Secret HQ Poker Forums

I personally think that reading the book through before we get into it peicemeal is the best way to do it. Not only will it make the entire straregy more clear, but it will help us see what each strategy is leading into or leans on. Sure we learn its good to raise more than 5% of our hands, but how does that help us in balancing our lines. 200 pages later we find out (or so says the index). That doesn't mean at all however, that discussion should be limited until everyone reads all the book. This group can be utilized by its members however much they want.

But, this week I imagine we will be playing a little less than we normally do and studying a little more than we normally do. Maybe I should wait till next week for pairing up accountability partners for hand volumes.

I personally think that reading the book through before we get into it peicemeal is the best way to do it. Not only will it make the entire straregy more clear, but it will help us see what each strategy is leading into or leans on. Sure we learn its good to raise more than 5% of our hands, but how does that help us in balancing our lines. 200 pages later we find out (or so says the index).

I agree.

That doesn't mean at all however, that discussion should be limited until everyone reads all the book. This group can be utilized by its members however much they want.

I agree here too. Some people may want to take a leisurly pace and spread the book out over a few weeks, and I imagine people will be interested in moving forward long before then.

Maybe I should wait till next week for pairing up accountability partners for hand volumes.

Why do we need pairs for hand volumes? I guess I thought that we would pick a day and just post our goals and updates in the thread. Maybe have one person keep track of it all in a spreadsheet and post organized updates in the thread.

Team name suggestions:
Stack-Limit Hold Thems: A SSNLHE Study Group

That will work too. My thoughts were if we have one person PMing us every few days telling us wehre they are at and where we are at it wont clutter up the thread. And it will be easier to keep track of two people (yourself and your partner) vs everyone in the group. And it would be more work for the one person in charge of organizing, and if he screws the pooch, nothing.

Something to think about, definitely.

definitely

I just wanted to say thank you to elcho for spelling this word correctly. It tilts me when people spell it 'definately' or 'definetly.'

/hijack

Personally, I would be in favor of initially dividing each Part by weeks and then posting questions, comments, hand histories, videos, or whatever can be related to the subject matter and everyone can comment and participate. That way we can get started relatively soon, but it allows enough time for someone who wants to read everything through a chance to that while it also allows people a chance to read it by section as we go at a more leisurely pace.

Since it's already Tuesday, this would be a short week, which is fine because Part 1 is a short Part. So between now and Sunday (06/21/2009), everyone has a chance to finish reading the 16 pages that constitute Part 1 and then start contributing or responding to contributions. The whole week from Sunday to Saturday is devoted to Part 1 all the while we start reading Part 2 in our spare time to be ready for the following week 06/28/2009 - 07/04/2009. Part 3 would be 07/05/2009 - 07/11/2009 and Part 4 would be 07/12/2009 - 07/18/2009. There would also be nothing wrong with coming back to Part 1 discussion after Part 2 has started or something similar.

But whatever everyone else wants to do is fine with me either way.

As for my background, I started playing poker in 2004 in home games, made a small online deposit, doubled my money after a couple of months, and cashed out after getting burned out from playing so much. A couple years later, I got the itch again and started playing online again in December at the lowest no limit possible $2NL and I'm now at the tail end of $10NL with almost enough money to move up to $25NL. On average, I've only put in a modest number of hands per week around 1500 or so. To me, at this time, quality of play and fun is much more important than volume or making money. But, to each his or her own.

Does anyone know about google documents ? i know some of the coaching group courses set up google documents or something in which they all post and share there hands , i think this would be a good way to keep track of number of hands , if someone knows how to set it up just have all our names down one side and weekly dates across the top or something like that , then again i dont know what google documents are so im pretty much talkin out my arse
anywho i think clkou has a good idea of how to break up the parts / when to start and im almost definately sure my spelling sucks

definately sure my spelling sucks

ARRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!

Okay, so the two competing concerns that I see are:
1 - Let's at least get started and move along at a reasonable pace.
2 - I'd like to read the whole book before we start breaking it apart piece by piece so that I have a feel for our overall game plan.

I propose we start now, but not move too quickly at first to give people a chance to read through the book while we start discussing the early parts.

First, a bit on the schedule. I personally like a Monday - Sunday per topic (or chapter, or part, or whatever amount of material we decide). I think people are more apt to be available on the weekend and I like the idea of being able to actively hash it out on one subject, and then moving on the next week. This schedule would also help ensure that everyone has had time to read the material before the the weekend when I expect the heaviest volume of posting and interaction. Thoughts?

For this week, I propose we tackle Part 1, starting now going through Sunday. It's only about 15 pages of material, and likely to be some of the easiest in the book.

(EDITED) Next week, my suggestion would be to tackle pages 32 - 48, which covers the introduction to beating 1/2, the entire blind stealing section, and some other misc things. I'd like to hear opinions on whether this is too much or too little to cover this week. Remember though, the goal is to really understand the material and work in some time to apply it before going forward. Rushing though for the sake of finishing faster does not a better poker player make.

ARRRRGHHHHHHH!!!!

You knew what he meant irregardless.

(see what I did there?)

Okay, so the two competing concerns that I see are:
1 - Let's at least get started and move along at a reasonable pace.
2 - I'd like to read the whole book before we start breaking it apart piece by piece so that I have a feel for our overall game plan.

I propose we start now, but not move too quickly at first to give people a chance to read through the book while we start discussing the early parts.

First, a bit on the schedule. I personally like a Monday - Sunday per topic (or chapter, or part, or whatever amount of material we decide). I think people are more apt to be available on the weekend and I like the idea of being able to actively hash it out on one subject, and then moving on the next week. This schedule would also help ensure that everyone has had time to read the material before the the weekend when I expect the heaviest volume of posting and interaction. Thoughts?

For this week, I propose we tackle Part 1, starting now going through Sunday. It's only about 15 pages of material, and likely to be some of the easiest in the book.

(EDITED) Next week, my suggestion would be to tackle pages 32 - 48, which covers the introduction to beating 1/2, the entire blind stealing section, and some other misc things. I'd like to hear opinions on whether this is too much or too little to cover this week. Remember though, the goal is to really understand the material and work in some time to apply it before going forward. Rushing though for the sake of finishing faster does not a better poker player make.

I like this idea.

Got the book yesterday. I'm a little less than 1/2 way through and so far it's very good.

Any micro/small stakes player who is serious about the game needs to get this.

I'm reading it now.

Just finishing the bit about cbetting, and although I was initially dubious about the advice given in the first half, the later half of the section addressed my concerns. Basically, I've realised the need to read the whole lot before making any further out of whack judgements.

Good stuff imo.

I'd like to join in too. Just get the book and will sit down this afternoon to start digging in.

elcholodeamor did you finish the book ? if so what are your overall thoughts ?

I hope Matt doesn't mind, but I'm going to quote from the book here. It's taken from Professional No-Limit Hold’em.

We discussed the commitment threshold in detail in
Professional No-Limit Hold’em: Volume 1. The executive bullet
points are:
* Don’t put in a third of your stack (or any big chunk of it)
and then fold…
* Unless you are bluffing…
* Or you thought you would have the best of it in a big pot
but new information changed your mind.

I just want to double highlight this part as it is the bit I misinterpreted when I first read that book.

An excelent example is also given:

Conceding a third of your stack is a disaster. Of course, some
disasters are unavoidable. For example, say you flop two pair on a
board with a flush draw. A third or so of the stacks go in, leaving
one big bet behind. The flush hits on the turn. Your opponent pushes. If you think he has the flush, fold. You accept the small
disaster to avoid a bigger one.

If you see this matt and would rather it wasn't posted, then drop me a msg and I'll remove it. I do however think It's a important point that bears repeating.

The rest of the summary on comitment is well worth a read too.