Thoughts on Poker Books
Someone asked me the other day what is the best reading material for a person who is interested in learning hold em. I’ve read a pretty good number of these kind of books over the years. Here are my thoughts on them.
The first book I ever read was Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. This book does a pretty great job of going over the basic mindset approach that a thoughtful player should at least have thought about, if not employed. He goes over the basic logic routine that goes into hand analysis and is pretty vital to a good foundation.
Sklansky’s Hold Em for Advanced Players is also a must read, in that it takes those foundational elements and evaluates them more directly in hand and position play, with a pretty wide range of situations and further logic dissection. Another must.
Hellmuth’s Play Poker Like the Pros is probably the best introductional book I’ve read, in that it breaks down the very basic thoughts on standard play and helps introduce more advanced concepts as it goes along. It definitely isn’t as theoretical as Sklansky, but if you’re a beginning player looking to get a good foundation, this is a nice glossy place to start.
Harrington on Hold Em for Advanced Players are all no doubt the most analytical on a hand to hand method. Harrington has proven to be one of the most solid “rock” players, and these books explain pretty with a great deal of detail how to think about every range of possible hands you can get into. His books are specialized for tournament play, though, and definitely work better if that’s what you want to play more often. The tactics are still good for thinking about cash game play, but really these are tournament books. Still must read material, though.
Phil Gordon’s Little Green Poker Book I found one night while at a movie theater. I actually recommend this book quite a bit, as Gordon does a great job of making this book actually readable and fun, as opposed to the straight math and blahblah of a lot of the other books. There are also some different strategies that none of the other books have discussed, particularly aimed at cash game play. This is a fun book.
I actually have only read bits of Super System, even though most people would say this is the most important poker book. I think it is still good to read, but has been surpassed by more in-depth studies.
Comments on other poker books people have gotten alot out of?
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3 opinions for Thoughts on Poker Books
jereme
Nov 10, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I enjoyed Gordon’s book too which surprised me. I’m not a big fan of Gordon’s play or table demeanor but the book was a good read.
The original supersystem book was half poker theory and half brunson waxing poetic about past poker adventures.
I have not read the newer Supersystem II though.
I enjoyed Mike Caro’s Book of Tells. The psychological aspects of poker seems to get pushed aside by a lot of players.
I have an online archive of poker books and still have some to read but those are the few that I enjoyed thus far.
Betfair Poker Player
Nov 11, 2007 at 11:38 am
I’m currently halfway though “Your Worst Poker Enemy” by Alan Schoonmaker. It’s more on the psychological side but it is an interesting read.
Johnny C.
Nov 13, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I’m a fan of Negreanu’s Hold Em’ Wisdom For All Players. It’s an easy read and it hits on all the basics of beginner to intermediate play. If you’ve been playing cards a long time it’s a great refresher.
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