Where to start
 

Before I ask my question, I would like to give a short introduction. I have been playing poker for two weeks on Pacific Poker, PartyPoker and PokerStars, the last is my favorite. I invested 20 dollar on each website. After playing a lot of hours, eventually I lost all that money. It looks like I have to make every mistake myself once, before I learn how to avoid them.

I want to improve my game before depositing more money on PokerStars. So I have been skimming poker book reviews on amazon.com. I have come to know that there are various good books on poker, but that makes it more difficult to pick one book to get started with. From the books listed, which one should I study first?

Harrington on Hold'em (1,2,3)
Super system (1,2)
Little Green Book
Theory of Poker
Hold'em Poker for advanced players
Small Stakes Hold'em
Low Limit Hold'em, Lee Jones
Poker for Dummies

I know that I have to fold a lot hands preflop and that I have to start at the lowest limits. I actually lost my money on the higher stakes no limit games. It is not my question which book is the best. I simply want to know where to get started.

Re: Where to start
 

The "Harrington on Hold'em" books were a really great start for me, giving enough practical advice to get started in poker.

Re: Where to start
 

The first thing to do is to decide what type of game you wish to play.

Are you looking to play limit or no limit, cash games or tournaments?

If you are planning on playing limit then either The Lee Jones book or Ed Millers "getting started in Hold Em (i personally prefer Jones's book as it gives more information about post flop play) would be a great place to start followed up with Matthew Hilgers book Internet Texas Holdem.

If you want to play tournaments then the Harrington On Holdem book would be a good place to start. Some people recommend reading this book for cash games too as the early stages of tournaments often share similar conditions to cash games.

There isnt really a definitive cash game book for beginners to no limit.(yet) And as i dont really play it i am not sure which one to recommend.

Another option may be Ed Millers book "getting Started in Hold em" which gives an introduction to limit and no limit games.

Re: Where to start
 

Definitely Getting started in hold 'em.

After it, for NL cash games:
Little green book
No limit hold'em theory and practice

Maybe Harrington vol 1 before little green book.

Re: Where to start
 

I have been playing different games, but as a beginner I think I should limit myself to low limit Hold'em ring games for a while. I do have Lee Jones' and Matthew Hilgers books on the book shelves. I'll have to order getting started in Hold'em. Thanks for the suggestions.

Re: Where to start
 

If you have lee jones and hilger, then you are set to go


But if they are too advanced for you, then getting started by miller or beginners guide to limit hold'em by jacobs are both good

Re: Where to start
 

I would recommend playing no limit instead of limit.

Re: Where to start
 

I don't play limit, but if your are looking to play any No Limit Cash games I would say Supersystem, Theory of Poker, and No Limit Hold Em Theory and Practice will help you a lot. Super System's best attribute for NL is how it helps you learn to play AA KK QQ, small pairs and suited connecters. One of the biggest ways that people lose money in NL is overplaying the big pocket pairs. Doyle gives flop situations that could occur with the big pairs and recommends a pretty solid strategy on what to do. For instance if a paired board comes and you bet the flop big and get called, he recommends checking on the turn. Just a lot of advice to save you money with your big cards when they don't connect. He also gives a lot of advice about how to play on a draw and power poker and such. I would recommend staying away from that advice in the book as a beginner. You'll be getting all your money in way too often as the underdog if you play his advice on drawing hands or just 1 pair like Doyle sugests.

Theory of Poker is a great book for all kinds of poker. You will pick up all kinds of excellent concepts and strategy for all sorts of poker that can apply to whatever game your playing in. Profitable concepts such as the semi bluff, positiion and how it affects the value of your hand can be learned.

NL Hold em Theory and Practice is my favorite No Limit book so far. It really helps you learn to think like a poker player should be thinking throughout an entire hand. If NL is your game, make this the second or 3rd book you read on the subject because as a beginner you probably would comprehend the stuff enough to fully make use of the book and use it to your advantage.

If you play tourneys you can't go wrong with Harrington. I haven't read any other tourney books, but Harrington will definitely give you a solid approach as a newby on how to play them as best you can. I doesn't advocate an Ivey, Negreanu, Hansen style or anything like that, but it does give you a solid foundation as to how to play hands at all kinds of stages in a tourney. Hope this helps you out a little in your decision.

Re: Where to start
 

Thanks for elaborating on the different books, gmcarroll33.
I like NL, because if you do get a good hand you can really milk your opponent. But as a beginner, I haven't developed the discipline yet to play this game. I did grow my bankroll with limit poker up to 60 dollars, but playing in a few tournaments and in NL ring games ate that money up. At one table, I had many good hands, but people were re-raising me all-in every time. I called a few times and lost big parts of my bankroll. I hope to be able to play NL in the future, after mastering the low limit games.

I think I'll start studying a few books in this order.

1) Internet Texas Hold'em winning strategies, Matthew Hilger
2) Winning low limit Hold'em, Lee jones
3) Theory of Poker, David Sklansky

Then I will be playing 0,02/0,04$ games, with a bankroll of 400BB. After "graduating" the micro limits, I will study this book to play at the low limits:

5) Small Stakes Hold'em, David Sklansky

At the same time I will also start playing 0,02/0,05$ NL games and $1 to $2 tourneys. To be competitive in those games, I'll study:

6) Harrington on Hold'em (1,2,3)
7) Super System
8) Tournament Poker, David Sklansky

8).. I will decide in the future which books to add after this.

Does this sound like a good plan?

Re: Where to start
 

I think you should just start playing nl now. Maybe use the short stack strategy first (from getting started in hold'em).