Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Some good information
I must admit after reading some of Sklansky's other books I was a little disappointed. As other reviewers pointed out this book seems more for beginners than for "advanced" players. If you are a beginner this is certainly a book for you. However if you have read some other books on poker and tournaments in general and have played some tournaments then this book will not be very helpful
Rating:  - A very decent book with a confusing name
The ambiguity in the name of this book is something that confuses a lot of people, including some reviewers. The target audience of this book is ADVANCED poker players who have NOT played much in tournaments. Experienced tournament players might get something out of it too, or use it as reference, but they are NOT who the author had in mind. So, if you are looking for advanced tournament tips, skip this one, save some money and aggravation, and drop me a "thank you" note. :-)This said, the book accomplishes what it is set to do rather well. There is a large number of very solid poker players who almost never play in tournaments simply because the price of learning tournament basics through first-hand experience is rather high. On the other hand, explaining tournament basics to an advanced player is easy, or at least Sklansky makes it seem this way. If you are a good player thinking of playing tournaments, read this book -- it has answers to most of your questions.
Rating: - Has some useful information
I play a lot of tournament poker-- about a hundred small- to large-buyin live tournaments, and hundreds online, each year. David's book has excellent, easy-to-understand explanations of key tournament concepts. His description of why the value of a chip changes during a tournament is clear, concise, and spot-on, and what he calls the "gap concept" is something that every solid tournament player understands intuitively. "Advanced Players" is a misnomer, though. If you've played a few dozen tournaments, you probably know most of what is in this book. I was hoping to see a mathematical analysis of such things as tournament equity, all-in equities, and special considerations for different games and tournament formats, and it wasn't there. I think the book is moderately good, though technically light. David isn't really a tournament expert, and it shows. He places far too much emphasis on moving up the payscale, and not nearly enough on playing to win. I understand that he gave exactly this sort of performance in the 2002 WSOP main event-- getting into the money, then basically blinding off his stack without playing many hands. If you're serious about tournament poker you should read this book, but you should do so with a critical eye-- I believe it does contain some misinformation. It's certainly better than the first embarrassing tournament offering from Two Plus Two.
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