Best Poker Book U ever Read:

[stevie555]

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.

[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

[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

[Scottery]

Harringtons books are a good read

[AaronBrown]

[ 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.