The importance of taking notes on your competition
- The importance of watching the other people at the table play hands out when you have folded – this is how you develop an intuition about putting people on particular hands
- How to play particular starting hands: Pocket rockets, other pocket pairs, suited connectors, Big Slick, rag aces
- Best times to attempt a bluff
- Pot odds
- Cash ring game strategy and how it differs from tournaments
Prior to reading this book, I’d made it into the money in Sit’n’Go tournaments, but I’d never come in first in one, because I didn’t understand how to play heads up. This book corrected my mistakes there – it made me realize that you simply can’t wait for good cards to start betting and raising. Within a week of reading this book I won three single-table tournaments.
It’s also improved my play in other stages of tournaments – I think I would have finished in the money in the 180-player tournament I played Thursday night without this book, but I probably would have finished somewhere between 10th and 18th and had $8 to show for my $4.40 buy-in. Thanks to strategies in this book, I got to 5th and left the table with $46.80 – quite a difference in the cash payout.
This book has already paid for itself and has made me a much more confident player. If you play real-money poker online, this is a good investment.
Here’s the link to buy it on Amazon: The No B.S. Guide to Winning Online No Limit Texas Hold’em