Most Under-rated Poker Book

[Al Mirpuri]

The Pyschology of Poker by Al Schoonmaker.

[Koller]

Internet Texas Hold`em by Matthew Hilger

[KenDom]

ITH by Hilger

[Luv2DriveTT]

Let me three bet for ITH by Hilger. Its not the be all and end all - but its the best book I read pre-SSH (SSH is my favorite however). Even though I had previously read 2+2 & Skylanski's multiple efforts, ITH somehow drove home some concepts that always escaped me. Loved Hilgers no-nonsence approach, and sample practice hands.

[deacsoft]

Not the most underrated but I thought it was still worth the a mention. Zen and the Art of Poker by Phillips.

[Wahoo91]

I submit my vote for ITH by Hilger as well.

[BeerMoney]

Internet Texas Hold 'Em

[uaw420rook]

ITH, Inside poker Mind

[sin808]

reading it now, I'd agree...more people should probably take the time to read it.

[AceHigh]

TOP, by you know who. Even though it's highly rated it is far and away the best.

Also:
Inside the poker mind by Feeney
Improve your Poker by Ciaffone.

[Wahoo91]

I got it (POP) a week ago (needed to fill out the order so that Amazon shipping would be free when I picked up SSH).

Is POP that good? I have it further down the queue for reading but may bump it up based on these posts.

[sfer]

[ QUOTE ]
TOP, by you know who. Even though it's highly rated it is far and away the best.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup. It's hard to overstate how good it is.

[Jeff W]

Cast one vote for Improve Your Poker by Bob Ciaffone.

[Blarg]

On the beaten track:

Internet Texas Hold'em by Hilger. Extremely good book.

Theory of Poker by Sklansky. It's not overlooked by a longshot, but I still don't think a lot of people realize just how good it is.

The one I was originally going to post:

The Memory Book, by Harry Lorayne.

Most everyone's memory can be improved. I got this book years ago and used it to remember matrix tables when I learned card counting in blackjack. Ken Uston in his book said perhaps only 1% of the population can learn the highest levels of card counting no matter how hard they study, and I stink at math but still wanted to be one of the 1%. The book helped me memorize the matrix tables and calculate multiplication of amounts in decimals, run the sums through one matrix table, make more calculations, recall the next matrix table, etc. All numbers, no inherently suprising or interesting mnemonic "hooks" to make the process easier, but with Lorrayne's techniques I got quite a lot of seemingly random info down cold.

Incidentally, I became quite good at the card game "concentration." heheh

Applicability to poker specifically is in memorizing the odds, strategic concepts, and the cards out. I made flashcards when learning 7-stud for both odds and strategic concepts using Lorrayne's techniques. Worked great. I also used the concepts to keep track of the cards that came out in 7-stud, where good card memory is very useful. I wasn't flawless at it, but quite often knew how many cards of every rank were dealt and how many were dealt of every suit.

Hint: things that are absurd, violent, sexual -- anything that paints a bright and striking picture -- are the associations that are easiest to remember. No way anyone caught with my flashcards would ever be considered for parole.

[Bob Moss]

Supersystem!

[sin808]

I'm only about halfway through it so consider my information somewhat incomplete, but I would say yes it is that good. If I had to put it in an order, I would probably put it at #3 after SSH and TOP.

[Blarg]

Hilger's book and then a trade-off between Miller's book and Theory of Poker for me.

[M50Paul]

Winning at Lower Limit Holdem by Lee Jones. Thought it was easy to understand and provided great advice for the newbie -- me

[nicky g]

Supersystem is by far and away the most overrated poker book.

[Randy Burgess]

Can you elaborate on how you used the memory tricks for 7-stud? I always thought it would be far too much work to create little stories for yourself during the play of the hand to remember folded cards. Was that the method you used, and how were you able to do it in the middle of the action, with so much else going on?

[jasonHoldEm]

Real Poker 2, but don't tell anyone.

[turnipmonster]

I diagree. change "overrated" to "misread/misunderstood" and I agree. people who actually read supersystem and understand the no limit chapter are few and far between, as evidenced by the past posts on the big bet forums.

--turnipmonster

[Victor]

Inside the Poker Mind. It's the only book that really discusses outplaying expert players.

[avatar77]

I will have to agree...my vote will be between Real Poker II and ITH.

Real Poker II because there is no other book like it and it really discusses advanced concepts in a very practical and easy to read/understand style.

ITH is probably the best all around hold'em book b/c it is very easy to read but covers so much material that is critical in learning to play Hold'em well. I don't think any other book covers the fundamentals of fixed hold'em from beginner to intermediate/advanced as thoroughly as ITH.

ITH has rendered WLLH obsolete and redundant.

It is not reasonable to include TOP or Supersystem as under rated b/c these books make it to just about everyone's top 5 list and is praised constantly over and over again.

[Blarg]

Cards out are done a little differently, and there are any number of ways to do it really. Your way would be as good as mine. Just something that works for you.

Each number can be spelled out, and the first letter used to make a word, the more colorful the better. Six takes care of itself -- that's just sex. Going from Ace(ass) down to 2's, pair the card rank with the number out by making two words or a single word that uses the initials of the rank plus the initials of the number of cards out for that rank. So, say that sevens come out, four of them. That can be S(even)oF(our)t, or the word soft, or else the phrase savage(the S and V remind you of the word seven) fury(F for four), or some such. I tried to use words that were especially colorful, often obscene ones, because they make an easy impression in the mind, and combining chains of them gets even more absurd and therefore more memorable. Ass is easier to remember than apple, and makes for much weirder concepts when you string it together with other words.

The most you'll ever have to remember is 26 words to get in all 13 ranks, but really it's 13 the way I did it because I always used the same 13 words to describe the ranks, and only the 13 that described the number out varied.

It all sounds silly of course and very difficult, but it's not that hard once you practice it. One enormous help that I found was to clump the words together in little sing-song musical phrases and rhythms that I made up on the spot. Musical tunes are extremely easy to remember. You probably have many songs you've memorized over your lifetime, and if you're like most people, can cite verbatim virtually nothing else you've ever read in your life. If you're old enough to have a few decades in you, you can probably cite verbatim much of the lyrics to songs you first heard many years ago and maybe haven't heard since. The music makes the difference. Just make up some sing-song tune on the spot to put your (effectively) 13 words in, and the 13 words won't really seem all that hard to recall.

Suits I remembered seperately, in the order spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs. I simply put the numbers into a sing-song and remembered them without using any code words.

I would run the two songs through my head frequently throughout the play of the hand, adding to them as I got more information. Repetition helps.

The card game "concentration" is great memory practice, and is a lot of fun to play. I used to play my friends this on breaks at work and win a dozen in a row and more, and play it with friends at home and do the same. I've seen free downloadable versions of it on various websites before.

[Moyer]

I'm ordering POP tomorrow along with some others. I was going to pass on it, until I flipped through it in a book store. Does look very interesting.

[Gambler]

Is ITH still worth reading if you've already read WLLH, SSH, TOP, HPFAP, Improve your poker, Real Poker 2, IPM, POP?

[Moyer]

No, not if you understand the info in those other books.

I read WLLH, TOP, HPHAP, & ITPM before reading ITH. I didn't really find any new info in it. It's certainly not needed, but it probably wouldn't hurt either.

If I were you, I'd try Middle Limit Hold'em or Poker Essays Vol III.

[Kama45]

You've convinced me to but The Memory Book. Congratulations.

[tdp]

[ QUOTE ]
Not the most underrated but I thought it was still worth the a mention. Zen and the Art of Poker by Phillips.

[/ QUOTE ]This is my favorite book that has made me more $ than all other books combined.He has another one called The Tao of Poker that isn't nearly as good.

[comic2b]

I wanted to throw in my two cents. Hey that's half a BB in a Paradise .02/.04 game.

Answer is below

SuperSystem - The second book I ever read. Looking back the section I enjoyed the most was Mike Caro's. I was inspired to start manipulating opponents, and I did good. No this is not the most underrated book much like TOP. How can two of the greats be underrated.

The book no one has mentioned - Book of Tells - so good there really never has been another book like it. That really sums it up. The first time I went to Vegas this book paid for itself. It might not be as important with everyone playing online now, but it is a must read.

Zen and the Art of Poker - glad someone else mentioned this.

A miscellaneous note - Best book someone has never read. Awesome Profits by George "Profit" Elias. One thing I will say about this book is that it teaches you how to play all the games and I've never seen a starting chart for Pineapple besides this book.

P.S. Great topic. It generated a lot of discussion and changed my book buying list.