Good Poker Books?

daddybo

Well-Known Member
#1
I was at a party last night and, long story short, was invited by some well healed gentlemen to join them for their weekly poker game. (I think they're trying to hustle me :laugh:) Anyway, I though it might be "fun" to play a little in the spare time. I have a general understanding and a little experience playing Hold 'em and Omaha.

What I'm looking for is a really good book with the numbers and other information to improve my game.

All Suggestions Appreciated.


-db
 

Nynefingers

Well-Known Member
#2
Haven't been playing any serious poker for a while, but I'll tell you my favorites.

First, I'd recommend David Sklansky's Theory of Poker for a good overview of the terminology and math that relates to the various poker games. It's definitely more technical in nature than some poker books, which is a problem for some, but anyone who understand BJ math shouldn't have any trouble following it.

Second, if you are playing limit holdem, get Small Stakes Holdem by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth. That book made helped get me up to a respectable LHE winrate back in the heyday of online poker, although I never played anything but small stakes. Don't let the "small stakes" in the title fool you though. It has great strategy info, and obviously the level of your competition matters much more than the actual dollar amounts.

Finally, NLHE. This was not my best game, but it's what I've been playing lately. I haven't really dedicated enough time to learning this game because I haven't been spending much time playing it. I have however read Professional No Limit Holdem, Vol. 1 by Matt Flynn, Sunny Mehta, and Ed Miller and can definitely recommend it.

With TOP and one of the others depending on your game, you'll be well on your way to earning money at holdem. Also, I used to post quite some time ago on twoplustwo.com. I haven't been on there lately, but it was a great resource as long as you can sort through the advice and figure out the reliable posters (just like any web forum). My experience (and that of my poker playing friends) has been that any book from Two Plus Two is generally worthwhile.

What game do you expect to play? Roughly what stakes and player skill level? With that info, some people might be able to give more specific recommendations.
 

Machinist

Well-Known Member
#4
All good Daddybo

I've read most of them. Hey how big are these games and are any of them sharks , or little fishies. If they are little fishies I'm in..........:eek::p:p:p
All the books are good. The most critical thing now days is game selection, meaning soft players!!!!!!!!!!

Machinist
 

daddybo

Well-Known Member
#5
Thanks Nynefingers and Moo21.. I'll look at those books.

LOL Machinist, It's a NL game with some pretty strong characters... now whether they are Sharks or Fish... well, let's just say I'm researching that. I'm sorta feeling like I may be the fish. :laugh:
 

Meistro

Well-Known Member
#7
Just play at pokerstars for pennies (yes pennies). Play as many tables as you possibly can, and put in as many hands as you possibly can. Play extremely tight before the flop. Before long you will be an expert, and it will cost you only dollars.

As for books, ANYTHING by 2+2 publishing is fine.
 

mjbballar23

Well-Known Member
#8
Meistro said:
Just play at pokerstars for pennies (yes pennies). Play as many tables as you possibly can, and put in as many hands as you possibly can. Play extremely tight before the flop. Before long you will be an expert, and it will cost you only dollars.

As for books, ANYTHING by 2+2 publishing is fine.
This is good advice. I cannot stress the importance of playing A TON of hands online. You will improve so much faster than you would from reading a book. Personally, the only books ive read are books on limit hold em. I learned No-Limit entirely through playing online and talking to other players and today i am able to play 16 tables of .5/1 or 1/2 nl online and maintain a respectable winrate.
 

MartyAce

Well-Known Member
#9
Online will be different from live in many ways.

For cash games, just pick up Super System 2. Besides that, any local bookstore will have the top cash game books. There really aren't any bad ones that make it in the markets long.
 

1357111317

Well-Known Member
#10
When people say online is different than live they aren't entirely correct. The game is still the game, the rules are still the same, the fundamentals are still the same but people play the differently. Mainly when I say differently I mean a lot worse. People in live aren't patient enough and don't know how to fold. And live players just don't know how to think as well. Mainly the difference is that live players are just really bad. Which means you have to change your name. Online full ring you would rarely 3bet AQ preflop. Most live games you should be 3betting AQ 90% of the time preflop since people will call 3 bets with KQ AJ A10 etc. Or in some cases 46o, J7s etc.
 
#11
Deathclutch said:
Does anyone know if Snyder's Poker Tournament Formula is any good?
A lot of people from the 2+2 school of thought scoff at it, but his tournament records are pretty respectable, from what I understand. I would be tempted to try it out if I had much interest in tourneys at the moment, as I would assume he's attacking the game from a broader scope due to his overall AP background. This means more opportunity exploitation and less simple, good poker.

A friend of mine devised a good strategy for crushing the $2/5NL games around here. There are special circumstances in the state law that make them easily exploitable. I think looking at opportunities that aren't just based on being a great poker player are necessary to beat a lot of the games nowadays.

That said, micro online NL is ridiculous. Daddybo, sign up for the $100 free no-deposit bankroll on FullTilt. It will prevent you from signing up for rakeback at that site later, but you can use the free money to get your game up. You start out with $50 and have the other $50 released in $5 increments as you build points. Play the $0.01/0.02NL games until you have a steady win-rate, then move up to $0.02/0.05. Once you're beating that game, play a few tables at a time. I set my filter to find games with at least 8 players, with average pots of at least $0.80 and at least 35% of people seeing the flop. These games are so easy, all you have to do is wait for a good hand, bet aggressively, steal blinds, and shove when you know your opponent is weak. This is good practice for $1/2 live games, in my opinion.
 

assume_R

Well-Known Member
#12
I know you asked about books, but there is also a ton of information that can be gleaned from websites such as

http://www.tightpoker.com/poker_odds.html
http://www.toppoker.org/poker-hands/pot-odds-counting-outs-dm.html
etc.

There is a comparable amount of math in poker as there is in blackjack, and many of these odds the pros calculate in their head on the fly, the same way we know the EV, or at least the correct play, in blackjack on the fly, instinctively.

So yes, as always practice practice practice online at penny tables, but also make sure you know how to calculate the odds and EV of different hands, versus different betting styles of other plays (there are quantitative values for how tight or loose another player is).

I wish I had a good book to recommend, as I only gave you websites... :eek:
 

Nynefingers

Well-Known Member
#13
Concept of the Week

I remembered one other good resource for you to check out online. As I said, I haven't spent any real time on the 2+2 website in a while, but there is one series of posts there that could really be beneficial for you. This series of posts covers a different poker concept each week. Each week's topic is introduced with a good overview written by different posters, then is followed with discussion from everyone else. The series is called (appropriately enough) the "Concept of the Week", or CotW.

This link will take you to the index of the CotW posts. There is a digest link at the top of that page that summarizes some of the info in the 2009 topics. You will also find a listing of the topics covered so far (with links the the individual threads) and the schedule for topics to come later. Scroll down below the 2010 topics and you will find the 2009 topics that have already been covered. I would recommend studying these concepts after you get the basics down. They are sized pretty well to make it easy to study one concept/thread in a short time, so they should be easy to mix in with your other study. I still haven't had a chance to study these myself, but I have little doubt that they contain some good info.
 
#14
What would you guys recommend for an absolute, total rookie at any type of Hold 'em or poker game out there? I've only played a few hands of play money online at Cake Poker, and I didn't know what the hell I was doing. Most of the books I've checked out seem to assume a basic understanding of the game, even the "beginner" books. I seriously wouldn't even know what do to if I sat down at a table- how to bet, what the blinds are, card and chip handling, etc.

Does anyone know of a good book that teaches the game from the rock bottom ground up?
 

Nynefingers

Well-Known Member
#15
I've heard good things about Ed Miller's Getting Started In Hold'em. I have not read it myself, so I can't say how low level it goes as far as explaining the rules, etc., but if it skips some of those details, that should be stuff you can easily find online. GSIH touches on a couple of different variants of poker, which might be good if you aren't sure yet which you would be most interested in. I hate to recommend a book I haven't read, but this would probably be a good place to start. I know Ed knows his stuff, and his other books are excellent. Worst case scenario is this book skips a few things you don't know yet, so you put it on the shelf and come back to it later. For the price ($12), it's hard to go wrong.
 
#16
I know where you're coming from, as I had trouble "getting into" poker at first. It seems there's no single, great starting point like you'll find in abundance with BJ. I like the Ed Miller recommendation, as his writing style is very easy to understand. I haven't read that one, but he co-authored Professional NLHE, which I feel is probably one of the best intermediate books on the subject. The link to the CoTW on 2+2 is CRUCIAL, in my opinion, but a lot of stuff there assumes that you're already at an intermediate level. There's also a lot of 2+2 lingo that you'll need to get used to; fortunately, there's a FAQ thread about that exact thing.

I guess if you had to pick a few books to get you through the beginning of your poker education, I'd recommend the Miller book (as I've seen others recommend it highly as well), Sklansky's "Theory of Poker" (mandatory reading), "Harrington on Hold 'Em" (Cash Games edition), and "Professional No-Limit Hold 'Em." If you'd prefer to play limit HE, especially in a live environment, King Yao's "Weighing the Odds in Hold 'Em" is a great read. Good luck!
 
#17
Nynefingers said:
I've heard good things about Ed Miller's Getting Started In Hold'em.
If you are just starting out with Hold'em, i.e. a no-kidding never played before beginner, this really is the book to get. It is a great intro and will improve your limit hold'em game from fish to beginner. It also has some chapters on No-limit cash (including a short stack strategy) and an intro to Tournament play. If you start with this book, you can then try all three of these types of games (at the lowest stakes). If you decide to focus on limit, you cannot do any better then moving on to "Small Stakes Hold'em" also by Ed Miller. If you want to focus on tournaments, the standard reading is "Harrington On Hold'em" (three volumes) as mentioned previously in this thread. If you decide no-limit cash is your thing, you can read Harrington on Cash (two volumes), and then you will probably want to continue with "Professional No-Limit Hold'em" (miller) as well as "Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em" by Ed Miller. This last is an e-book only, and focuses on 6-max cash games. You need to play alot of games in between all this reading of course, and if you do you can really learn alot by posting hands you played on the twoplustwo forums.
 
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