Poker Book Review: Kill Everyone

The 2005 poker book ‘Kill Phil’ ‘was an instant hit as its “push or fold” strategies discussed were an effective technique for less experienced players to level the tournament poker playing field. Now, in ‘Kill Everyone’ the authors go several steps further and advocate strategies for more advanced players, who have perhaps benefited from already having read their earlier offering.
The co-writers do an excellent job of combining their fields of expertise, with 2+2 article writer Tysen Streib putting together the graphs and charts in the book, Kim Lee applying his mathematical and financial skills to poker situations, while Lee Nelson brings his huge poker knowledge and experience to the book.
As explained in the introduction, the intention of ‘Kill Everyone’ was “to marry poker math with real-time experiences to provide a sound approach to recurring situations you’ll encounter as you accumulate chips and approach the money.”
The 307 page book comprises three sections on No Limit Texas Holdem tournaments, although many of the concepts are equally as applicable to SNGs and satellites as well. The fourth section is written by online poker pro Mark Vos who discusses winning strategies for short handed online cash games.
One of the greatest strengths of ‘Kill Everyone’ relates to its explaination of ‘equilibrium solutions’ and the author’s proposed strategies that will allow the reader to play the correct moves in a variety of situations, assuming that your opponent plays optimally. They have also worked out strategies to exploit any deviations by your opponent from optimal play, while staying safe from exploitation yourself.
In fact, many of these concepts have taken poker professionals years to find out, but as Lee Nelson explains: “I’ve been asked a number of times why we wrote a book that divulges so much information? My answer is always the same: “If we’re going to write something we’d better provide value or it makes no sense to say anything.”
Although not all of ‘Kill Everyone’ is revolutionary, some parts of the book are outstanding and any poker playing ignorant of the section covering ‘equilibrium solutions’ will find themselves impoverished as a result. I would thoroughly recommend this book to any poker enthusiasts looking to take their No Limit Texas Holdem tournament strategy to the next level.