Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I wanted to know what people thought was the poker book that contained the best / most useful poker knowledge (NL holdem - cash game or tournaments).

Was it super system? Or maybe Caro's Book of Poker Tells? Perhaps Sklansky's and Miller's new offering: NL Holdem Theory and Practice? Don't cite 'experience' or 'instincts' as a possible answer.

My answer would be 'Harrington on Holdem Vol 2', although I have not read a large number of poker books so my possible choices are pretty narrow.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

The "best " poker book I ever read was "Poker, a guaranteed income for life", by Frank Wallace. Not that this is/was the best book on the subject but it was the first poker book I'd read and it started me on a path to learn about the game seriously. This was many years ago when poker lit. was still more or less in its infancy and it was an eye opener for someone who was just beginning to be interested in poker as a serious pursuit

I'd agree that the HOH series is the best combination of writing, strategy and thought process. It is a remarkable series of books. I grow more appreciative of the works the more I read.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Frank Wallace's book was also pivotal for me, although it doesn't teach much about playing poker.

I'd go with Sklansky's Theory of Poker although it's more about the tools to learn poker than giving you specific advice.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Ive read about 20 or so books and id have to say
top three.

1. Theory of Poker
2. HOH 2
3. tie between SSH and HOH 1

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Harrington on Hold'em Volume 1 by Dan Harrington. Haven't read Volume 2 yet.

Currently reading Sklansky and Miller's NL Holdem Theory and Practice.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I wanted to add a book to this list. It doesn't contain the strategy you're looking for, but Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein was a fun read for me. He touches on some of the "real world" parts of playing poker.
-md
www.myspace.com/iambabyd

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Yes, Ace on the River is a fantastic book. One of my favorite passages:

Someone shows you a coin with a head and a tail on it. You watch him flip it
ten times and all ten times it comes up heads. What is the probability that
it will come up heads on the eleventh flip?

A novice gambler would tell you, "Tails is more likely than heads, since
things have to even out and tails is due to come up."

A math student would tell you, "We can't predict the future from the past.
The odds are still even."

A professional gambler would say, "There must be something wrong with the
coin or the way it is being flipped. I wouldn't bet with the guy flipping
it, but I'd bet someone else that heads will come up again."

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I understand why so many put TOP on their list. Having started with Livingston, Scarne, Moorehead and Wallace, TOP seemed a better collection of many of the same ideas but didn't quite have the same impact as it might have had I not been exposed to these other authors and titles.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

1 TOP
2 SSH
3 HOH2

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Harringtons books are a good read

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

[ QUOTE ]
I understand why so many put TOP on their list. Having started with Livingston, Scarne, Moorehead and Wallace, TOP seemed a better collection of many of the same ideas but didn't quite have the same impact as it might have had I not been exposed to these other authors and titles.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's interesting, I would have said the opposite. I'm old enough to have read TOP when it first came out, and it's impact on serious players was dramatic. It was the first rational exposition of real poker theory. There were plenty of articles by mathematicians about what they thought poker should be, and books by players with accumulated wisdom, but no real theory book. Even if you disagreed with TOP, and there are points to argue, it defined the debate in a way people could make progress.

The ideas were so successful, that they are part of the fabric of poker today, and you can absorb them from many other sources. It's like the joke, "I don't know what's so great about Shakespeare, all he did was string a bunch of old sayings together." I'd have thought a lot of younger players would think TOP just catalogued a lot of stuff everyone knows. It's good to know it still has substance.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

i cannot believe anyone would prefer Ace On the River to any of 20 books on poker i might mention off the top of my head.

middle limit hold em by ciaffone is a very good book. supersystem is also a very good book. i know of no other book on the subject that compends together the perceptions of the very best players of the game on their respective games of expertise, nor which cuts to the chase on so many elements of play. in a way, twoplustwo offers books that read like treatises on chess openings, while these two books deal with the more fundamental ways of deploying one's pieces, position, and understanding attack.

although i have read and appreciate the twoplustwo series on poker, they are problematical from several angles, as follows:

1) everyone has read them, so the value of their information is compromised by the breadth of its dissemination. much of my poker playing thought, well, some of my poker playing thought, is devoted to exploring counter attacks against this material. in my experience, the more generally widespread a strategy or belief is, the less useful it proves, and the more vulnerable it becomes to exceptional instances and the development of ideas which contradict it.

2) despite, or because of, the depth of the information, it is presented piecemeal, and its application is, consequently, often difficult to effect. harrington's first work, for instance, strikes me as applicable only to those situations described in it, and not easily adapted to other, less similar circumstances. this maybe the influence of Robertie, whose backgammon works have the same flaw. how the other volumes read, i can't say.

3) much of the play advocated in these works is mechanical in nature, and the living essence of poker seems eradicated. (this is my personal beef, and may not be shared by other readers) they are textbooks, in the fullest sense of the word, dry, didactic, cut and dried.

in their defense, the same and worse can be said of almost all the poker books on the market--and at the very least, they can be said to appeal to mature minds in the presentation of their subject matter.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

i think theory of poker is the best poker book ever written.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Harrington Volume 1.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Thanks, jfk, i just put that one on my wish list. Most of the editions were $. I figure it'll be all about draw and stud but it'll still be interesting.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

i really like phil gordons little green book. a great addition to poker literature. brunson's wisdom of a poker champ was lacking in many ways. im starting HOH1 now and looking forward to the read after seeing how many people liked it.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

This is a tough question.

Reason is that I feel that it depends on what stage you are in your poker playing. The best book for beginners I have read is an oldie Titled "Education of a Poker Player". This book has made me a lot of money in my early years of poker and many of the concepts carry over into the later years. Not sure how old this is but it does not cover Holdem as I do not think it was a game yet.

I very much feel that Harringtons books on Holdem are very enlightening and I have used several concepts and must remember you are going to run into players who have no idea of what is a good or bad call or the least concept of pot odds or drawing odds. All poker means the same thing to them. They know the game is all luck. Also remember that this is gambling and no concept is infalliable. I am sure you have all seen people catch the case card and beat the hand when they should have not been involved in the hand in the first place. That is why they call it gambling. Remember no matter what the odds are if the person catches the odds go out the window...but the correct call , fold raise, reraise will win in the long haul.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Play poker, quit work, and sleep till noon.

The book is filled with psychology and anecdotes from a whole different time of poker.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

TOP without a doubt.

If i was to read TOP today, i wud never rate it #1, but at the time I read it, and the impact it had, i doubt any other book will ever beat that

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

SSHE

But the most influential was "How to Make $100,000 a Year Gambling for a Living".

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

[ QUOTE ]
i think theory of poker is the best poker book ever written.

[/ QUOTE ]

I completely agree with this.

I think the best poker book for beating a specific game is SSHE.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I haven't seen this one on anybody list but for me Killer Poker was the most helpful. It kinda bounces around alot but if you have a problem with Bad Beats...you need to read this book.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

SS/SS2 w/o a doubt. Theory of pokers great, but id take doyle over sklanksy any day(sorry david)

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

just bought vol 2 since vol 1 is the book that has helped my game the most. cant wait to read vol 2

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Theory of Poker.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

for in game play, theory of poker.

for becoming successful poker player, ace on the river and psychology of poker.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I can't believe no one has mentioned Bob Ciaffone's book "Pot Limit & No Limit Hold'Em" by Reuben and Ciaffone. The 5/10 rule? Not for beginners and every sentence is worth studying.

http://www.pokercoach.us/pokerbooks.html

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

The book that had the biggest impact on me at the time I read it was without a doubt John Fox's "Play Poker, Quit Work, and sleep 'till Noon". Or was it "Quit Work, Play Poker, and sleep 'till Noon". Was about 5-card draw in the final hay days of California draw poker, quickly demised when they started playing Holdem there early 80s.

There is some significant BS that needs to be read and ignored, but otherwise its a top book. I prefer his Tell section over Caro's. Since there isn't much to say about 5-card draw Jacks or Better strategy (basically: Aces are good, Kings are bad), the bulk of the book is about reacting to and manipulation of the opponents.

- Louie

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

> The book that had the biggest impact on me at the time I read it was without > a doubt John Fox's "Play Poker, Quit Work, and sleep 'till Noon". Or was
> it "Quit Work, Play Poker, and sleep 'till Noon". Was about 5-card draw in
> the final hay days of California draw poker,


I bought this book used in 1984. The first book on poker I ever owned besides the ones giving basic rules and game variations.

Describes many concepts a beginner like me never knew existed like image, position, and even some game theory. It includes examples of how to angle shoot.

I still pull it out to share it's outrageous (and humorous) stereotyping of players by gender, race, clothing, and personal habits.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I have enjoyed all 2 + 2 books but SSHE was the one that knocked my socks off.

I don't think there has been a more complete book written about the subject matter for which it was intended.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Anecdotely speaking, I read Matt Matros' book "The Making of a Poker Player" as a college junior, and it totally changed my mindset and attitude of poker and starting up my career in it.

Since then, I would say either of the Harrington books are great..

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

The Art of War is a great book for poker for people with creative and adaptive minds.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

I haven't read HOH1 yet...but know someone who will give it to me for free. Should I pass and buy HOH2?

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Both of the HOH are good books, in my opponion, but i found the first one to be a bit more basic and the second one to have more useful knowledge in it (bluffs, final table considerations, Structured Hand Analysis, etc). But if you have an opportunity to read the first one for free I would recommend doing that, and if you like it, buy the second one (as it is just a continuation of the first).

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Welcome Back.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Play Poker like the Pros By Hellmuth. I always suggest it as required reading to new players.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

[ QUOTE ]
Play Poker like the Pros By Hellmuth. I always suggest it as required reading to new players.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is in way of making sure the next generation of fish get off to a good start, yes?

I've glanced at it on bookstore shelves. The eight-or-better stud chapter is a recipe for bankruptcy.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

[ QUOTE ]

All poker means the same thing to them. They know the game is all luck. Also remember that this is gambling and no concept is infalliable. I am sure you have all seen people catch the case card and beat the hand when they should have not been involved in the hand in the first place. That is why they call it gambling. Remember no matter what the odds are if the person catches the odds go out the window...but the correct call , fold raise, reraise will win in the long haul.

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, poker is all luck? Then why do the same people win? I know this is probably just your ranting about the bs that happens in poker, but still...come on.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

Although some books get more than half way, I want more info on counter strategies for strange player. Better adviceagainst tough players besides play tighter and stay away; Propability of a certain hand being the best hand when opening from MP1 in a 10 player game, a 6 player game. More on playing low cards for profit. I know it can be figured out - but what about range of hand analysis of opponents when they are 35% VPIP, 22% etc. Modifying stats with how they play blinds. Developing game theory strategies for raising % and calling % preflop (I know HOH goes into this but more on his %'s - not really how this is developed for correct strategy - based on a particular table of players.) Anyway, I've read almost all the mainstream books - and I actually look here now for the more advanced answers. Some simulations for limit. Some paper and pencil. And study of hands. Best Books: TOP, HOH I,II, SSHE, Weighing the odds in Holdem Poker, Little Green Book, HEFAP.

Re: Best Poker Book U ever Read:
 

For NL (since that what you asked), All three HoH books. I don't think either I or II is better than the other; they are both necessary for the game. And III fills in a lot of the post flop play that I felt was missing in the first two volumes.

SSHE should be mentioned, though, even if it is limit. Just an incredible book that puts money in your pokect. Reading it did help my NL game, too, if indirectly.

And of course, ToP just because those fundamental concepts are so key to playing winning poker.