Best Recent Poker Books

luckylucky

I'm going to order some books off /amazon shortly, so I thought I might as well get a few poker ones as well.

Was thinking of getting
Winning in Tough Hold 'em Games by Nick "Stoxtrader" Grudzien
And yeah I know it's about Limit Poker . I'm probably one of the few Irish players to play that online.

Bill Chen's Mathematics of Poker.

Any opinions on these two books?

I wanted to get one more book also, this time on No Limit Poker cash games. I have a fair few already like. I want a fairly recent book and better again if it's emphasis is mostly on online poker and medium to high stakke games.

Any recommendations?

Killme00

luckylucky wrote:

I wanted to get one more book also, this time on No Limit Poker cash games. I have a fair few already like. I want a fairly recent book and better again if it's emphasis is mostly on online poker and medium to high stakke games.

Any recommendations?

Professional No Limit Holdem: Volume 1

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-No-Limit-Hold-em-I/dp/188068540X/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-9579787-2571643?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191402995&sr=8-1

luckylucky

Killme00 wrote:

Professional No Limit Holdem: Volume 1

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-No-Limit-Hold-em-I/dp/188068540X/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-9579787-2571643?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191402995&sr=8-1

Cheers, sounds good.

One of the reviewer's mentions Sklansky's No Limit: Theory and Practice as a masterpiece. I haven't actually read this, is it that good?

RedJoker

luckylucky wrote:

Bill Chen's Mathematics of Poker.

Any opinions on these two books?

It's a very heavy book to get through and if you don't have at least some interest in mathematics you'll find it very difficult to enjoy.

The book discusses game theory aspects of poker by showing optimal (unexploitable) strategies in simpler games. Things like the [0,1] game where two players are given a number between 0 and 1 and bet based on those. Also the AKQ game where two players get one card, either A, K or Q.

They then discuss these games under various betting scenarios like where neither player can fold, where neither player can raise only bet, where check raising is or isn't allowed, etc., etc. The mathematics builds up gradually, the easiest games are solved first and the results used to help solve increasingly more difficult games. In the more complex games the mathematics is taken out and put in an appendix so you can skip it if you like.

They also discuss staking arrangements, deal making for tournament final tables, problems when judging winrates, biases in databases, EV calculations, pot and implied odds and some other stuff too. All the mathematics they use is explained in the first chapter as an introduction.

One criticism I would have is that the mathematical notation isn't what's usually used in most textbooks and can be hard to decipher. Another small point is that the word optimal is used to mean unexploitable rather than profit maximizing. If we were trying to maximise profits we would play to exploit our opponents weaknesses but at the same time leave ourselves open to exploitation.

It certainly gives a new way of looking and thinking about the game but won't give you any direct tips or strategies to improve as a player.

luckylucky

RedJoker wrote:

It's a very heavy book to get through and if you don't have at least some interest in mathematics you'll find it very difficult to enjoy.

I have a background in mathematics and statistics, so for me personally I think I'd find the book interesting.

RedJoker

luckylucky wrote:

I have a background in mathematics and statistics, so for me personally I think I'd find the book interesting.

Yeah, you'll definitely enjoy it so.