Best Poker Book U ever Read:

[jfk]

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.

[AaronBrown]

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.

[Heisenb3rg]

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

[Zoloft]

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.

[alwaysburied]

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

[Zoloft]

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."

[acesover]

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.

[NateDog11]

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.

[jfk]

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.

[pocketse7ens]

1 TOP
2 SSH
3 HOH2