Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have played poker full time for over ten years at mid-levels both live and online. I wanted to improve my hand reading skills and have been impressed with Mr. Miller's other books. Soon into studying this book I began to wonder if he was deliberately trying to constipate our thinking process. Of course, the math and the logic in the book seem flawless. The problem is that the methods taught are essentially unworkable as presented. I'll provide specifics, including his own words. In his very first example of how to read hands he estimates an opponent's range AFTER THE TURN as being 31 different hands comprised of 176 combos. Is that actually helpful? Remember, this is after the turn. You are in trouble if that's the best you can do. In example after example I found myself thinking, "Nobody, except maybe Rain Man, actually does this. It takes too long." Ed Miller himself provides a surprising confirmation. Consider this quote from page 167: "Throughout this book I've talked about the process of hand reading. I started by defining hand ranges. I introduced notation for hand ranges. And then I enumerated range after range in excruciating detail. If you try to do this at the table, you'll get mixed up, your opponents will call time on you, and ultimately your brain will melt....It's too much work." Then he says he'll now, in the last few pages of the book, tell us how he actually reads hands that won't make my brain melt. I thought, "Finally!" Unfortunately, all his examples of how he supposedly thinks we're just like all the preceding examples. I decided to check my perception. I timed how long it took to fast read, without trying for comprehension, a typical example of how Mr. Miller thinks during a hand. Three and a half minutes! Working through the material at home and getting intimately familiar with typical ranges will be valuable to most players. Grasping that playing your range against his/her range is a better way to think about it is also valuable. I was just disappointed that nowhere in the book does he actually share how he really does it in a live situation where one doesn't have all the time in the world and often doesn't want to be seen thinking laboriously about a hand decision. Further, his examples assume a level of familiarity with other player's hand choices that I think most people will find rarely occurs. Perhaps in a small room of regulars or a home game. Or online where you can rely on stats. While the math and logic material is very good, I really feel the author failed to deliver the most vital thing: how to convert all this to a true process player's can use at the table. Given the high price for a slim book, this gap is especially glaring. If you buy this book just know that you'll have to create your own methods to use in real situations.