Review of “How to Shake the Online Poker Money Tree”, by Andrew Kasch
Overview
How to Shake the Online Poker Money Tree [http://www.onlinepokerincome.com/] is a downloadable eBook that has been on the market for over two years, according to the copyright information on the website. The sales page promises to teach anyone how to derive a “reliable income” from online poker, features the usual testimonials and a money-back guarantee, but stops short of making the outlandish claims of revealing incredible secrets or teaching cheating techniques that are seen on other such info-products. The price is $39 and it is sold through Clickbank.
The product is delivered in a standard .exe ebook file format with attractive graphics, and also has a .pdf file download option for non- windows customers (or anyone who prefers to read electronic files in Adobe fashion). It’s size is immediately impressive, containing 17 chapters, many of which are quite lengthy by ebook standards. This is not a book that can be quickly scanned over to “get the gist of it.” It goes into a lot of detail on many subjects, all of which are related to the central theme of beating online poker. There is no one “main idea” that the book is trying to sell, as is unfortunately the case with so many other self-published ebooks. This is a real poker strategy book, and I found it to be very intelligently written.
Content
The book starts off with a discussion on what makes poker a beatable game and why online poker is the most beatable form. It is quite a convincing argument. The first few chapters are theory-based poker stuff bent towards online play, along with some basic fundamental preparation for internet play (how to set up your account and screen options, and a good primer on using the tools such as note-taking and buddy-listing). I would say that the first 1/3 of the content is sort of a mental preparation in this manner, and there is some pretty good stuff in there that should not be skipped over.
For example, there is a chapter in this first “section” (so to speak) titled “What it Takes to Win” where the attributes of a winning player are discussed. Within this chapter is a section sub-titled “Playing in the Zone” which leads the unsuspecting reader into an extensive examination of the psychology involved in heads-up poker battles. A beginner will be comfortably strolling along and suddenly find himself in the mindset of some very heavy theory, the kind that is necessary to excel in higher-limit games. I found it to be a bit of a rush, and undeniably cool.
Overall, the theme that the first third of the book hammers home is to target players and games that are easy to beat, shows you why they exist and where to find them, and offers tips for organizing yourself to stay focused on that main task. Then it transitions into actual strategy guide chapters for playing individual games, starting with some advice on how to figure out which ones are best for you.
The games that the book covers in the strategy chapters are: No Limit Hold’em, 7-Card Stud, Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot Limit Omaha, and Half-pot limit Badugi (played at Doyles Room). These chapters are written in an instructional, how-to format for cash games. There are two additional chapters dedicated to tournament play. The tournament chapters take the approach that you have already mastered the cash-game strategy for the game you are playing, and give advice for making changes to that strategy based on the tournament situation. (Some of these changes are dramatic!) There is also an entire additional chapter just on short-handed NL Hold’em cash games, which is quite good.
My main criticisms of this work would be the rigid, rule-based instructions for playing the individual games, and the lack of a chapter on Limit Hold’em. It’s almost as if the author is attempting to program a robot player with the rules. The rules themselves aren’t bad, and I have no doubt that a player who is following them (and paying heed to the book’s advice to target weak opponents) will do fine. It’s a winning formula. But it can be hard to learn a complicated game like poker with a list of 174 instructions for different situations. I think it would be easier going with some theory sprinkled into the individual game chapters.
In spite of that, the book is still written in a fun to follow style. The author does address most issues that call for it, including his omission of Limit Hold’em and the reasons behind his thinking on various subjects. Maybe the best parts are the “mottos” that are taught to the reader at the beginning of each of the individual game chapters. These tend to be some of the more important rules of thumb that separate winning players from the fish, like not losing your stack with one pair in pot-limit and no-limit cash games. Most of the advice throughout the book is really solid, and some of it I don’t think I’ve seen presented (at least in this manner) before.
The book concludes with a couple of chapters on keeping records and using them to help constantly improve your game. There is a bibliography of sorts, presented as a recommended reading list, which includes some of the best known authors in poker. An about the author chapter adds a nice finishing touch.
Conclusion
My praise for the book far outweighs my criticisms. The author is obviously a good player and he does communicate his thoughts well. He also has found a teaching format that seems to work. I am fairly certain that my game has improved after reading it through once. I do, however, recommend that new players keep the book open while playing for reference, and review the chapter for the game they are learning frequently - as that’s probably the only way to learn all the instructions.
Is it worth the $39? To honestly answer this question, I am keeping in mind what the book attempts to be: An instruction manual that shows poker players of all skill levels how to earn an income playing online poker. I believe it lives up to that goal splendidly. Just a few good ideas, a couple of bad habits fixed, one in-the-money-finish, or a new game learned will pay for itself many times over. This book is full of gems that will help you accomplish all of those.
Check out the book at http://www.onlinepokerincome.com/
