The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition

<span>by Michael Craig (editor)</span>

With the astounding array of talent Full Tilt Poker has assembled to sponsor their site, it was only a matter of time before they published a poker strategy book. Aside from the players’ obligations in terms of the Tips from the Pros columns Full Tilt's pro sponsors are free agents when it comes to their intellectual property, so it took an outside force to bring them together. That outside force was Michael Craig, author of The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King. Craig pitched the idea to Lederer and Full Tilt and they rightfully jumped on what seemed a surefire winner. The result of this collaboration is The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition.

The strength of this book lies in the diversity of opinion you get from the various authors. In one chapter you get Ted Forrest explaining why it pays to continuously vary your play, and in the next Andy Bloch goes into great detail on why you shouldn’t vary your play as much as most people think. The reality is that “it depends” is the only answer in poker worth listening to, but you can only hear that so many times before giving up in frustration. The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide offers a nice balance of clear cut "how-to" advice and more complex "fly by the seat of your pants" strategy.

The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide is very ambitious, seeking to cover tournament poker in NLHE, Limit, Stud, Stud Hi-Lo, Razz, Omaha and Omaha 8s. The contributors are Andy Bloch, Richard “Quiet Lion” Brodie, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Rafe Furst, Phil Gordon, David Grey, Howard Lederer, Mike Matusow, Huckleberry Seed, Keith Sexton, and Gavin Smith. Ever heard the expression too many cooks in the kitchen? There are times when the book strains under the weight of so many personalities, but Michael Craig admirably holds the whole thing together.

In chapter four, Howard Lederer introduces a seemingly new word to the poker lexicon: leverage. I am sure many pros have discussed this concept before and the idea of using the threat of future bets in poker has been around a long time, but Lederer summarizes his approach to the concept in his chapter on leverage. Lederer explains how small bets on early streets can put pressure on an opponent who anticipates having to call more as the hand progresses. The power of small bets and pot control is the central theme of the book.

Two of the most entertaining and informative chapters come at the end of the book. The first is a conversation between Ted Forrest and Huckleberry Seed about Razz, recorded by Michael Craig. The second is by Rafe Furst on the parallels between Roshambo and multi-level thinking in poker. How deep do you have to go? According to Furst, “the amount never varies: one level deeper than your opponent.”

Gavin Smith provides some insight into the style of play that led him to the WPT player of the year title in 2006. He describes the hyper-aggressive style combined with keen reading ability he brings to bear when he sits down at the table. The title of his chapter is Big Stack Play, but the first sub-heading sums up the method he uses to get to that big stack: “Steal Early, Steal Often.” He advocates small pot poker through a variety of 2x and 2.5x raises as well as flat calling a raiser in order to set up a steal on the flop or turn. This style is obviously better suited to deep stacked live play than in online donkaments, but it is worth a read for all players.

I think this book is not meant to be read in one sitting. All together the multitude of topics and different authors is enough to make your head spin. Taken one at a time, or in chunks, the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide actually has a lot to offer. In fact, if you planned to play every event at the World Series and you could only take one book, you would be well served to bring this along as it offers sound fundamentals for every game as well as higher level strategy from some of the best players in the world. The bulk of the book is devoted to No Limit, but I think the real value is in the chapters on the other games.

Overall, The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition is not a groundbreaking addition to the poker literature, but it is a good addition to any poker player’s library.

To buy this book on Amazon.com click here: The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition