Professional No-Limit Hold ‘em: Volume 1, by Matt Flynn, Sunny Mehta, Ed Miller
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While it took them a decent amount of time, 2+2 now seems to be on the ball in regards to publishing books that focus on no limit cash games. This book is Ed Miller’s second foray into NLHE cash, the first being a fairly well-received introductory text co-authored with Sklansky. Miller apparently took somewhat of an advisory role in the creation of this text, leaving the heavy lifting to Flynn and Mehta. The result is an interesting, if somewhat uneven, guide to developing your no limit cash game.
Overview
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PNLHE attempts to present a broad approach to the game that will have utility and meaning across multiple limits, from low-stakes to high-stakes. The book’s core is found in the development and application of two key concepts that the authors believe offer the key to solving most no limit problems: REM (Range, Equity and Maximize) and SPR (Stack to Pot Ratios). You’ll find discussion on other NLHE cash concepts sprinkled throughout the book, especially at the start, but these two concepts receive the majority of the author’s attention.
Book Structure
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Classic 2+2 set up - concepts are presented, overviewed, deconstructed and then reassembled and applied, in that order. You’ll also find the wide margins and large typeface that’s common to books with the 2+2 imprint.
Unique Advantages
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The book is clearly written, well-argued and decently illustrated. The ideas presented in the text might not be revelations to a lot of players, but they certainly do have utility in just about any conceivable no limit cash game that you can play, whether live or online.
Disadvantages
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The two core concepts (REM and SPR) are, more or less, just systemized common sense. There’s not a whole lot of new ground being broken here, and at points it really feels like the authors are spending excessive amounts of page space trying to convince you of the brilliance of their system - an overcompensation that drags down the flow of the book.
The book is also heavily weighted toward live cash play in terms of examples and applicability, and primarily covers full ring application of the ideas presented.
Conclusion
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Good book, and worth your time. I just wish it lacked the unjustified self-importance that spoils too many of its pages.
Focus: 10/10
NLHE cash is the exclusive focus, and there’s a minimum of filler.
Quality of advice: 8/10
The advice given is solid, if not a bit familiar.
Examples: 10/10
Good in terms of quality and quantity.
Readability: 7/10
The incessant self-pats-on-the-back and occasional clunky sentence hurt the book in this area.
Overall (not an average): 8/10
There’s no good reason not to buy this book, but there aren’t a ton of great reasons to run out and get it right now.
VERDICT: This book could have been 100 pages shorter and it wouldn’t have mattered much. That said, the remaining pages are excellent, so add it to the library.
