Online Ace: A World Series of Poker Champion's Guide to Mastering Internet Poker

The book contains lots of basic information which a lot of people will already know. However his advice on tournaments contained realy genuinly useful stuff - especially the sit and go section. He also talks about what type of strategy your opponents will be using and how to counter them. The book is light reading which is both a strength and a weakness, perhaps he could have gone in to more detail on cash games and opponent stereo types. Other games are mentioned apart from holdem which is interesting (omaha hi - lo sounds complex). Overall a good read for beginner - intermediate level players.

I thought the book was excellent; it was not a re-write or clone of everything else already out there. Although it is a niche book-addressing mostly online play- it is one of the best niche books I've read so far. Unlike many other poker books, Fischman's books teaches you how to "think" about the game in ways your opponents might not consider. There are more "nuggets" in this short text than many of the "cookie cutter" approach books coming down the pipeline.His format and style are also very refreshing after so many rehashed "clone" type poker books. Although he doesn't provide a "hand chart" type book, his strategic ideas are worth their weight and he gives away much more in the way of "secrets" than many of the other high profile authors seem to be willing to.If there is a drawback to his style, it is that he seems to have developed a great feel for the game which may be unique to him personally and is somewhat difficult to learn other than just by doing what he did. His insights and those shared by several other top pros are good food for thought and definitely got me thinking deeper about my game and online play specifically. He also covers several psychological factors that are not often discussed which make the book particularly valuable(tilt, burnout, boredom, etc). Overall a solid 5 for content and a 5+ for the bonus intangibles he provides. Highest recommendation.

If you're looking for your first poker book, this is not the one. If you're looking for your 20th poker book, this still isn't the one. If you're stuck on a plane for two hours and the choice is the in-flight magazine vs. this book, then this book is for you.Scott Fishman said in an interview with Phil Gordon that he hates reading books, and that he wrote this book so you can skim it in a couple of hours. He's certainly accomplished that, as this book is almost completely devoid of any content. It is full of "filler" material, like the rules of the game, hand rankings, a bunch of blank forms for keeping track of session notes, sample tournament structures, etc.Also, he asked a few pros "What is your #1 tip for aspiring players?" The result are platitudes like "practice makes perfect", "do not dwell on your mistakes", and "focus on exploiting weaknesses in players who are worse than you". This kind of stuff takes up another dozen pages.His main "message" can be summed up like this: there isn't a single correct style, you'll have to find what works best for you. Don't read books (he didn't), just put in time at the tables, talk to experts, practice a lot, and you'll eventually get pretty good.Here's my favorite bit of "advice" from his book: "Before I choose a Sit-n-Go, I like to take a look at two or three that are already running to find a 'lucky seat.'...I know this sounds ridiculous, but I'll talk more about positive superstitions in the next chapter." Now mind you, the book doesn't talk about pot-odds until the appendix, where he goes on to say that they're not really important, because "odds are nearly impossible to calculate accurately." Wow! Picking a lucky seat is worth talking about, but basic concepts like pot-odds aren't?!?!The only thing that makes this book two stars rather than completely worthless is his chapter on Sit-n-Gos. He actually shares some specific strategy ideas that are pretty interesting.Finally, there is almost nothing in this book that is specific to online poker. Any decent discussion would have to cover the tools specific to online, such as Pokertracker and how to interpret the various stats it generates, which he barely mentions.I think you get the picture: a quick read, lots of generalities, a waste of time.

I've been playing the $33 sit'n'go at PP for a while now and have had a very hard time cashing after regularly making the money at the $11 tables. I browsed the sit'n'go section of Online Ace at the local B&N and what I read helped me crack the $33 tables, cashing in 6 of the next 7 games I played. Needless to say I just put this in my Amazon checkout basket. Yes, it does cover a lot of common ground you can find in other books, but I like the fact that Fischman gets into decision making not just based on odds but on the specific strategy of "staying alive" in tourneys. Not too many other books explain why you might lay down pocket aces even looking at an unraised pot, but Fischman does.

Most poker players will find that this book contains a large amount of 'fluff' that they will skip over. While there are a couple of good paragraphs here and there, most of the topics discussed in the book should be well known to anyone who has been playing for a while.My main reason to purchase this book was that I was hoping for detailed discussion on strategies for SNG and multi table online tournaments. Unfortunately both of these chapters were very weak in the amount of material which was presented. IMO anyone would be better off purchasing one of many other NLH tournament books. (check the chapters out for yourself by going to your local book store)If you are a beginner looking to get better at playing poker, there are many other books that are better to start off with.If you are thinking of buying the book, I recommend going to the store and reading several chapters before you buy it. The book is written in an easy to read format so it will not take very long to get a feel for the book.