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Poker Books

 
 
Jawsus-son Starship
20:02 / 15.02.06
So, thinking of entering the WSOP in june, nothing major, just the $1000 no-limit event. Any how, while I've read many of the great poker books out there by many of the great players (SuperSystems, Harrington on Poker, all the Skalansky books), and was wondering if there were any out there I may have missed.

Furthermore, is there any need for these books - can the concept ideas associated with poker be put foward in the writen word? Is poker something that is only learnt at the tqable, in the heat of battle, and other such cliches?

Something about monster pots and live cards, or whatever.
 
 
All Acting Regiment
23:13 / 15.02.06
I've always thought that you should learn how to get good at this stuff on your own. I mean you might not win much, sure, but won't it be more of an experience than learning form a book?
 
 
Jawsus-son Starship
12:06 / 16.02.06
while I agree that the most important Poker Lessons you learn are at the table, Poker Concepts (such as Pot Odds) are best introduced in books. How long would it take you to learn poker if all the stratergy was self taught, and how would you realise the merrit of it?

Saying that, no matter how many times I've read that Ace Rag is bullshit, it still has taken me a long time, and a lot of money lost on the table, to start playing the hand correctly.
 
 
iconoplast
15:42 / 16.02.06
Sklansky's book was incredible. I mean, it includes something called essentially The Fundamental Theorem of Poker.

I picked up Caro's book of tells, and... it was sort of funny. I didn't get through much of it (at the bookstore), but it includes common tells for women, blacks, asians, &c. All with very dated photos. Maybe the rest of the book gets better with discussions of body language, chip playing, hesitancy and so on, but the first chapter was just silly.
 
 
ShadowSax
16:31 / 16.02.06
i think one should read books and then play seriously. in two very distinct stages, and in that order. there are indeed things best taught in books, mostly about odds and how to enter a hand, pot odds, stuff like that. then you need to play. tells, for instance, are not only different for every player, but theyre read differently by every player in different situations, and i dont think you can get real valuable knowledge about the subtleties of the game without thousands of hands as experience. and once you start becoming your own poker player, reading a book (unless it turns you that you're a horrible player) is only likely to wrinkle or destroy your self-confidence about your own ideas and way of playing, which would be bad for your game. i think,

i enjoyed "positively fifth street," because it was a narrative, not a lesson. those are fun.
 
 
Jack Denfeld
03:14 / 20.02.06
The best tournament book on the market today is Dan Harrington's book (or actually books, vol 1 and 2). They're published by 2+2, David Sklansky's company, and these books are light years ahead of most other tourney books.

They cover different playing styles, continuation bets, when it is most profitable to steal blinds depending on your stack and the relation of the blinds and antes, and has several quizzes. Just google it, Harrington on Hold 'Em, and you'll see the praise these books are getting.
 
 
Jack Denfeld
03:20 / 20.02.06
I've always thought that you should learn how to get good at this stuff on your own. I mean you might not win much, sure, but won't it be more of an experience than learning form a book?
The only problem with this is NL Hold Em, especially tournaments, can reward bad habits and make you think that you're doing good things when in reality if you make these mistakes over and over you'll eventually be losing money. Most seasoned players say that it takes about 10,000 hands before variance works it's way even and you see what kind of results you're working with.

Books on poker can teach you so much strategy, and the good ones explain it so that even if you don't agree, you can see why they think so. Also pot odds and some of the other math in the game is important.
 
 
Jack Denfeld
03:25 / 20.02.06
i enjoyed "positively fifth street," because it was a narrative, not a lesson. those are fun.
Yeah that was really good. Other good poker books that are more story than strategy are Doyle Brunson's Poker Wisdom of a Champion, Bobby Baldwin's book, Diary of a Mad Poker Player by Richard Sparks and Al Alvarez's Biggest Game in Town.
 
 
Jack Denfeld
03:30 / 20.02.06
Any how, while I've read many of the great poker books out there by many of the great players (SuperSystems, Harrington on Poker, all the Skalansky books), and was wondering if there were any out there I may have missed.
Phil Gordon's Little Green Book is pretty good. His strategy on tournament play and NL cash play and while some of it's not groundbreaking it does let you get into the head of a pro tournament player's head, and the guy's pretty smart. This is probably one of the only poker books you could get the audiobook of or download off itunes, and it's pretty cool to hear Gordon talk about poker.
 
  
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