Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

What is it?

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

Although I don't know for sure, I would say Super System. Its so popular plus its been around so much longer than most other books.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

You may be right but I'd bet Sklansky's Hold'em Poker and The Theory of Poker are at or near the top of that list.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

If not SS, Harrington 1 maybe? Little Green Book even? I suspect it's probably something with mass market appeal to beginners, not something more advanced or theoretical. Could be wrong but ToP doesn't seem like the book any old TV generation noob would pick.

Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

Hi guys

From the bureau of Weird Statistics and Spurious Correlations, I bring you a list of poker books ordered by the number of comments on Amazon. The premise is that the more a book sells, the more people leave comments about it on Amazon (and because I had no idea where to find the actual sales data!). I give you this list for your viewing pleasure and make no claims as to its validity as a proxy for ultimate sales. Intuitively, I'd say it looks pretty accurate.

Harrington 1: 214
Hellmuth PPLP: 160
Lee Jones WLLH: 132
McManus 5th street: 122
Sklansky TOP: 109
Gordon LGB: 106
SuperSystem 1: 95
Greenstein Ace: 84
Miller SSHE: 75
Sklansky HPFAP: 75
Harrington 2: 70
Caro Tells: 70
SuperSystem 2: 64
"The Professor ..." : 53
Harrington 3: 51
Sklansky/Miller NL-TP: 46
Sklansky HEP: 43
Hellmuth FBI: 41
Dalla's Ungar: 39
Kill Phil: 39
Yao's Weighing Odds: 34
Sklansky TPFAP: 31
Snyder Formula: 31
Chen Mathematics: 30
Gordon Real Deal: 28
Zen & the art of P.: 27
Lindgren's DVD: 27
Book of bluffs: 26
Schoonmaker Psych.: 25
Poker for Dummies: 25
Cloutier Champ. NL&PL: 24
Ciaffone Middle limit: 24
Flynn/Mehta PNL: 23
Ciaffone & Reuben: 22
Sklansky 7CSFAP: 17

I hope you can read the shorthand. I should say that statistics such as these favour controversial books. Greenstein's book is probably placed too high, because there's some debate as to what it is about and how good it is [sic]. If you wonder about Hellmuth's "Play Poker Like the Pros", it is not only controversial (because of its ... ummm ... interesting ... LHE section), its timing was superb, because in Europe it came out just when WPT hit our TV-screens.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Cheers,

Smurf

Re: Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

So the amazon sales rank didn't exactly jump out at you?

To save you the trouble of doing all that again, here's a list they made earlier: http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/4414/

Re: Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

[ QUOTE ]
So the amazon sales rank didn't exactly jump out at you?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope. I'm positive that is a dynamic list. Meaning the best selling right now. Unless you believe "Kill everyone" is the second best selling poker book of all times? It's been out for 45 days so that would be quite impressive!

Cheers,

Smurf

Re: Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

The problems with the above lists are that a number of these books were selling copies before Amazon existed, and the bestseller list is what's currently selling (it says it's updated hourly).

Re: Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

[ QUOTE ]
The problems with the above lists are that a number of these books were selling copies before Amazon existed

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. It underestimates SS1, Sklansky's "Hold'em Poker" & Caro's book about tells. Still, it's better than random guesses.

I'm very impressed with Harrington 1. It's the best-selling poker book right this minute, it's #1033 on Amazon's list right now and it's three years old! Over a million books have been published since.

Cheers,

Smurf

PS: Why SS1 is #8 on the dynamic list is an enigma.

Re: Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

I am sure Mason would know this....

Re: Comment frequency statistics from Amazon
 

I'd guess Poker for Dummies.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

Mason did state in a thread a couple of years ago that HEFAP was the best selling Two Plus Two book but that was only for Two Plus Two and before some Two Plus Two released some of the greatest ground breaking poker books such as SSH, HOH (Vol. 1, 2 and even 3), NLHTP and PNLH.

I suspect SS 1 has to be way up there just because it has the most publicity... HOH is probably right up there too. If I had to make a bet, I would say those two books are one and two in any particular order. HEFAP is probably still in the top 5 all time.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

When I walk by the poker section of B&N I often ask "what would a newbie buy?" He is more likely to reach for the books by TV players than say, "Theory of Poker."

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

Hey, there were a few books in the list I didn't own. I enjoyed looking them all up and am getting a few new ones on the way. Great fun!

Dave

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

[ QUOTE ]
When I walk by the poker section of B&N I often ask "what would a newbie buy?" He is more likely to reach for the books by TV players than say, "Theory of Poker."

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe Theory of Poker is not the top bestseller but your statement above is incorrect. I can guarantee you that any of the following Two Plus Two books:
SSH
HOH I OR II
HEFAP

would have outsold any of the following:
any book written by: Phil Helmuth, Annie Duke, Antonio E, Barry Greenstein, or Daniel Negreanu.

SSH and HEPFAP will not likely stay in the top for too much longer b/c limit is falling way behind No Limit cash and tournaments in popularity.

I would say it is only a matter of time before Harrington's books become the best selling poker book of all time. It has established itself as the the gold standards for NL strategy.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

[ QUOTE ]
It has established itself as the the gold standards for NL strategy.

[/ QUOTE ]


Cash ? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

I've always thought it was either Harringtons or Theory of Poker, judging by the fact these are probably the 2 most often recommended titles on these forums.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

1) There can be little doubt HOH1 is the best-selling poker book of all times. All indicators point to it.

2) You're underestimating Hellmuth's PPLTP. I agree that most other name player books and DVDs quickly fade away, but Hellmuth's book actually had some real content (albeit bizarre at times), insofar as it deals with all kinds of normal poker variants, and its timing was awesome. It takes a while before you realise how bad it is in some places, but by that time, you have alkready bought it! C'mon, admit it, you own a copy [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I do.

Cheers,

Smurf

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

Super System just because it's been in circulation for so long.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

[ QUOTE ]
I've always thought it was either Harringtons or Theory of Poker, judging by the fact these are probably the 2 most often recommended titles on these forums.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have to remember that only a fraction of the people who buy a poker book will even visit 2+2.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

[ QUOTE ]
1) There can be little doubt HOH1 is the best-selling poker book of all times. All indicators point to it.

2) You're underestimating Hellmuth's PPLTP. I agree that most other name player books and DVDs quickly fade away, but Hellmuth's book actually had some real content (albeit bizarre at times), insofar as it deals with all kinds of normal poker variants, and its timing was awesome. It takes a while before you realise how bad it is in some places, but by that time, you have alkready bought it! C'mon, admit it, you own a copy [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I do.

Cheers,

Smurf

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I do own a copy and the timing was good because it was one of the first books out of the poker boom.
When it did come out, it was a bestseller but it has since languished in obscurity because the word finally got out to the new masses that it was at best a very marginal book.
It's almost no where in site now but classics such as SS, Theory of Poker, SSH... are still there.
I would highly doubt it would even crack the top 10 in all time best sellers.

Re: Best Selling Poker Book eva..
 

Harrington on Hold'em has both advantages of being a 4 book and one written by a TV player.

There should be somewhere to get reliable data on books sales, I'll scout around.