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Recommended readings
Posted: 07-05-2007 07:12 PM |
Ok, I'm not sure if there is an old archive of this bc I'm fairly new and not about to look through EVERY post ever made but...
A) What books have you guys read?
B) What books have you guys skimmed through
C) What books would you guys reccommend?
So far I've skimmed through a lot... the only books i recommend are Helmuth's (which is great for LIMIT poker BEGINNERS) and obviously SuperSystems (great style for playing against TV no limit players)
Also... on an aside... does Gus Hansen have a friggin book? If not why not? If so... GIVE ME THAT HOLY GRAIL |
Teach Me Does Good Pokers Yes? |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-05-2007 09:28 PM |
I've read Phil Helmuth's Play Poker Like The Pros. It's a good book for Limit Hold'em players.
And I'm almost finished with Dan Harrington on Hold'em Volume II. Great book for tournament players who have a good handle on tournament basics. |
My poker is better than your poker. |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 07:10 AM |
I have Harrington 1 through 3. I love them. If you tourney, get the first one. Period. Then get the other two if you liked it.
I also have "Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold Em." It's fair at best, but not terrible. Not worth the cover price, but since I got it as a gift, it's still +e.v. for me. The highlight is the full-page tables with starting hands and out counts and other stuff. The text itself is rarely better than the PSOrg resources and in some cases not as good, but it was still valuable to me when I got it as a noob.
I also have "How to Win at Omaha High-Low Poker" by Mike Cappelletti. I've been meaning to review this in the Omaha forum for a while, but never got around to it. This book is a little disappointing. It clearly could have been excellent. But there are a number of things (mostly editorial) that are done pretty poorly. There are a number of tables where one or more figures are clearly missing a digit. Some tables referred to in the text are completely absent from the book! But despite this, I like this book. It definitely taught me a few things. It just could have been a lot better and I don't think the shortcomings are necessarily the author's fault.
I always look through Lou Krieger's books when I'm at the bookstore. I always want to buy one, but they seem a little bit beginner-heavy. It's odd in that the second half of the books are usually for mid-level (or even advanced mid-level) players, but the vast majority of each book is entry-level. Just my impression. I know a number of PSOrgers have bought his books and loved them. |
Arrr, matey |
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 bobby7
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| Joined: 05 Apr 2004 |
| Total Posts: 5426 |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 10:47 AM |
thats probably because you cant learn advanced tactics from a book so they all seem entry level because your well passed entry level, at a certain point the only way to improve is using the fundmamentals you have already learned to craft your own style with playing experience.
ive got a number of books..never paid a dime for any of em. and i cant say one is better than another. if your a live player mike caros book of tells is a must, for tournaments get harrington. but for ring games really any book will do. |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 11:01 AM |
A) Harrington on Hold 'Em 1 & 2 - highly recommend it
Ace on the River (Barry Greenstein) - strategy is great, but there isn't all that much, still the most entertaining poker book I have ever read.
Theory of Poker (Sklansky) - Seems like a great book, but I found it boring and a lot was not applicable to the games I play.
B) Super Systems - Eh...
Play Poker Like the Pros (Hellmuth) - Thought it was fairly ABC advice, pretty worthless to anyone that's played more than a year or two.
C) If you play tournaments, HOH... Cash games - everything/anything by sklansky... Ace on the River just because it was really cool.
Like bobby I have never paid for a poker book... you can get them free from file sharing services (ares, demonoid, torrentspy, etc)... The only book that would have paid for itself is Harrington's. |
Ivey doesnt win money, money wins Ivey. |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 12:07 PM |
I got Lou Krieger's winning at Omaha 8 when I first started playing. It probably advance my learning curve by a year or so, but it's really for limit play and it's beginnerish, no heavy advance plays, and I prefer PL and haven't found a good advance strategy book for PL O8 (any suggestions?)
jOKERbLUFF |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 12:26 PM |
Hey mon, where do you get a deck of cards like that?
I picked up a copy of “The Theory of Poker” by David Sklansky for about $5 one day in Macy's and loved it! Some call it a bit dry, but I like the “Theory” part...
My Mom bought me a copy of Hellmuth's “Play Poker like the Pros”. Which was good, and came highly reccomended.
I just have a hard time keeping focused on a book...I'm much more into reading crap online, I can test things immediately, bring up odds calculators, tables, etc.
To be honest, I think I've gained the most from reading posts in this forum...keep 'em comin'! |
Les Rules! ...more chaos? |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 01:11 PM |
I'm actually surprised to see Lou Krieger's name pop up a lot.
When i first started getting into poker, it was actually because of his tournament, College Poker Championship (which seemed to have died after 3 years). I actually got to chat a sentence with him live ^_^. I made the final 3 tables in year 2 of CPC. I got what I thought was a bad beat at the time... by odds it was... but he explained the way i played the hand, i let the guy think J-10 on a board of J-9-2 rainbow was the best hand to my K-J (caught runner runner straight), and how i shouldn't have expected a fold due to chip stacks.
I know one friend of mine who lives and dies by Sklansky. Unfortunately... it's so mathmatical... i find it ridiculously easy to beat him. He can't call me when he "knows" he has me beat, but sklansky says fold lol.
I'm surprised so far at the lack of interest in Super Systems. Yes, it's old news... but... you can't take what's there at face value people. My poker game reached a new level after reading a few chapter of that... not because i took his advice verbatim, but because I understood the concepts. I answered the question to me of: "Why do i always get knocked out short stacked when I have the best hand, yet the guys who do it seem to be consistently winning more than me?" |
Teach Me Does Good Pokers Yes? |
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dachippy
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| Joined: 08 May 2007 |
| Total Posts: 85 |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 01:31 PM |
If you play limit hold em, I highly recommend Small Stakes Hold Em and Hold Em Poker For Advanced Players. These can be a little tough to get through, and I found that a lot of it took awhile to really sink in, but once it did, I felt a lot more confident about my game.
For NL tourneys, HOH like everyone else has said. I also recommend The Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder - it has some pretty good advice for playing in tourneys with a fast structure (in other words, most online tourneys).
As far as NL cash games, I believe Super System 2 and Phil Gordon's Little Green Book are both pretty good, but I don't play NL cash games that much, so I couldn't tell you how much help these would really be. However, a lot of people recommend these, and I've read them both and the advice seems sound.
Edit: Oops, looks like maybe you're not a Sklansky fan and that you've already read Super System. Well, I recommend these to anyone else who may be reading this thread then :lol:
Sklansky's stuff is very mathematical - to the point where it bothers some people, but I think it's pretty good stuff when you can combine it with good reads on your opponents. |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 03:05 PM |
dachippy,
When I post a thread, I'm usually not looking for advice only for myself, though I will voice opinions and take info about it. We're a community, and can all benefit from this information and will have differing opinions about it  So even if, and probably better if, your opinions conflict with mine, they are very beneficial as long as they are done in a constructive manner like you have. |
Teach Me Does Good Pokers Yes? |
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Chanzo
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| Joined: 18 Sep 2005 |
| Total Posts: 746 |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 03:46 PM |
| I just finished 'no limit hold em theory and practice' by Sklansky. A very good book and much more accessible than 'theory of poker' |
'Embrace the rebuy' |
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 03:48 PM |
I'm a fan of Ed Millers books, and read his blog/website regularly too!
Getting started in Holdem poke is pretty basic, but good for someone starting out, it covers limit, with a small amount of NL and sit&go play
Small stakes holdem was the book that originally turned me into a winning player back when I played limit! I'd recomend the sections on evaluating the flop and counting outs to everyone, they apply just as well to NL as limit!
Winning low limit holdem by Lee Jones - I'd avoid and buy Small stakes holdem instead, Lee advises a pretty weak/tight style of play, you'd get overun using it in a typical online 1/2 or 2/4 game!
No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice is great, but as with all sklansky books very math based. I found the second section which gave more down to earth advice more useful than the math intensive first section!
Theory of poker is good, but feels a little dated now, especially as most of the examples are from limit games.
Ace on the river I enjoyed, but more as a good read than a strategy book
Phil Gordons little green book, and Little blue book are both also well worth a read, especially if you like the math kept simple in your poker books! Phil has a very easy to read style of writing, these books are much easier reads than the Sklansky tomes!
Harrinngton on Holdem Vol 1&2 were also good reads, I don't play an awful lot of tounament poker, but I enjoyed them any how, and a lot of the stuff in the deep stack early stage of tounament sections is pretty applicable to cash games as well. Not read Vol 3 yet.
Currently have on pre-order Professional No linit poker, written by two high stakes pros from 2+2 and edited by Ed Miller, will report back about that one later in the month once the amazon fairies deliver it (might take a few days to read, as the last Harry Potter book is released at the same time, which shall I read first
Mat
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Re: Recommended readings
Posted: 07-06-2007 07:25 PM |
It all depends on the level of play you are already at. It sounds like you're an accomplished player, making the College Poker Challenge final few tables. But either way, here are the books I've read on my way up.
Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold'em. As someone already said, it's very very basic. It teaches the basics, I mean how the cards are dealt, how the betting works, what hands win, etc. But it is good for a beginner in every sense of the word.
Sklansky: Theory of Poker. Very good for enlightening play. It has concepts that I still remember and use exclusively now.
Super Systems... eh. WIth the wealth of knowledge that is out there now, I wouldn't waste my time thinking this book was going to change my life. It does have some great information, but nothing you can't find in cheaper books elsewhere.
Mike Caro's Book of Tells... a must for live play. Even though a large number of live players have read this book, it can still win you money.... on a similar note, has anyone read Helmuth's book on tells w/ the FBI agent? I found a used copy on Amazon once for $1, so I got it, but they ran out of inventory.
For tournament play, I don't think anyone has mentioned TJ Cloutier and Tom McEvoy's No-Limit and Pot-Limit Championship Hold'em. Both of these players have been recognized as elite players for a LONG time. Anything they have to say, I listen.
Finally, I've begun to get into John Vorhaus. He is a writer who plays and succeeds at poker. His books are much more about the mental approach to the game. Some people look at his stuff and say it's a crock (things like raising every hand for an entire round). He says only to do it to learn about other players, and learn how you react to the other players. There is some very interesting stuff in his approach to the game.
This is very long winded, but that's some of the stuff I've been reading during my poker career. It helps to live 5 hours from home. Train rides go by much faster with a book. |
"In the poker game of life, women are the f*ing rake man" |
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