Well worth reading

books:


	• How To Win The Championship: Hold'em Strategies for The Final Table T.J. Cloutier Cardoza, 2006 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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Well worth reading

Like most of Cloutier's books, this reads like a transcript of conversations with him. It is not that well organized, and more specific examples would be helpful. BUT, you learn about the thought process of one of the best. It is hard to imagine too many serious players, who would not benefit from reading this book and thinking about the ideas. I probably won't re-read this book as often as Harrington or Gordon's, but it will be on the active part of my poker bookshelf.

Inside TJ's Mind

I have almost 30 books on Hold'em. Other than Harrington's books which are excellent, almost none put you really, and I mean REALLY inside the mind of the author/player (Erick Lindgren's book does a good job of this though). I've had the good fortune to have met TJ a couple of times, and ask him some questions. But in How To Win The Championship he brings you into his thought process, to the point where he even says that some more mathematical players may not agree, but he does it so-and-so way and here's why. The information is non-stop, with essentially no fluff. But be warned, if you are just a beginning player who hasn't played in a tournament before, he doesn't go into basics and it doesn't tell you what to do at the beginning or middle stages of a tournament. This is really for a bit more experienced player. His book essentially starts off at the point where you are 1 table before getting into the money and goes on from there to heads up. Being a tournament player myself (I don't play cash games much at all), this book is perfect. I better understand why I've hit walls in the past and how I need to adjust my play to win or at least get into the top 3. I get in the money a reasonable number of times in live tournaments but have real trouble breaking into that upper pay echelon. He gives great advice on how not to flame out when you just make it into the money but not into the bigger money. Really key points that I haven't seen in other books. I realize that at some point we all need to stop buying all these books (yeah, learning never stops but 30 books? I must be a junkie!), but I really can say if you want to improve your tournament play, TJ's book is a must. His writing style is like he's talking to you about exactly what he does and why (also what he doesn't do and why you shouldn't either).

Chapters include:
* When you're one table away from the money
* When you've made it to the first money table
* When you've made it to the second money table
* When you've made it to the final table
* Six-handed at the final table
* Playing three-handed and heads up at the final table
* Several chapters on tournament strategies and some other thoughts.

As you can see, this book's content is pretty specific and I haven't seen this in other books. In fact, in many of those chapters, he further breaks them down into if you are a short, medium or big stack, because the size of your chip stack greatly influences the types of situations that you should get involved in. It's like you've got a coach you can talk to as you continue to advance in the tournament...especially useful for those who haven't been into the money or final table before or keep seeming to make mistakes and missing the big money.

Overall, highly recommended and it absolutely will pay for itself, whether you play in live or online tournaments.

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My favorite

Don't agree with the others who didn't like this book. It's my favorite out of 12 or so that I've bought on poker. Ok, so it doesn't get into specifics so much, but the strategy is very sound and the best for me.

This and Harrington's books are my favorites, but this one gets me farther in tournaments without having to analyze numbers to death. I truly believe this is the philosophy that got TJ all the wins he has and he's one of the best ever.

You can review a million hands and how they were played, what the pot odds were etc, and still not get to the final table as surely as this book will get you there.

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For players hungry to win hold'em and Omaha tournaments, the world's greatest tournament player gives specific advice on how to get to the final table where the big money is made-and then how to win it all! Players learn how to build up enough chips to make it to the final table and give themselves the best chance of winning the title, the trophy, and the money, using the same strategies that have taken T.J. Cloutier to the championship table of more tournaments than any player in the history of poker. Thirty-five chapters discuss key concepts: stack sizes, antes and blinds, table position, opponents styles, chip count of players, number of tables remaining, and tons of other concepts found nowhere else.

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