By
supermoves |
Published
Jan 26 2006, 03:17 PM
Making the Final Table by Erik Lindgren
I have to admit, I thought this book was going to be just another WPT
star trying to cash in on his success. I have read a lot of poker books
and with rare exception, don't like them much. Erik Lindgren's book is
probably the most underrated piece of poker literature on the market.
The only book I value higher than
Making the Final Table
is Doyle Brunson's SuperSystem. Let me give you some advice - if you
want to make final tables, if you want to be a winning tournament poker
player, go get this book!!
This book has a singular purpose:
setting you up to win the poker tournament. It is explicitly written
towards winning major live events, but the strategy can be used online
with some modification for structures and types of players. From the
very beginning, Erik says the key to winning the tournament is building
chips. To this extent, he doesn't advocate playing tight during the
first day, like so many do. He says he min-raises a lot on the first
day. This allows him to take control of the pot, without risking too
many chips and get a feel for how the other players play. Once you find
out who the weak players are, put pressure on those players. Find the
players who are just trying to "survive" to reach day two and exploit
their weakness. The first few chapters also detail ways in which you
can get ready for the tournament. He recommends methods for getting
focused and staying sharp.
Erik's first piece of advice
for success in the middle stages of a tournament? Get some sleep! He
says that getting a full night of sleep before the second day is one of
the most important things a poker player can do. He says the goal on
day two should be to finish with an above-average chip stack, relative
to the rest of the field. He lists the 5 most important factors when
playing a pot during day two: position, tendencies of the big blind,
your hand, your opponents' stack size and your image. He also
recommends playing fairly conservative against the big stack at your
table.
The next chapter is called, appropriately, "The Final
Table". Erik offers some very good advice for the final table: Focus.
He cannot stress this enough, knowing that it is important and
committing to focusing for hours on end are two very different things.
There are a lot of factors that go into making a correct poker decision
and you have to know all of them. He also points out that during the
final table, often the one who enters the pot first controls the
action.
Throughout the book, Erik actually says NOT to worry
about the money and NOT to sneak up in pay levels. In fact, he
recommends taking advantage of those who are using that strategy, but
at the final table his opinions change slightly. He says there is no
real monetary advantage for going from 100th to 50th, but there is for
going from 4th to 3rd. He says a good time to think about laying down
hands is when there are 4 or 5 people left, two or three have short
stacks and the big stack has raised. He said he will lay down a lot of
hands in this situation, because it is so likely that a small stack
will move-in, possibly bust out and move him up a few hundred thousand
in real money. He also warns players to remember that not everyone
plays by "the rules". Most players will lay down AJ when it risks all
their chips, but not all players. So be careful with your bluffs and
don't always expect the other players to make the "right move".
Follow all of Erik's advice and not only will you make the final table
more often, you will make it there with a powerful chip stack. If you
are serious about becoming a good poker player, this is definitely a
must read. Once you do, you will definitely find yourself "
Making the Final Table."
**Reviewer's Note: This book is exceedingly easy to read. The font size
and style make it very easy on the eyes. One of the best formatted
poker books, or any books for that matter, that I've read in a long
time.
To buy this book on Amazon.com click here :
Making the Final Table