Poker Pros and reading poker books

[spurgeon]

I have heard that some of the poker pros have never read a poker book. Such people as Phil Helmuth, Men the Master and some other ones I cannot remember claim to have never read a book on poker. Is this really true? Also, how about some of the old timers? Did Johnny Moss read poker books? How about Puggy Pearson or Sailor Roberts? Did Stu Ungar do much reading about poker? I read some where that he was a gin rummy champion in New York and moved to Vegas when that game dried up for him and decided to give poker a shot. He had never even played no limit hold em and then 6 months later he was a champion. If this is true, he sure did pick the game up fast!

[benfranklin]

[ QUOTE ]
Such people as Phil Helmuth, Men the Master and some other ones I cannot remember claim to have never read a book on poker. Is this really true?

[/ QUOTE ]

Never believe anything a poker player tells you.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, how about some of the old timers? Did Johnny Moss read poker books? How about Puggy Pearson or Sailor Roberts? Did Stu Ungar do much reading about poker? I read some where that he was a gin rummy champion in New York and moved to Vegas when that game dried up for him and decided to give poker a shot. He had never even played no limit hold em and then 6 months later he was a champion. If this is true, he sure did pick the game up fast!

[/ QUOTE ]

Those guys didn't have poker books to read. Anything written back then was along the line of stories and memoirs. Doyle Brunson, in a recent TV interview, talked about not having any information available when he started. He used to sit down and deal himself hundreds of hands to derive his own odds estimations.

[tubbyspencer]

[ QUOTE ]
I have heard that some of the poker pros have never read a poker book. Such people as Phil Helmuth, Men the Master and some other ones I cannot remember claim to have never read a book on poker. Is this really true? Also, how about some of the old timers? Did Johnny Moss read poker books? How about Puggy Pearson or Sailor Roberts? Did Stu Ungar do much reading about poker? I read some where that he was a gin rummy champion in New York and moved to Vegas when that game dried up for him and decided to give poker a shot. He had never even played no limit hold em and then 6 months later he was a champion. If this is true, he sure did pick the game up fast!

[/ QUOTE ]

It's all true. Please don't read any books (and come sit at my table) /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[deacsoft]

[ QUOTE ]
poker pros... claim to have never read a book on poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe the answer to this is either who cares or we'll never really know. The point you may want to focus on is that you better read poker books if you ever want to be as accomplished.

[ChessMan]

Good books help your game a lot. I have no doubt about that. I played and studied chess for years and I have experienced the benefits of sustained study. If you understand what you are reading, and what you are reading is good material, you fairly quickly get to a point where the "new you" thoroughly kicks the butt of "old you" everytime.

Be very careful about how many, and what you buy. In any domain, there's always crap. And too many books serves no purpose.

I knew of lots of chess players who had a library of chess books, and they sucked. They bought too much, and read too little.

I am new to poker, but I firmly believe the same principle applies to this strategy game as it did that other one.

[6471849653]

Doyle said he hoped he would have had the SS when he started, and then he said (according to someone) he hoped he would have never written that book. In my opinion one needs to learn the theory of poker and the ABC of any form; the rest is all about players, there not being any specific strategy until one knows the exact game conditions, and even then one needs feel, and all might not have it the same way, not to mention that players' own styles differ, that too has all the effect to how hands should be played.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I have heard that some of the poker pros have never read a poker book. Such people as Phil Helmuth...

[/ QUOTE ]I don't think he even read his own.