Poker Books.

ARR9DINA

hello gang!
just thought id write to ask any one if they have any poker books they would recommend as i have just finished and studied one called The Mammouth Book of Poker by Paul Mendleson it is a fantastic book which i have found very helpful and valuable and my game has improved rapidly since i read it. would recommend a read to anyone. if any one wants to recommend one to me, that would be sweet as im looking to get new one soon.

arr9dina

unknown_username

Hey ARR9DINA and welcome to the forum

I'v got The Little Green Book and The Little Blue Book by Phil Gordon which are very good 

GL

HAL_9000

Super System is a must as is Super System2 which I have just started.

I have also ordered the Harrington on Holdem and Harrington on Cash

I spent £25 on Super System and have averaged over 1K per month in 4 months from playing live cash games 2/3 nights per week.

So if you really want to play poker then invest in books as it will enable you to play the game longer by winning more and losing less.

Keep Smiling

HAL_9000

DOHHHHHHH

I read one book......Harrington on cash....but to be honest cant really remember any of it, read it poolside in Turkey last summer....supped enough ale that week to erase it from my memory as soon as I read it, not to mention whats happened after it. 

Thinking about reading it again, tip - dnt buy em - order it from the library, they'll buy it in for ya if they haven't already got it. Im soooo tight

GaryQQQ

Harrington on Hold 'Em is excellent if you're into tournament play, there's three books in the series. 

The only other one I've read was by Anthony Holden, it was a Christmas gift, it was an OK read for my holiday, but not nearly as good as the Harrington books.

I've been given another book, Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume 1, which looks good, I'm keeping that one for back for a trip away in August when I won't be able to play poker for about 8 weeks.

To get the most out of these books you need to re-read them several times.

BananaDog

I don't read poker book (cos I'm just plain lazy and don't understand half the jargon! lol) but my hubby does....he like the book "Every hand reveled" by Gus Hansen.
I on the other hand only read books like Marley & Me and Harry Potter so I'm useless to ask lol

Cowgomoo

Let There Be Range imo

ARR9DINA

cheers everyone for the tips i will be on e bay sorting them out soon let you know how i get on

Patching99

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

I read one book......Harrington on cash....but to be honest cant really remember any of it, read it poolside in Turkey last summer....supped enough ale that week to erase it from my memory as soon as I read it, not to mention whats happened after it.  Thinking about reading it again, tip - dnt buy em - order it from the library, they'll buy it in for ya if they haven't already got it. Im soooo tight
Posted by DOHHHHHHH

To Dohhhhhhh and everyone else out there who is a tight wad.  Well known poker books are available on the web if you want them.

I haven't got any though, honest!!

HAL_9000

Sorry Dohhhhhhh but these books are not worth borrowing from the library you must absorb these books not read them from cover to cover and return them, this is pretty pointless. I have lost count how many times I have read and re-read the important sections of super system and one of the beauties of super system is that Doyle will take a few paragraphs to explain something then will give you a short easy to remember sentence to engrain it in your mind, such as....

With AA 1 of two things will usually happen

You will win a small pot or lose a big one.

Or

When an A lands on the flop someone can make a straight on the turn.

Mike Caros Section in SS2 is probably the most important thing for any wanna be poker pro to read.

Until you read and understand that then your making it harder for yourself then it needs to be. 

I remember a figure a few years ago stating less then 10% of people make a profit from playing online poker so thats why I chose the Live route over the Online method. But either way reading about it is the most sure fire way I can suggest for people to make money and the reason I make money is because no matter how often people like me drone on about it the fact is poker players are generally lazy and can't be bothered to read, even when someone tells them they have earned thousands, all from spending £25 on a book and spending about 18 hours reading it.

Trust me its TRUE

Keep Smiling

HAL_9000

MereNovice

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

Sorry Dohhhhhhh but these books are not worth borrowing from the library you must absorb these books not read them from cover to cover and return them, this is pretty pointless. I have lost count how many times I have read and re-read the important sections of super system and one of the beauties of super system is that Doyle will take a few paragraphs to explain something then will give you a short easy to remember sentence to engrain it in your mind, such as.... With AA 1 of two things will usually happen You will win a small pot or lose a big one. Or When an A lands on the flop someone can make a straight on the turn. Mike Caros Section in SS2 is probably the most important thing for any wanna be poker pro to read. Until you read and understand that then your making it harder for yourself then it needs to be.  I remember a figure a few years ago stating less then 10% of people make a profit from playing online poker so thats why I chose the Live route over the Online method. But either way reading about it is the most sure fire way I can suggest for people to make money and the reason I make money is because no matter how often people like me drone on about it the fact is poker players are generally lazy and can't be bothered to read, even when someone tells them they have earned thousands, all from spending £25 on a book and spending about 18 hours reading it. Trust me its TRUE Keep Smiling HAL_9000
Posted by HAL_9000

The highlighted aphorism isn't actually true. If the flop is A88 (for example) then it would not be possible to make a straight on the turn. That is an example of why it is generally best not to take any document as gospel. It is always preferable to think things through for yourself.

Also, it is widely accepted by psychologists that different people learn things better in different ways. Therefore, the written medium is NOT always the best approach for everyone.

There are some successful poker players who have never read a poker book (or so they claim!).

HAL_9000

Your right novice and Doyle doesn't say "unpaired" flop, but I think your missing the most important point I am trying to make.

Either that or you would rather people didn't read books and improve there game!!!!

I know that is not the case though from the great posts you put on the forum.

Personally I would forget what Psycos widely accept or believe, they are far to busy wondering what other people think to possibly have any idea what is actually going on.

But if you carnt read books then get on you tube there is loads of learning tools for the eager poker player to pick up

All I am trying to do is encourage the wannabe Pros to make the effort to read the books because if I hadn't I would still be playing £5 tournys with my mates once or twice a month instead of sitting at tables with WSOP bracelet winners and taking money off them (it wasnt till afterwards I found out he had won a bracelet.) And I don't aspire to be a WSOP winner I am a cash player and look at the whole Poker Pro thing in a different way to the majority of Players but its all because I took time to study the game and also myself.

Keep Smiling

HAL_9000

DOHHHHHHH

Who was it Hal?

Patchings, can you send me some links to those free books?

And Hal.....what sorta things should I be typing into UTUBE to find these vids? - Ive tried loadsa times but cant find many....

DOHH

ACESOVER8s

Dohhh if you know anything about Bittorrent downloading then you will find thousands of poker e-books available free.

Google something like BItcomet or bittornado - Instal that software

then google something like poker e-book torrents and you should find a ton of sites with thousands of downloadable books

Not that i would say this should be done as i hear that sort of stuff is copywrited lol

HAL_9000

I forget his name now it was Lawrence ???? I carnt even remember the event I think it was Omaha hi/low or some other deviant I really carnt remember I will find out this weekend If i catch up with him. He is a sound guy and as he won it before the main event he paid for his mate to play in the $10,000 event which neither of them lasted day 1.

Still its good to play these guys.

As for YT just type in the question eg Poker Tells, or Doyle Brunson, Mike Caros probably my favourite poker player for learning from so give him a look and go from there.

Dont forget Dohhhhhh Im on about live Play not sure about the quality of advice for online players from YT but it will be there.

From reading lots of your posts I realise you are working very hard to progress as a player and you appear eager to learn so from my point of view I feel you need to focus on where you want to be as a poker player and please bear in mind this bit of advice my Dad once gave me

"If you really love doing something then try and do it for a hobby not for a living"

He was a musician and once he had to do it to pay the mortgage he hated it.

Keep Smiling

HAL_9000

   

Mr_Miyagi

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

DeuceAK_47

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

Dohhh if you know anything about Bittorrent downloading then you will find thousands of poker e-books available free. Google something like BItcomet or bittornado - Instal that software then google something like poker e-book torrents and you should find a ton of sites with thousands of downloadable books Not that i would say this should be done as i hear that sort of stuff is copywrited lol
Posted by ACESOVER8s

+1
Its pretty easy to find and you can get books worth $5000 for free :-)

Patching99

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

Who was it Hal? Patchings, can you send me some links to those free books? And Hal.....what sorta things should I be typing into UTUBE to find these vids? - Ive tried loadsa times but cant find many.... DOHH
Posted by DOHHHHHHH

Sent you a pm on this

HAL_9000

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

Harrington on Hold 'Em is excellent if you're into tournament play, there's three books in the series.  The only other one I've read was by Anthony Holden, it was a Christmas gift, it was an OK read for my holiday, but not nearly as good as the Harrington books. I've been given another book, Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume 1, which looks good, I'm keeping that one for back for a trip away in August when I won't be able to play poker for about 8 weeks. To get the most out of these books you need to re-read them several times.
Posted by GaryQQQ

This was the first book i read on Poker I think it was free with a Sunday News paper Im not knocking it but it is of limited use to any one past the Novice stage. There is some use full info on percentages for Draws etc and also some Biographies of the more famous Poker Pros, but really nothing you can't get better on the internet.

Keep Smiling

HAL_9000

ARR9DINA

just brought let there be range from e bay thinking it was paper back and i just got cd rom through the door. thought 1 pound was too cheap lol what a DIV

arr9dina
 

beaneh

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

just brought let there be range from e bay thinking it was paper back and i just got cd rom through the door. thought 1 pound was too cheap lol what a DIV arr9dina  
Posted by ARR9DINA

errr let there be range is a book by cole south and slowhabit based primarily for 5/10$ NLH 6 max games online and up. 

There will be nothing that you can take from it to help you on sky low limits, and furthermore it will assume a whole bunch of knowledge that you may need to gain before the books becomes helpful in anyway.

I'd recommend, 

The Theory of Poker - Sklanksy.

Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb. (not a poker book per se).

Mathematics of Poker - Bill Chen. (if you don't want to understand what you are doing dont get this textbook [i'm not going to call it a 'book' because it was hard work going through and I found I needed a pen and paper and had to keep re-reading some bits]), also has massively helpful push fold ranges in the back for donkaments.

Fees 6max pdf which can be found for free online is a good read for online games with a reasonable standard and gives a good template for how you should play.

ARR9DINA

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

In Response to Re: Poker Books. : errr let there be range is a book by cole south and slowhabit based primarily for 5/10$ NLH 6 max games online and up.  There will be nothing that you can take from it to help you on sky low limits, and furthermore it will assume a whole bunch of knowledge that you may need to gain before the books becomes helpful in anyway. I'd recommend,  The Theory of Poker - Sklanksy. Fooled by Randomness - Nassim Nicholas Taleb. (not a poker book per se). Mathematics of Poker - Bill Chen. (if you don't want to understand what you are doing dont get this textbook [i'm not going to call it a 'book' because it was hard work going through and I found I needed a pen and paper and had to keep re-reading some bits]), also has massively helpful push fold ranges in the back for donkaments. Fees 6max pdf which can be found for free online is a good read for online games with a reasonable standard and gives a good template for how you should play.
Posted by beaneh

thanks for the tip always open to advice im keen to learn so i will have a look into the titles you have given. still i will look at the let there be range see how it goes.

beaneh

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

In Response to Re: Poker Books. : thanks for the tip always open to advice im keen to learn so i will have a look into the titles you have given. still i will look at the let there be range see how it goes.
Posted by ARR9DINA

for a pound keep let there be range and read it when you are capable of easily playing good abc poker. It will open your eyes to the game around the abc game.

The other books I recommended are better for starting/newer players.

Fooled by randomness has nothing to do with poker, and mathematics will teach you nothing about how to play hands other than to be aggressive and to shove with a short stack pre ! :-)

Sky_Dan

In Response to Re: Poker Books.:

The Art of War - Sun Tzu
Posted by Mr_Miyagi

I thought I had heard of this before and just remembered where - Victoria Coren recommends it in her poker memoir. Must look into this further...

I have the following poker books in front of me at my desk:

Victoria Coren - For Richer For Poorer
Check-Raising The Devil - Mike Matusow
The Professor, The Banker And The Suicide King - Michael Craig (looks at Andy Beal / syndicate game)
Harrington on Hold 'em Volume I
Swimming With The Devilfish - Des Wilson
Every Hand Revealed - Gus Hansen
The Biggest Game In Town - Al Alvarez
Big Deal - Anthony Holden
Shut Up And Deal - Jesse May

Arguably the only ones that will help improve your game are Harrington and Hansen but the rest are worth a read if you love poker as much as I do. Plus you can get them from Amazon Marketplace for mega cheap!

Dan