Poll: Which book for someone who has never played?

[sammy_g]

I have several friends who are just starting to play hold'em, and I'm a bit torn about which book to recommend first. I usually say either Hilger or Jones, but I'm curious what everyone else thinks.

[Lost Wages]

Most if not all of these books have a disclaimer that they are not for someone who has never played before. Mason has often reccomended "Fundamentals of Poker" for someone just starting out but then again he wrote it.

Lost Wages

[pastabatman]

I actually have all these books, except for Sklansky's Hold 'em Poker. For the absolute beginner, thin & cheap is better. Fundamentals seems best ($6, 72pp). Dummies has too much fluff. Curious about what folks think of Sklansky's book for rank beginner - it's only about 100 pages, so maybe it would be better focused choice for the hold 'em player.

The other choices (even WLLH) are too much for someone who's just -starting- to play. Most of my friends wouldn't get through the first chapter. But, if they're genuinely interersted in improving, then WLLH. Even if they don't get it yet, it'll be they're waiting when they're ready. ITH is just too bulky for beginners to swallow, IMHO.

[CarlSpackler]

If you use the word 'friends' loosely, and you really don't like these guys, or you just want to steal their money, tell them to get "Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold Em."

[Francis]

I think Lee's book is VERY good for a newbie. Not even knowing the rules, I browsed Poker for Dummies, and decided to get WLLH based on inputs from here and internettexasholdem as a 'first' poker book.

Lee's book does a good job at getting people with no poker experience up and running. Beginners will bleed less initially if they are "weak/tight".

That's what I did for 2k hands on Party to get my feed wet, and ending up more or less even (actually up ~$50). I'm now working through Matthews book (ITH) and starting to incorporate the lessons from his book into my play. I'm then planning on working through SSH.

YMMV

regards,
Francis

[jeffnc]

If they need a gentle introduction, get WLLH. If they are ready to roll up their sleeves and study the math involved right away, then forget that one and go straight for ITH.