A Question for Limit Hold'em Players

[jeffnc]

1) Winning Low limit Hold'em by Lee Jones

at your level, you can skip

2) The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky

This is never a bad idea, but not required reading, not in any particular order

3) Inside the Poker Mind by John Feeney

yes, second batch

4) Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth

First batch

5) Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth

Second batch

6) Super System 2 (Limit section by Jennifer Harman)

skip

7) Internet Texas Hold'em by Matthew Hilger

First batch, first book

8) Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier

Second batch, for tight games against opponents who basically play stronger cards and stronger hands

9) Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker by King Yao

Don't know

10) Winning in Tough Hold'em Games by Stoxtrader and Zobags

Second batch, depending on what type of games you end up in (this is for shorthanded games mostly)

11) How Good is Your Limit Hold'em? by Byron Jacobs and Jim Brier

First batch

12) Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategy by Barry Tanenbaum

Haven't read yet

[jeffnc]

Like the other advice, you should add Cooke's book to your first batch. Unlike what others have said, you should probably read Hilger first.

[driller]

I can't really add anything about the books, although I have read most of them.

My question is: why are you not interested in playing no-limit, especially after your tournament experience?

I was a limit player for a long time. I play mostly nl now and probably won't go back. You can make more money with less variance in no limit. I know it's counterintuitive, but it's true.

It's harder to find good books on nl/pl but they are out there. 2+2 has some good ones including PROFESSIONAL NO LIMIT HOLD 'EM by Flynn, Mehta, and Miller and NO LIMIT HOLD 'EM: THEORY AND PRACTICE by Skalnsky and Miller.

[Bill Haywood]

[ QUOTE ]
Forget 'Middle Limit Hold'em' which time has passed by. It teaches weak tight strategies that will get you robbed deaf, dumb and blind by the much more aggressive play in today's internet games.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't believe this, it is a superb book. True, it is written for full-tables against good players, so it does not always apply. But you have to be able to adapt to opponents, so you need to know how to use Ciaffone's tight approach. It still applies to short-handed anytime there's a large field. The thinking process it teaches is priceless. A must-read, high on your list.

[6471849653]

1) Winning Low limit Hold'em by Lee Jones
crap
2) The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
good
3) Inside the Poker Mind by John Feeney
not needed
4) Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth
definitely not needed
5) Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth
not needed
6) Super System 2 (Limit section by Jennifer Harman)
full ring abc but recommended
7) Internet Texas Hold'em by Matthew Hilger
Full ring. I don't think I got anything from it, but can't say it's to be ignored, just a sort of pale.
8) Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier
The game type exists only offline.
9) Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker by King Yao
no need
10) Winning in Tough Hold'em Games by Stoxtrader and Zobags
shorthanded games, specifically for high limits but rates like a mandatory book for any serious shorthanded player.
11) How Good is Your Limit Hold'em? by Byron Jacobs and Jim Brier
no need
12) Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategy by Barry Tanenbaum
I don't know, probably some abc book by my standards.

[jeffnc]

[ QUOTE ]
1) Winning Low limit Hold'em by Lee Jones
crap
2) The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
good
3) Inside the Poker Mind by John Feeney
not needed
4) Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth
definitely not needed
5) Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth
not needed
6) Super System 2 (Limit section by Jennifer Harman)
full ring abc but recommended
7) Internet Texas Hold'em by Matthew Hilger
Full ring. I don't think I got anything from it, but can't say it's to be ignored, just a sort of pale.
8) Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Bob Ciaffone and Jim Brier
The game type exists only offline.
9) Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker by King Yao
no need
10) Winning in Tough Hold'em Games by Stoxtrader and Zobags
shorthanded games, specifically for high limits but rates like a mandatory book for any serious shorthanded player.
11) How Good is Your Limit Hold'em? by Byron Jacobs and Jim Brier
no need
12) Advanced Limit Hold'em Strategy by Barry Tanenbaum
I don't know, probably some abc book by my standards.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretty ridiculous comments. wrt Ciaffone's book, your comment is just not true. wrt your list in general, basically you recommend Theory of Poker for limit players and that's it? Ridiculous.

[Adman]

A limit hold 'em player could skip TOP entirely and it wouldn't hamper your development at all. That book is not as necessary to your development as a lot of people seem to think. As for Middle Limit Hold 'em, I can't believe that a lot of people still think this book has any merit. If you played like they recommend you would go broke quickly- way too weak tight and passive, you'd just get run all over in the aggressive internet games.

For what it's worth my LHE required reading list would be much smaller than some of the others here. I would go in no particular order:

* SSHE- The best limit book ever written. Forget people that say stupid stuff like "But there are no games where I see 6 players to a flop so the book must be useless now" If you understand the concepts you will be able to adapt to any game.

* Internet Texas hold em- You could read this in addition to SSHE. I guess you could actually read it instead of SSHE but given the choice, SSHE is slightly better.

* Limit hold 'em Winning shorthanded strategies- The best shorthanded material available bar none.

* HGIYLH- Just to "test" yourself on how well you understand important limit ideas.

I guess if you are playing in super tough short games then Stox's book would be worth a read, it is also very good.

That's about it, concentrate on those books alone, you don't need any others.

[avatar77]

[ QUOTE ]
A limit hold 'em player could skip TOP entirely and it wouldn't hamper your development at all. That book is not as necessary to your development as a lot of people seem to think. As for Middle Limit Hold 'em, I can't believe that a lot of people still think this book has any merit. If you played like they recommend you would go broke quickly- way too weak tight and passive, you'd just get run all over in the aggressive internet games.

For what it's worth my LHE required reading list would be much smaller than some of the others here. I would go in no particular order:

* SSHE- The best limit book ever written. Forget people that say stupid stuff like "But there are no games where I see 6 players to a flop so the book must be useless now" If you understand the concepts you will be able to adapt to any game.

* Internet Texas hold em- You could read this in addition to SSHE. I guess you could actually read it instead of SSHE but given the choice, SSHE is slightly better.

* Limit hold 'em Winning shorthanded strategies- The best shorthanded material available bar none.

* HGIYLH- Just to "test" yourself on how well you understand important limit ideas.

I guess if you are playing in super tough short games then Stox's book would be worth a read, it is also very good.

That's about it, concentrate on those books alone, you don't need any others.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the above list is very good if you want to keep the book list short.
However, I really believe there are two books that need to be included:
1) Roy Cooke's book: Play of Hands II should be included in any serious limit hold'em study.
There really is no other book like it where you can actually go into the mind of top mid limit player.

Of course, you can just go to Cardplayer and download all of his articles from there as well.

2) Hold'em for Advance Players by Mason and David.
This one is a perennial classic and still contains very pertinent advice