If you’ve followed my blog for a while or been on my email list for a while, you know that I rarely promote anyone else’s poker content. But this is a poker book I thought would be useful for live poker players who are trying to improve, so here it is:
James “SplitSuit” Sweeney is a professional poker coach and the co-creator of Red Chip Poker. His first book, Dynamic Full Ring Poker, is widely recognized as being one of the best books for full-table cash games (live or online), and is one I often recommend when serious-but-still-amateur players ask me for a poker strategy book recommendation.
In 2016 SplitSuit put out a new kind of book made especially for live poker: The Poker Workbook: Hand Reading for Live Players. This 233-page book is specifically focused on $1-2 and $2-5 live poker players who want to improve their range analysis and hand-reading abilities.
Here is James describing this workbook and who it’s for:
“With 40 exercises from $1/$2-$2/$5, you’ll encounter spots you see all the time at the table. Each exercises guides you through the hand reading process giving you time to pause, jot down your hand range assumptions, and then continue on. I’ve had hundreds of students ask me for homework since they know studying is important but they just don’t know what to study. This workbook is that homework you’ve been asking for.”
Here are some screenshots of what the workbook pages look like. It’s a visually pleasing book and easy to read and use. It’s well-designed.
James again: “This workbook has just one goal – to help you become a better hand reader. With a variety of $1/$2 and $2/$5 exercises outlining a step-by-step process for assigning better ranges, this book is for serious students who know they need to study – but they aren’t 100% sure how to study hand reading on a deeper level.”
This ebook edition of Hand Reading for Live Players is $70 and includes:
- The full-color workbook in PDF and EPUB file formats
- A complete video tutorial for the poker calculator tool Flopzilla
- A complete video tutorial for HoldEQ
- $50 discount code for The Hand Reading Lab (another SplitSuit product that you might like if you enjoy this book)
For $30 more, you can get a larger package that includes the Flopzilla program (a $25 value) and James’ preset ranges.
If you want the paperback, you can get it here on Amazon.
To sign up for SplitSuit’s email list, go to https://www.splitsuit.com/free-hand-reading-email-course.
James also has a Masterclass version of his workbook that comes with a lifetime license to Flopzilla, custom Flopzilla range presets, and 7+ hours of training content. James takes you behind the scenes of his process and answers for some hands in the workbook and also shares his private group-coaching sessions where he guides students through even more hands. You can grab your copy for less than a $2/$5 buy-in here: https://gumroad.com/a/963032179/wAPAI.