What Poker books do you recommend?

Mauricmo

I am relatively new to poker and have been playing on and off for about two years. I have always saying that im going to get more serious bout the game and I want to start by reading as much as I can. I have two questions:

1. What poker books do you recommend?

2. Do certain books clash with each other theory-wise and should avoid reading both or should I try to absorb a bit of everything?

I have read a few books previously, I just need a few more.

Hosef

defenitely get The Theory of Poker by Sklansky first if you don't have it already. It can be tough going but there is some really fundamental stuff in there that every serious poker player should understand

After that it depends to a degree on what games you are concentrating on....i.e. hold'em/omaha, cash/tournament, 6 max/full ring

adzer86

READ THROUGH THE POKER GUIDE STICKY, IT WILL HELP ALOT

Chucky the tree

If your interested in tournaments Harrington on holdem Vol II is definitly worth getting. Vol I isnt really, as it will tell you the basics but since you have been playing two years or so you probaly are good at.

I only read Vol I recently and I thought some of the stuff with a bit wrong.

Theory of poker is a must read, but it's a struggle and you'll probaly find your self picking it up and down alot. I'm about a quarter of the way through No Limit holdem theory and practice and it seems pretty good. I've heard mixed reviews but when it came out it was pretty much the only one on No limit.

I'd go NLTAP, TOP and proffessional no limit.

TommyGunne

Best book you'll read at the moment is free. Its an online book written by a guy called Ryan Fees. http://s3.amazonaws.com/ryanfee/2p2pdf.pdf should get it for you. In general, reading the strategy forums on www.twoplustwo.com are much better than reading books though.

zuutroy

To be honest I think all poker books are out of touch with the way NLHE is today. As long as you know the basics, what a continuation bet is etc, you're much better off just reading stuff on the internet.

FeetMagic

zuutroy wrote: »

To be honest I think all poker books are out of touch with the way NLHE is today. As long as you know the basics, what a continuation bet is etc, you're much better off just reading stuff on the internet.

Completely agree with this. Ive been playing poker for close to 2 years and never read a book. A friend of mine reasonately gave me Phil Gordon's Little Green Book to glance through on a plane journey and I found the info in the book very straightforward. There was nothing new or interesting that you wouldnt already know or learn from reading through forums. When you think about it whats better; one persons views or the views of loads of players of different skill levels giving their arguments and counter-arguments. Dont let me put you off reading any of the books mentioned above though! Thats just my experience.

tm2204

Gus Hansen's 'Every Hand Revealed' is a good insight to tourney play from start to finish.

mocata

Thought Gus's book was class read too, v honest and well written, plenty of insights into his thought processes. Far more useful than a 3 page thread of people saying "QFT", "." and "lol" (imo )

H8GHOTI

Another option of course are the training video sites e.g. Cardrunners & Deuces Cracked

You can get a weeks free trial of Deuces Cracked & download any videos you want and then watch them at later date.

Macspower

thats a very valid point about todays game being very different....

The game has changed considerably and the ability to adapt is necessary

Advice I would have given 6 months ago would be different now. So hard to see how books writen many years ago would still have relevance in todays game but I may be wrong.

I have read all the poker books when I started playing but doubt they would help today.
As advised subscription to duces cracked or reading forums is probably the way to go

Gl with it. post some hand histories for analysis and have a thick skin and you'll get some good advice from some of the guys here

applehunter

Phi Gordon's Little Blue Book is good read.

Plays out positions many of us find in every tournemant and analyses the thought process in his decisions.

Well layed out and not too much theory.

Flipz4Rollz

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/69/micro-stakes-pl-nl/best-unl-strategy-posts-98125/

mdwexford

TommyGunne wrote: »

Best book you'll read at the moment is free. Its an online book written by a guy called Ryan Fees. http://s3.amazonaws.com/ryanfee/2p2pdf.pdf should get it for you. In general, reading the strategy forums on www.twoplustwo.com are much better than reading books though.

Thats a very good read, well worth a look.

Headspace

Training videos do not give u a good understanding of the game imo. 'Super system' helped me understand NLH cash better than anything else its all about aggression, constantly pressurising your opponent as Doyle puts it "the more agg a plr is the better a plr is, its that simple." The game has changed scene then but this book is not called the bible for nothing. Read 2+2 to improve hand reading

hotspur

Super System is like the manual for a Model T Ford imo. If training videos haven't helped you understand the game then you have been watching the wrong training videos.

Tight Ted

Must books are crap. Sign up for a training site.

Mr.Plough

http://www.pr0crast.com/2+2.NL.Anthology.v1.htm

probably pasted that link a dozen times now. lol books

doke

"Kill Everyone" is very good on the maths and practical implications of tournament bubbles and should be read by any good cash game player who can't understand what he's doing wrong in lol donkaments. Also good general advice on how to play particular type of opponents. The advice on playing against hyper LAGs is particularly good. Also some very good stuff on equilibrium strategy for different stack sizes far from the bubble in tournaments.

Arnold Snyder's two books on tournament theory are thought provoking and an unorthodox alternative to Sklansky/Malmuth/Harrington orthodoxy.

Negreanu's book explains small ball pretty well and has some interesting ideas on particular lines that work better in tournaments than cash games, and also unorthodox advice on how to play those difficult 10-15 BB stack sizes.

Harrington's books are somewhat old fashioned now but you need to be aware of them as there are a lot of people playing that way almost by rote so you need to know how to counter that. Same is true of any other tournament book that influences a lot of players: even if you don't think small ball would work for you, for example, you need to understand the strategy so as to be able to counter it more effectively.

"The Maths of Poker" is a bit difficult to digest but will definitely help you keep ahead of the curve if you understand the math and its implications.

If you want to play STTs seriously, you should read Moshman's "Sit N Go Strategy" if for no other reason that most of the multitabling regs you'll run into play from it biblically.

Sklansky's "Theory of Poker" is a good starting point. He's much stronger on Limit than No Limit though.

I disagree somewhat with the notion that books are bad and the Innernet is good for advice. There's a lot of bad or at least unfocused advice on the internet. By its nature, the posted word is subject to less editorial scrutiny and genuine critical examination than the printed one. Just because someone has 5000 posts or whatever dosn't mean his advice or opinion is sound, and human interaction hierarchies dictate that often a consensus forms not on the basis of which of the opposing ideas are fundamentally sounder but which personalities putting forward those ideas are more dominant.

PiperT

doke wrote: »

"Kill Everyone" is very good on the maths and practical implications of tournament bubbles and should be read by any good cash game player who can't understand what he's doing wrong in lol donkaments. Also good general advice on how to play particular type of opponents. The advice on playing against hyper LAGs is particularly good. Also some very good stuff on equilibrium strategy for different stack sizes far from the bubble in tournaments.

Arnold Snyder's two books on tournament theory are thought provoking and an unorthodox alternative to Sklansky/Malmuth/Harrington orthodoxy.

Negreanu's book explains small ball pretty well and has some interesting ideas on particular lines that work better in tournaments than cash games, and also unorthodox advice on how to play those difficult 10-15 BB stack sizes.

Harrington's books are somewhat old fashioned now but you need to be aware of them as there are a lot of people playing that way almost by rote so you need to know how to counter that. Same is true of any other tournament book that influences a lot of players: even if you don't think small ball would work for you, for example, you need to understand the strategy so as to be able to counter it more effectively.

"The Maths of Poker" is a bit difficult to digest but will definitely help you keep ahead of the curve if you understand the math and its implications.

If you want to play STTs seriously, you should read Moshman's "Sit N Go Strategy" if for no other reason that most of the multitabling regs you'll run into play from it biblically.

Sklansky's "Theory of Poker" is a good starting point. He's much stronger on Limit than No Limit though.

I disagree somewhat with the notion that books are bad and the Innernet is good for advice. There's a lot of bad or at least unfocused advice on the internet. By its nature, the posted word is subject to less editorial scrutiny and genuine critical examination than the printed one. Just because someone has 5000 posts or whatever dosn't mean his advice or opinion is sound, and human interaction hierarchies dictate that often a consensus forms not on the basis of which of the opposing ideas are fundamentally sounder but which personalities putting forward those ideas are more dominant.

Good post. Endgame strategy in Kill Everyone well worth a read. Also suggest "Kill Phil" as a precursor to the above.

jimmii

doke wrote: »

Arnold Snyder's two books on tournament theory are thought provoking and an unorthodox alternative to Sklansky/Malmuth/Harrington orthodoxy

I seriously owe this guy a fortune. Read his first book do it and you will beat most online tourneys. I found his book just after finding OPR/sharkscope and I was like -35% ROI or something and within a month I was pretty much even it just made it all so simple. The basic gist is:

With rags: raise in position. If called bet flop. If called bet turn. If called probably bet river.
With big hand: raise in pos. If called bet flop. If called bet turn. If called bet river.
Out of pos: fold.

The tourney structure analysis is pretty usefull in looking at which tournaments are more suited to your style too.