Bankrolling 17 year old kid

[agoldenbear]

sounds like an intelligent, driven, and competitive kid; if he studies poker with the same tenacity that he does his schoolwork and extracurricular activities, he should be able to figure out NLHE pretty well within a year or so.

Like so many other posters, I recommend you direct him to the cash side of things. Tournies are great, but a run of bad luck is highly underscored by the survival nature of the tournament payout structure. In cash games an edge is an edge, so you don't have to play each hand with the larger concerns of your tournament equity affecting every decision. Just based on your description, this kid seems to have a lot of the characteristics that make for solid advancement in poker.

Personally, I would suggest the following books, to be read in order.

Phil Gordon's "Little Green Book"

Angel Largay's "No-limit Texas Hold 'Em: A Complete Course"

Sklansky's "No-limit Hold Em; Theory and Practice"

Flynn & Mehta's "Professional No Limit Hold Em: Vol. 1"

Guerrera's "Killer Poker By the Numbers" (esp. if his math aptitude is above average)

For tournaments:
"Harrington on Hold em" is extremely valuable and readable
"The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide" is deep, unique and superb
"Sit and Go Strategy" - Moshman - the only good text on the subject
"Kill Everyone" - Nelson, Rodman, Streib... not yet released but I expect it to be quite good, although it may rehash existing concepts

For limit and general poker:
"Theory of Poker" - Sklansky
"Real Poker II: The play of hands" - Roy Cooke
"Winning in tough hold em games" - Stox
"Weighing the Odds in Hold Em Poker" - Yao

Hope this helps.