lakeoffire says

Thanks, Bond. I'll check it out.

01/08/08

EdmondDantes says

Just ordered it from Amazon.com. Thanks for the review.

01/08/08

Anonymous says

Great review! Will definitely look into it.

01/09/08

harlem says

What the hell, I'll order too base on this review. I can always use more chicken paper.

01/09/08

lakong says

Sounds worthwhile. I read Kill Bill and liked it, will probably get this one after reading your review. Tony, Tony, Tony. Kyle sent me the Poker News update with your day 1 chip lead in the $1k event. Geez, was I disappointed to read the news the next day. I'm sure not nearly as disappointed as you. You will win one of these events. I'm sure of it!!!! Bring it home, buddy!

- Scot

01/10/08

Anonymous says

Always looking for another new resource for good info. Thanks for sharing.

01/21/08

Anonymous says

Read it too. Good review.

01/23/08

Anonymous says

Bond - good review. I'm almost through the book, and I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts. For me, this is "the right book at the right time" in my MTT development/career. Unfortunately, it's one of those learning tools you hope your opponents don't find out about (kinda like your blog). Keep up the great writing though! :)

01/23/08

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When Lee Nelson asked me to review his new book ‘Kill Everyone’ I got a little worried. I thought Lee was a nice guy, but I also thought that most of the poker literature out there was very sub par and despite Lee’s prolific success couldn’t be sure his would be any different. I didn’t want to offend the workings of a nice guy, but I also didn’t want to lie if I found the book off base or misguided. A few weeks later and I’ve now finished the book and am glad to say I don’t have to worry about offending anyone or lying. Also, let me clarify that I am not being paid to write this or given any real incentive to give a positive review (though I did get a free book out of it, so I guess if you want to be a nit about it I got paid.)

Lee Nelson and crew are entirely aware that in writing a book about tournament strategy they are treading in the shadow of Dan Harrington and his three tournament volumes ‘Harrington on Hold’em’. Are there moments of overlap? Well sure, as is the case with any informative poker literature, but Nelson and crew find ways to address some newer topics as well as some topics more thoroughly. I debated how to write this review, and writing it like some form of book report seems pointless and gratuitous. What seems more appropriate is to list off ideas covered in the book and how I felt they were addressed:

What did they cover well?

Stack Sizes: As I’ve written of before, I think the end all of tournament strategy lies in evaluation of stack sizes and their influence on the action. Nelson uses ‘CSI’, or chip status index, the stat that Harrington refers to as ‘M’. Nelson discusses what stack sizes are appropriate for raising what ranges of hands, and how ‘relevant stacks’ (what we online call ‘effective stacks’) are the determining factor in stack size decisions between multiple players. He also outlines numerous rules for what % of your stack you can play for with what holdings. My favorite part of this section is the ‘unexploitable resteal’ charts that list hand ranges next to CSI based on villains perceived range. He also addressed what Skalansky referred to as the ‘gap concept’ more thoroughly, discussing what calling vs raising ranges should be with again, more thorough charts.

Equilibrium Play: This concept, what most online players would likely call ‘unexploitable play’ delves into the idea of making plays that are mathematically optimal. The concept is first heavily detailed by looking at shoving ranges according to CSI. The section can seem mathematically esoteric, which is fine since Nelson doesn’t ask that you memorize the math, simply understand the math behind the ranges. To simplify everything Nelson and crew come up with what they call ‘The Power Number’ (PN), a straight forward equation that allows you to simplify the math behind push/fold situations and attain a high level of accuracy.

Prize Pools: Next Nelson and crew talk about prize pools and structures. One difficult aspect of tournament play is determining when cEV diverges from $EV. In order to address the topic Nelson pulls out the sit-n-go standby, ICM (Independent Chip Model.) Again, the reader is exposed to some fairly elaborate math, though luckily for those unaware the book provides the web address of a free ICM calculator. In this portion one of the more interesting aspects come up as the team addresses the idea of the ‘bubble factor’ and how the divergence of cEV and $EV can be calculated and how it affects pot odds situations in bubble scenarios. One highly interesting aspect of this tournament is the graphed bubble factors of both the 2006 WSOP ME and the Stars Sunday Million, giving the reader a visual representation of how bubble situations effect the $EV of their decisions.

Sit-N-Go play: The book also covers, and has special portions devoted to, Sit-N-Go play. Seeing as I haven’t done any serious SNG play in four years I feel fairly unqualified to address the topic in detail. Either way the book still addresses what is obviously the highly important aspects in detail; bubble play, equilibrium steals, stack relevance, and cEV as opposed to $EV.

Short Handed/Heads up Play: Here ‘Kill Everyone’ provides the best break down of the math behind short handed MTT situations I’ve seen so far. Short handed and heads up play in the real world is so often an ‘it depends/player dependant’ kind of situation. KE does it’s absolute best to take out the variables and provide relevant information to the kind of stack sizes you should be playing what kind of ranges against villains. On pages 179 through 188 are some excellent charts detailing what kind of hands should be called, folded, and reraised with in shorter stack situations. It’s as accurate a break down you’re going to get in a situation so cumbersome to discuss. The book then discusses more deep stacked play and the kind of hands we need to be playing and with what type of consistency we should be continuation betting.

Were there any omissions?

Two things stuck out at me as omissions that should make some material for perhaps a third book in the series.

A. Hand reading in post flop play: That’s not to say by any means that the book is devoid of this kind of information. On the contrary there are some example hands that Nelson has played where he breaks down his thought process, his reads on players, and explains why he takes the action he does with effectiveness. Also of relevance is the section on tell reading. However, reading hands in deeper stacked post flop situations (which is a highly complicated topic that is often more relevant in cash game strategy) still seems like a good topic to cover more thoroughly in future works.
B. Hand Exercises: As Harrington had for his volume three a work book or hand exercise section written by Nelson and crew would be of real use and getting some practice for the applications/ideas presented in the book would be a very good idea in my opinion.


Overall thoughts?

First of all let me say I really think this book is for people on the intermediate to advanced level. The math and terms in the book are likely a bit to esoteric for the inexperienced, so odds are they should start elsewhere, perhaps with Nelsons first book ‘Kill Phil’ or any other numerous publications for novices. Nelsons book reads like a meld of Skalansky and Harrington, very heavy on the math though with the application and explanation to understand how it’s relevant to the topics it’s evaluating the worth of. There are more charts and graphs than in your average math textbook, but all of them are useful. Can very advanced players learn something from this? I would say so, especially when it comes to having a very precise idea of shoving and reshoving ranges in a concise manner if you haven’t spend hours upon hours toying around with sit-n-go power tools. The book isn’t the easiest read of all time, but the information inside easily warrants that.