Secrets Of Professional Tournament Poker

Book excerpt: This new, expanded, fully updated and revised, edition of 'Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker' is a landmark in poker publishing. Originally published in two volumes in 2011 and 2012 this was both a critical and commercial success. Over the last decade, the understanding of poker has changed dramatically and this new edition fully reflects current thinking on the game. This book will give readers a thorough understanding of everything they need to know about playing tournaments and Jonathan Little is undoubtedly the person best qualified to impart this information. The book is split into seven sections: 1) How Tournaments Work –This explains why tournaments are a highly profitable form of poker and examines the basic concepts that need to be mastered. 2) Playing Deep Stacked –This deals with situations where (most) players have stacks of 50 big blinds or more. All situations are dealt with including pre-flop and all three post-flop streets. There is further information on general topics at this stack depth. 3) Playing Mid Stacked –This deals with situations where the basic stack depth is between 27 and 50 big blinds. These situations are tricky because with the shorter stack, players are often going all-in. This means that very clear adjustments are required compared to the deeper stack strategies. 4) Playing Short Stacked –This section focuses on play below 27 big blinds. Now play is almost exclusively focused on the possiblity of players going all-in. Knowing the correct ranges and plays here is vital to maximise your chances for tournament survival. 5) The Late Stages –As the prospect of serious prize money looms, huge adjustments need to be made. How to play on the bubble and concepts such as risk premium and the Independent Chip Model are fundamental to maximising your chance of landing a major prize and they are all thoroughly explained. 6) Hand Examples –This will test your understanding of everything you have learnt so far. 7) Other Considerations –You can improve your tournament results by also working on your general attitude and approach. This section encompasses all the non-technical aspects of playing, including learning, the mental approach, tells and practical tips. Jonathan Little has dedicated himself to educating players who are keen to improve their poker strategy, and in 2020, he was awarded the prestigious title of Global Poker Index “Poker Personality of the Year” – voted for by the poker-playing public. As well as being an immensely successful professional player with over $7,000,000 in live tournament cashes, Jonathan runs the highly respected coaching site pokercoaching.com. By interacting regularly with his students, he has developed a clear understanding of how to explain important concepts in a language that can be easily understood by players of all skill levels. The result is Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker – the definitive guide to modern tournament play.