Harrington on Cash

[kinboshi]

These are now out and available to order for delivery this week.

So is it worth me buying them?  I can see no point buying just one of them, so we're talking £35.  Suppose it's not a lot in the scheme of things, but will it help improve my cash game?  Are they going to be read as widely as his tournament trilogy?  If so, is it important to read them to know what my opponents have read and how they might be thinking/playing?

I play low stakes cash and need to learn a lot, so are these a good investment or waste of money?

[AndrewT]

I've had both of them for about three weeks and, to be honest, not had more than a quick flick through. Don't appear to be as essential as the tournament books. First book is a bit Noddy in places, which is to be expected.

[byronkincaid]

read the first one, they are FR books not 6 max.

[kinboshi]

What did you reckon to it?  Would you recommend it to a low stakes player like me?  I play full-ring live and am actually starting to play more full-ring online as well.

[byronkincaid]

i dunno, i s'pose so, some bits where he's talking about general concepts were great, but a lot of the hand examples are zzzzzzzzzz, i was a bit disappointed tbh. probably worth a read

[DUNK619]

What did you reckon to it?  Would you recommend it to a low stakes player like me?  I play full-ring live and am actually starting to play more full-ring online as well.

  if theres a volume called harrington on folding dont bother youve already mastered that

[TightEnd]

Here are Andy Ward's thoughts on secrets of the Amateurs his excellent strategy blog
"Friday, April 11, 2008
 
Harrington On Volatility

The Harrington cash books arrived this week and having skimmed through them they are a bit underwhelming TBH. Definitely worth buying, don't get me wrong, I've always said that a book with any useful information in it at all is going to be worthwhile providing you're good enough to sift what's useful from what's not and what's downright unhelpful. But a lot of the specific hand advice isn't really new to me because I've picked most of it up through watching training videos online.

My favourite parts of the books are the more general discussions. There's an excellent interview with Bobby Hoff, and some interesting thoughts on the loose-aggressive style. During that section, if I may take the liberty to quote directly, Dan says :

"Most people, in any endeavour that blends skill with some sort of randomizing agent .. that causes huge volatility, want to somehow extract the skill and its rewards, and leave the volatility behind"

and then "Courting volatility is inherently profitable. The more volatility you can endure, the higher your expected return in a skill/chance arena ... In poker, the volatility is extreme, and many, if not most, players are willing to pay a little bit to reduce it. At any table, the long-term collectors of this 'volatility tax' are the loose-aggressive players".

All spot on, but what I think is most interesting is that this advice would have been even better placed in the tournament books, which tend too much to the passive for my liking. The dichotomy (ooh) in tournaments is that it helps a lot to consider, and try to reduce, volatility when you choose which tournaments to play in, but, once you're in a tournament, you should be embracing a lot of high-volatility situations when you are liable to profit at the expense of opponents who are trying to avoid risk"


 

[bolt pp]

i dunno, i s'pose so, some bits where he's talking about general concepts were great, but a lot of the hand examples are zzzzzzzzzz, i was a bit disappointed tbh. probably worth a read

So it's a boringly great book thats disappointingly worth a read?

Cheers, i'll stick to reading Asian babes

[kinboshi]

i dunno, i s'pose so, some bits where he's talking about general concepts were great, but a lot of the hand examples are zzzzzzzzzz, i was a bit disappointed tbh. probably worth a read

So it's a boringly great book thats disappointingly worth a read?

Cheers, i'll stick to reading Asian babes

Want to do a swap when I've finished with Harrington?

[totalise]

theres nothing really groundbreaking in them, so its not like they are going to revolutionise the game, but almost any poker book is worth buying just in case theres one thing in it that improves your game even slightly, so w/e.. I'd buy them if i were you.

[kinboshi]

Thanks for the opinions.  You're all right though - they can only improve my game.

They are ordered

[bolt pp]

i dunno, i s'pose so, some bits where he's talking about general concepts were great, but a lot of the hand examples are zzzzzzzzzz, i was a bit disappointed tbh. probably worth a read

So it's a boringly great book thats disappointingly worth a read?

Cheers, i'll stick to reading Asian babes

Want to do a swap when I've finished with Harrington?

I'm not sure that weve got the same intentions regarding our respective reading materials and i dont think my copy of asian babes will be in as good a condition as your harrington when it's time to swap, though i suppose that depends on how much you enjoyed harringtons cash game strategy

[kinboshi]

i dunno, i s'pose so, some bits where he's talking about general concepts were great, but a lot of the hand examples are zzzzzzzzzz, i was a bit disappointed tbh. probably worth a read

So it's a boringly great book thats disappointingly worth a read?

Cheers, i'll stick to reading Asian babes

Want to do a swap when I've finished with Harrington?

I'm not sure that weve got the same intentions regarding our respective reading materials and i dont think my copy of asian babes will be in as good a condition as your harrington when it's time to swap, though i suppose that depends on how much you enjoyed harringtons cash game strategy

I'm going for the laminated version.

[AlexMartin]

Tbh im not a great fan although only just started. 

Compare it to say, Fees 5k post @ 6M shorthanded on 2+2 and it looks like a waste of £35, iv kept the reciept and im turning the pages gently.

[boldie]

Thanks for the opinions.  You're all right though - they can only improve my game.

They are ordered

Hell even Asian Babes would improve your game