The Poker Blueprint: Advanced Strategies for Crushing Micro & Small Stakes NL Paperback – February 15, 2010

When I went to buy this book, I hoped for the best but sort of expected a mediocre rehash of the same concepts bandied around at 2+2, Harrington, etc. I was very pleasantly surprised to finally see strategies explained that work for styles other than nittish 14/8, 9/7 etc. The post-flop play section was excellent and finally explained the reasoning behind the moves.My previous experience at micro stakes NL games is the "grinder" nit, where you basically fall asleep waiting for some 88+, AQ+, JTs+, ATs+ hands to come, then raise 3xBB, c-bet the flop, and if anyone is still in the hand post-flop you are probably behind unless you have a set or 2 pair, but you bet the turn with your single pair and either end up folding to a shove or else calling off the stack and wishing you folded.I was very exploitable post-flop and didnt realize it, but because I was still making 6-10BB/100, I didnt really think too much about it being a "problem". After reading this book, it is much more fun playing poker and there is really a good chance of running up a big stack during a session, rather than grinding out a few BBs over hours.After reading this book in a day (yes, it is THAT interesting) and playing a while trying out some of the new moves I learned about, I have experienced an awakening of sorts. Really a change of mindset.Basically, the idea is to maximize your expectation over time regardless of individual hands. In other words, instead of being a nit never risking any money except on premium hands and waiting for a near-lock situation to bet or raise, you have to mix it up enough to generate other opportunities. A pleasant side effect is getting paid off much more often on your premium hands because people think you 3-bet too much. I now welcome deep stack tables instead of avoiding them, and am improving enough to make decent money.

I am extremely satisfied with my purchase of Tri Nguyen's book.First of all, it is a must read for any poker player who wants to win. The contents of this book set it apart from so many books that fail to emphasize the points that are layed out in this concise, informative, and outstanding manual on how to crush the tables.The concepts can be applied in both tournaments and cash games, and the framework for this work is both enlightening and impressive. As someone who has been playing no limit for over a decade I greatly appreciate this work on my shelf of Mr. Nguyen and will be looking for any future works from this author.Nguyen is the master and much can be learned from him from all players of all levels and skill expertise. I even think Phil Ivey would be impressed. Dan Harrington's socks would probably get blown off with his boston baseball cap.

I bought his book for my son who is studying to be a professional poker player. Yes I did say studying. What separates the amateur from the professional is knowledge - and that goes for pretty much any profession. That said my son is an advanced poker player so I felt pretty comfortable about getting him this book since I knew he would grasp the concepts given how much he already knows and how often he plays - which is constantly.His opinion on the book echoes what others have already noted. He gave it 7 out of 10 so four stars here. The concepts in the book are advanced so for many it might not be very helpful depending on their stage of development. For him it has provided a lot of good concepts that he references regularly.He would recommend this book for anyone serious about learning poker as a possible career. He did say it could be helpful for a beginner as well, but there may be better books out there for someone just starting out.

I am a struggling poker player win some/loose some. This book is packed full of knowledge from a professional and i believe my game will benefit from it. Problem is, like others have said, the layout is sometimes hard to follow, and it is poorly edited. Lots of typos and hard to understand situations. The concepts in the book could have been laid out more clearly; had more time been taken to proof read, if it actually was.I am putting the information to use in my play, but I am having to read and reread in order to implement the concepts in the book.

I would rate this as one of the top 5 no limit books available today. I paid more than the current price and still think that was a bargain.I do not necessarily recommend this if it's your first no limit book. The concepts are advanced and are presented in more of a summary format. As a result, it's extremely valuable if you have a solid foundation as it will help you quickly spot weaknesses and identify new opportunities in your current game, but may not provide enough background and depth if you're a newer player.

I will keep this short and simple. You have to read this book twice , three times to fully devour it.Since reading i have become profitable in 10NL . even tho the book is for 100nl the strategies generally apply to smaller games as well (6 max)Looking forward to moving up the ranks with the knowledge acquired in this book.I especially love the section where he tells you to take a stab and move up even w/o the roll because as we get older we generally lose the edge of aggression and settle in.Excellent read! BUY BUY BUY!

This is a great book to read if you are looking for an overall game plan and how to deal with most common situations in NLH. It contains a lot of information that will help the novice player understand all the fundamental concepts of poker, but it also has a lot of interesting insights for the seasoned veteran as well. Definitely a good addition to your poker library.