Poker Books I recommend
Update (7/5/2005):
I'm adding on a handful of new additions to the library. I'll be posting writeups as I finish reading them all... but for now, here they are in list form:Harrington on Hold'em Vol II by Dan Harrington
Ace on the River: An Advanced Poker Guide by Barry Greenstein
Weighing the Odds in Hold’em Poker by John Feeney
A quick write-up (more to come later) on the top poker books I recommend, in relative order:
Lee Jones' famous Winning Low-Limit Hold'em (2nd Edition) is directly focused on limit hold-em, mostly talking about games like 3/6 or lower that you're going to encounter in a real casino, or the 3/6 or under tables on Party. WLLH is a great place to learn the basics, and certainly the best place you should start if you're new to hold'em. It teaches you the basics of tight, agressive play, and doesn't get too deep in to the math or the details.
Belive it or not, I recommend Phil's book Play Poker Like the Pros as the best place to start once you're ready to focus on No Limit hold-em. It certainly holds some advanced topics, but start here, and re-examine it (re-read) for the advanced concepts down the road.
Quickly followed by Hold 'Em Poker by David Sklansky, commonly referred to in poker circles as HEP. Much more detailed than Phil's book, but I've found from personal experience starting others down the hold'em road that this book is best left as the next read as its more detailed and less easy for a true newbie to get through.
Doyle Brunson's bibles of poker: Doyle Brunson's Super System and Doyle Brunson's Super System II. All-encompassing books covering almost every type of poker commonly played at the time they were each written. Read the section or sections on the games relevant to you, plus especially the odds sections in the back of the first Super System.
One of the most detailed books you'll find on Hold'em is David Sklansky's Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players. This should take you at least three re-reads before you think of moving on to another book.
Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play (commonly referred to as SSHE) by Ed Miller and David Sklansky would be my suggested next stop. You really need the knowledge of the previous Sklansky books to adequately approach SSHE effectively, although it will probably affect your immediate play greater than any book you've read to date.
Your next stops really depend on what and where you are going to be playing the most. If you are going to be focused on tournament play, check out Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments and Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players . I would follow those books up with Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em by Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier, although I believe Harrington and Sklansky's works to be superior.
If you're going to be playing in live games (as opposed to purely playing online) check out the classic Caro's Book of Poker Tells.
Finally, take a look at the purely strategic books, such as The Theory of Poker, The Psychology of Poker, and Inside the Poker Mind: Essays on Hold 'em and General Poker Concepts.
Amazon purchase links for all of the above should follow:
I'm adding on a handful of new additions to the library. I'll be posting writeups as I finish reading them all... but for now, here they are in list form:
A quick write-up (more to come later) on the top poker books I recommend, in relative order:
Lee Jones' famous Winning Low-Limit Hold'em (2nd Edition) is directly focused on limit hold-em, mostly talking about games like 3/6 or lower that you're going to encounter in a real casino, or the 3/6 or under tables on Party. WLLH is a great place to learn the basics, and certainly the best place you should start if you're new to hold'em. It teaches you the basics of tight, agressive play, and doesn't get too deep in to the math or the details.
Belive it or not, I recommend Phil's book Play Poker Like the Pros as the best place to start once you're ready to focus on No Limit hold-em. It certainly holds some advanced topics, but start here, and re-examine it (re-read) for the advanced concepts down the road.
Quickly followed by Hold 'Em Poker by David Sklansky, commonly referred to in poker circles as HEP. Much more detailed than Phil's book, but I've found from personal experience starting others down the hold'em road that this book is best left as the next read as its more detailed and less easy for a true newbie to get through.
Doyle Brunson's bibles of poker: Doyle Brunson's Super System and Doyle Brunson's Super System II. All-encompassing books covering almost every type of poker commonly played at the time they were each written. Read the section or sections on the games relevant to you, plus especially the odds sections in the back of the first Super System.
One of the most detailed books you'll find on Hold'em is David Sklansky's Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players. This should take you at least three re-reads before you think of moving on to another book.
Small Stakes Hold 'em: Winning Big With Expert Play (commonly referred to as SSHE) by Ed Miller and David Sklansky would be my suggested next stop. You really need the knowledge of the previous Sklansky books to adequately approach SSHE effectively, although it will probably affect your immediate play greater than any book you've read to date.
Your next stops really depend on what and where you are going to be playing the most. If you are going to be focused on tournament play, check out Harrington on Hold 'em: Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments and Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players . I would follow those books up with Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold 'Em by Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier, although I believe Harrington and Sklansky's works to be superior.
If you're going to be playing in live games (as opposed to purely playing online) check out the classic Caro's Book of Poker Tells.
Finally, take a look at the purely strategic books, such as The Theory of Poker, The Psychology of Poker, and Inside the Poker Mind: Essays on Hold 'em and General Poker Concepts.
Amazon purchase links for all of the above should follow:
posted by Performify at 4:08 PM
0 comments
