Psychology of Poker and Inside the Poker Mind

[ronitonline]

Just wondering what exactly these books basically cover.
I guess I would stil be considered a new player even though I have been playing for quite a while. I have read a couple of books.
I feel like I don't apply enough of what I know when I am actually at the table playing.
I figured maybe these books could give me more benefit at my stage then just reading more strategy books.

Thanks in advance!

[chicagoY]

Both are must buys. They are the cream of the poker psychology crop. Feeney's book is going to appear rather weird to beginners, however, but his chapters are pure gold.

[Fiddler]

I prefer Inside the Poker Mind which is about playing poker while The Psychology of Poker is more about why people play the way they play, why are calling-stations happily going to the river all the time etc. For me it was worth reading once but Inside the Poker Mind contains more, for me, interesting information that is worth rereading.

I do think Psychology of Poker could be useful if you are a recreational player that play like a LAG, tight-passive or calling-station and you want break away from that and take poker more seriously.

[naMruM]

TPOP has some great stuff on HOW people play according to their style. I've taken to reviewing, once a week, TPOP's quick summaries on player styles. Helps me reinforce against my obvious leaks such as "nam, you are just not going to get the LPP to fold if he got any piece of that board, you now have a weak 3 to 6 out draw".

ITPM is a really really good book. To me, it isn't really a psychology book. It's more about the decision making process a good player works through in his head when playing a hand. Best stuff on tilt control written in a book IMO.

[fasteddy1970]

I thought that ITPM was the better of the two books with the chapter on tilt alone worth the price of admission. But POP is also worth reading for the questions it forced you to ask yourself about your style of play and your reasons for playing in general.

[ronitonline]

Thanks for the input guys, these plus Caros book of tells are going to be my next books, I think I have just overloaded myself with strategy and I find myself applying so little of it when I actually sit at the table, and find myself false applying it aswell.

[Pokerpun]

I would say POP is for any level but you need some experience to get most from ITPM

[kudzudemon]

Ron-
After playing for over two decades, I decided about two years ago to get more serious about my game, which is what, it seems, you're trying to do. I bought the standard canon (Super/System, Theory of Poker, Book of Tells, etc.), and found myself in much the same position as yourself, which is not really applying what I had learned succesfully, for a varitety of reasons. Mainly, though, the books I was studying were tactical, not really strategic, and very heavy on math and formulaic concept. It took a while to absorb. I went through a period of feeling like I was learning a new language, and having to use it immediately and constantly. The I picked the Feeney book, "Inside the Poker Mind", and started reading it. Call it synchronicity, luck, perfidy, whatever, but things began to click. I started to play with more clarity and, therefore, more sonfidence, success, and consistency. Maybe it was a personal situation, but "ITPM" seemed to help me galvanize the concepts and formulas I had been studying into a more workable playing style. I have been killing since then. I reread it (or at least browse through it) every other month or so, and it seems to jog new ideas every time I do, as well as having a very real grounding effect.

You seem to be in about the same place I was in, so given those circumstances, I would recommend "ITPM" before the also excellent "Psychology of Poker". I would also recommend keeping the focus on the utilizing the technical ideas you have been studying. Good luck...