Book Review: The Poker Blueprint

A guide for micro-stakes.

Micro-stakes poker is generally dismissed as a simple case of playing solid poker and value-betting your opponents to death. It certainly makes sense, but you still have to know how to play solid poker and how to value-bet appropriately. In other words, you must get the basics right.

That is what Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen address with their ebook, The Poker Blueprint.

Aaron, a student of Tri, is still relatively unknown on the poker scene; however, it should not be a real concern for micro-stakes content. As for Tri, you can check the previous reviews of DailyVariance books on this blog.

The Poker Blueprint is 168 page, divided into 13 main chapters. Maths, preflop and postflop game are the bulk of the book, along with two chapters on 3bets and 4bets.

Chapter One, Play To Learn, is a one-page intro encouraging readers to always try and improve their game, rather than be happy with grinding effortlessly.

Chapter Two (3 pages) talks about table selection. Finding tables with fishes and choosing one’s seat accordingly is the name of the game.

Chapter Three (8 pages) discusses bankroll management. Interestingly, it advocates a pretty aggressive strategy for young players, arguing that it’s the best time to take calculated risks. Taking shots at higher limits is also not frowned upon, provided you can quickly move down if you lose a few buy-ins. Actually, when you listen to strong players talking about their earlier days playing poker, a good amount will acknowledge that they took crazy shots totally under-rolled; most often they ended up taking huge losses, but they learned a lot doing so, and perhaps that’s why they are where they are today. This is consistent with the learner vs grinder approach: taking shots is probably no good for the grinder, but it can be a great experience for the learner.

Chapter Four (20 pages) deals with essential math knowledge for the poker player. It shows how to count hands in a range and weigh each part, what odds and probabilities mean, what pot odds, implied odds and reverse implied odds are… An odds chart also lets one find the odds (or percentage) for a given number of outs and some standard situations.

The next few pages explain expected value, using several examples. Odds for bluffing the river or calling a river bluff, depending on bet size, are then examined (with a cheat sheet at the end of the chapter).

Obviously this is very basic material for experienced players, but for the newcomers or the purely recreational players, it is better to set them straight.

Chapter Five (20 pages) analyzes preflop game. It starts with the blinds, and how disadvantageous a position it is. Tight play is recommended, not getting out of line with loose calls or wild 3betting. Squeezes are also discussed, with several pointers to do it successfully. However, the authors warn about the variance and the risks of “spazzing out”, given that you would often have to follow through “light” postflop.

Specific ranges are included, so that new players
can get a working baseline for their preflop game.

The discussions moves to playing UTG, and again no surprise, tight play is still the way to go. Specific ranges are included, so that new players can get a working baseline for their preflop game. Pokerstove screenshots make them easy to remember.

Several factors impact what hands you can add or remove from your range, like the players sitting next to you, whether the table is passive or aggressive, how the blinds play etc. It is briefly explained in the book.

Other positions (MP, CO, BTN) are similarly reviewed (the later the position, the wider the range), with extra options if there is a previous limper or a raiser. As the authors note, some hands play well multiway so they can limp behind, while some other should raise or fold (or just raise for value). Iso-raising (ie. to isolate someone) is also something worth contemplating — or, conversely, just calling to keep others in when you have a strong hand. Blind stealing is also a consideration for late positions. A few examples illustrate the authors’ points.

Overall, this chapter should be quite useful for the intended audience; the ranges will give the reader a good idea of what to do in each position, and enough explanations are given so that he still understands what he does. The emphasis is clearly on practice rather than theory or concepts, though.

Chapter Six (53 pages) is about postflop play. First, the (three) reasons for betting (as opposed to checking or folding) in poker are explained — sound, fundamental knowledge. Continuation bets are then discussed: what opponents and flop textures to look for, what equity you need, how position impacts it, what to do if your opponent calls or raises etc.

Next come paired flops, and how they change typical ranges. Special attention is paid to paired flops in 3bet pots. Monotone flops follow, along with a short discussion on perceived ranges.

Donk bets (ie. leading) are then examined, including some do’s and don’ts. This is topic many micro-stakes players do not handle well, so the analysis is welcome.

Several other topics are covered, like when to raise as a bluff or for value, when to float or double-barrel, how to use a scare card, when to bet-fold, how to plan your bet sizes, when to go for the check-raise, and many other. Each part is one or two page long and several examples are provided.

I would say this chapter is the meat of the book; even though the following chapters on 3bets and 4bets are important too, one can safely get away with a tight 3betting strategy, whereas postflop leaks and misconceptions inevitably take a huge toll on results. Experienced players will already know most of this, but micro-stakes players will pick a lot of useful information for sure.

Chapter Seven (17 pages) deals with 3betting preflop. This is a major element of today’s games, even at micro-stakes: everybody talks about it, so many micro-stakes players want to have some fun too. Polarization is one of the important concepts involved in 3bets, but above all you must evaluate your opponents carefully, since you don’t 3bet everyone for the same reasons and with the same type of hands.

This is a solid primer on 3betting.

Most important questions are covered, including postflop play in 3bet pots and several countermeasures against usual 3bettors, from tighter opening ranges to 4bet-bluffs. This is a solid primer on 3betting.

Chapter Eight (4 pages) focuses on some aspect of 4betting that were not covered in the previous chapter — namely, playing some “tweeners” (like AQ) or the (premium) AK.

Chapter Nine (3 pages) is entitled Adjusting Against Different Players. It contains a hand history and enumerates the different options versus several types of opponents (nit, loose-passive, decent tag, good, aggressive player…)

Chapter Ten (7 pages) is about range balancing. The authors remind that it is only necessary against good players, since bad ones are not observant enough to realize your range can be unbalanced. Against good players, there are times when your perceived range is too strong and you should include more bluffs in it, while sometimes you want to value bet in spots where you appear weak.

Sometimes, your opponent’s range also screams weakness if you can read hands, and it is a good time to exploit his unbalanced range (eg. with a strong raise).

Chapter Eleven (3 pages) briefly talks about multiway pots. More precisely, it shows a play that you can sometimes make in multiway pots, even though it is pretty risky.

Chapter Twelve (4 pages) deals with scare cards. They have been mentioned in the postflop chapter, but a few more examples are provided here. The last one is closer to what can be found in more advanced books like The NLHE Workbook – Exploiting Regulars.

Chapter Thirteen (3 pages) gives a few pointers regarding timing tells eg. quick calls, tanking and calling etc.

The last few pages contain a glossary and some final words.

Recommended?

The Poker Blueprint offers a good mix of essential material and more advanced topics, always presented in a practical way. It is easy to read, and it contains many examples. A beginner, or anyone struggling with micro-stakes, will certainly benefit a lot from reading this book.

On the minus side, perhaps the target audience is too wide to please everyone: the math chapter is very basic, while some discussed plays in 3bet pots require good judgment — it is hard to imagine someone taking advantage of both.

I would also have liked a bit more equity analyses in various spots, as well as more detailed range compositions (eg. in 3bet pots), supported with some maths. It might have overshot the beginners, but as a result it is somewhat unclear what frequency you should 3bet-bluff with against someone who can play back.

The book is reasonably well organized, even though a few very short chapters could have been included elsewhere, or grouped together.

Yet, the real clincher is the $37 price tag (as of this writing): even with some shortcomings, there is still a lot of value in buying this book if you play NL50 or below.

You can find further information on the DailyVariance page about the blueprint.

Note: I received a review copy of this book.