Where to go after the DonkeyTest?

[ElKabong]

New member here (WV), took the Donkey test the other day and scored a 92.
Only played some casual games and small tourneys, plus a little online.

I do OK in the small cash games, so-so in the tourneys and am up some online (took advantage of several nice sign up bonuses and freebies a few years ago). No hard stats obviously!

Here's my question, what would be the first book you would recommend to improve the cash game play?
We are getting live poker here very soon and would like to step the game up some.

Thanks,
ElKabong

[TwoToGo-Grave]

First off, welcome.  The NL ring game book that I love is No Limit Hold'em Theory and Practice by David Sklansky.  It offers wonderful advice for improving cash game play.  Also, even though it's a tourney book, Harrington on Hold'em Volume I offers wonderful advice on fundamental NL play and can certainly be used in all forms of hold'em (his second book is the one that is really is straight up tourney book).  Also, while these really provide fundamentals, there is nothing that comes close to gaining experience, seeing and learning to read situations, and giving a lot of thought and analysis to your play.
I hope that you enjoy it at HPT (I'm sure you will) and I wish you good luck in your playing...

[Dr. Neau]

New member here (WV), took the Donkey test the other day and scored a 92.

My next tournament is December 15th!

[luckystraights]

If you play limit as well as NL, I have just finished Lee Jones 'Winning Low Limit Hold'em', purchased from a recommendation on here and think you'll find it useful, there are also some nice add-on sections on NL Sit-N-Go's at the back.

For tournament play especially my advise would be to find an author who "generally" plays in a style that you like, and then read there book first, once you've had some experience and picked up tips from the text on how you can improve your favored style, then you can read a text from another authors perspective to try and tighten up any weaknesses you may have.

I've just started to read Doyle's NL chapter in super system 2, from what I'm expecting, his overall approach won't apply to me (after reading tournament chapter), but some of his strengths, for instance very aggressive late stage play and willingness to put maximum pressure on his opponents at the right time, has been some of my weaknesses and is an area I'm looking to improve on by reading how he handles those situations.

[NotFadeAway]

Ignore the donkey test results.  That test is poorly designed and does not give great choices for answers.  Scoring bad on that certainly doesn't mean that you need to improve.  However, if you feel that you need to improve I agree with TwoToGo-Grave (who's my brother, by the way, so I guess I should agree with him) about No Limit Hold 'Em Theory and Practice.  It teaches you how to think about the game instead of just saying to 'do this' or 'do that.'

[FSL009]

I agree, the test obvioulsy has some point to it, but given most of the hand scenario's I would never find myself in because I would have folded the hand pre-flop I figured it didn't count for much.  I got 90.  I actually did it twice and answered differently the second time and got 90 again.

I imagine the real value is in what they charge for that would give you analysis of your thoughts in coming up with the choice you made. 

The real test is whether your bankroll consistently goes up over time or consistently goes down.

Mine goes up, with the odd hitch here and there (as documented in other posts on this website) from lapses in concentration,etc.

[austin5string]

I imagine the real value is in what they charge for that would give you analysis of your thoughts in coming up with the choice you made. 

I would imagine there's probably no value in that, either.

[Midnight Rose]

I imagine the real value is in what they charge for that would give you analysis of your thoughts in coming up with the choice you made. 

I would imagine there's probably no value in that, either.

Sure there's value in that; it's just that you can get that valuable information for free in forums like this, CT, and 2+2.

[austin5string]

I imagine the real value is in what they charge for that would give you analysis of your thoughts in coming up with the choice you made. 

I would imagine there's probably no value in that, either.

Sure there's value in that; it's just that you can get that valuable information for free in forums like this, CT, and 2+2.

Well, that's kinda what I meant - just didn't state it very clearly.  

The value of the information != the price charged, because it's available for free all over the place.