Book Advice

[chipolino]

Here are the books I got so far:
Small Stakes Hold'em; Internet Texas hold'em

Books coming in the mail:
Winning Low Limit Hold'em; Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players; Theory of Poker

I need a NL tournament book but I need advice on which one:
Harrington on Hold'em vs Tournament Poker for Advanced Players

Also, is this book worth getting: Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Bob Ciaffone

Any suggestions are very appreciated.

[Tk79]

I dont play no limit so I will let someone else comment on that the ciaffone book is deffinitely worth a read. Also if youve already read(and understood) SSHE than I think you will fine WLLHE to be a waste of your time.

[__Q__]

Unless your trying to build a really extensive poker library (which is fine if thats what your trying to do), I wouldn't worry about getting so many books. Rather, for Limit, I would focus on SSH, and for NL tournaments get HoH and and sklansky's book.

Other than these books, I really think your time would be best spent playing and posting.

[Niediam]

Both HoH and TPFAP are good books, but I'd definatly go with HoH if you are focuses on NL tournaments.

I havn't read Middle Limit Holdem myself, however, I have heard more good than bad about the book.

[royaltrux]

From what I understand (and I could be really off base)Sklansky's and Harrington's books are for tournaments and Ciaffone's is more for cash/ring games.

[royaltrux]

scratch what I said about Ciaffone's book. I didn't take the time to see that you were talking about a limit book. Sorry for the confusion.

[chipolino]

The reason I'm asking which books to get, is that I can get some of them for free through some affiliates. And I just needed some advice on which ones.

[GtrHtr]

New poster - long time observer who has read several poker books and own a few. The best NL Tourny book IMO is HOH, hands down. Well written, logical progression and many, many good, thoughtful, been there - played it wrong examples. Highly recommended.

[Rudbaeck]

TPFAP can safely be left until very late in your library building. Or you could borrow it from a friend and read it. You won't need it for standard reference or anything.

[Wally Weeks]

WLLHE by Lee Jones isn't the most "advanced" book since it teaches a weak tight style, it's probably the most easily readable and accessible by a novice player. SSHE by Ed Miller et. al. is a better work, but a longer read and more strategically complex.

However, SSHE is not a beginner's book...I believe it assumes that the player is not a complete beginner to poker (look at Fundamentals of Poker by Malmuth and Loomis) but it is still somewhat accessible to the relative novice. Someone that fits under the latter category will most likely find rereads of trouble sections.

So, I'd disagree with the statement that WLLHE is a waste of time. While learning a weak tight style is not great poker, it's a reasonable beginning style and good starting point. Playing weak tight in loose low limit games will save a novice money while giving them experience.

Regards,
Wally

[Aceshigh7]

Contrary to the generally accepted notion around here, WLLHE is NOT weak tight.

[Wally Weeks]

[ QUOTE ]
Contrary to the generally accepted notion around here, WLLHE is NOT weak tight.

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems like it is to me, but I have no problem with that. The author does make a big point (i.e. assumption) that low limit games are filled with unknowledgeable/unaware opponents. Oftentimes it doesn't matter too much to vary play. But then again, it has been awhile since I've looked at this book.

Why do you not think the book is rather weak tight?

[Aceshigh7]

If you look at the book in terms of the games it is tailored for, I just don't see how it can be considered weak-tight. The book stresses tight-aggressive play preflop. Post-flop, the book says to slow down if the board looks dangerous and you are up against multiple opponents, and this is where I think it gets its (unwarranted) weak-tight rap here on 2+2. It doesn't say to automatically check-fold if there are overcards to your pocket pair, of if the board looks scary. It simply says be prepared to slow down and cut your losses depending on the action you see on the flop. The idiots (err, opponents) you see at most low limit tables are usually straightforward and will pretty much tell you by their action whether they outflopped you or if you are still ahead.
For the games this book is written for, it lays out what I believe to be the best and most prudent strategy.

Now for mid limit games with trickier opponents, I agree the book could be considered weak-tight. But these are not the games that WLLHE is intended for.

[amulet]

harrington on hold em is the best nl book on the market. it is great for tourneys and you can even apply much of it to cash games. if i was only going to read ONE book, this would be it. interestly enought super systems 2 nl section written by db is still good for cash games, provided you can figure out what doyle was trying to say (writing lacks clarity). but harrington is the clear choice.

yes, middle limit hold em is worth reading - it is a terrific book.

[KKrAAAzy88s]

is middle limit hold em a book for no-limit or limit games?

[Rudbaeck]

[ QUOTE ]
is middle limit hold em a book for no-limit or limit games?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's actually written for limit ring, but is probably more applicable to no limit.

[Rudbaeck]

[ QUOTE ]
For the games this book is written for, it lays out what I believe to be the best and most prudent strategy.

[/ QUOTE ]

It might be a prudent strategy, but it's pretty far from best. In these exact games I play SSH (as close as by the book as I can manage) and I win much, much more than I ever did while playing WLLH. If anything I think I played closer to the book in my early WLLH phase than I do now.

I think you'll find tons of other posters here with exactly the same experience.

WLLH keeps newbies out of trouble. Unfortunately these trouble spots are where alot of money is made.

[Wally Weeks]

[ QUOTE ]
WLLH keeps newbies out of trouble. Unfortunately these trouble spots are where alot of money is made.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's probably why I think the book is decent. For a complete newbie to hold 'em, it's a good idea to play it safe and get some experience at the tables. Perhaps I'm wrong about it's weak-tight nature, but when I read it some time ago it certainly had that smell to me.

The book also seemed to be lacking advice on fourth and fifth streets, but I suppose that the novice player has to worry about more basic things like hand selection preflop, considering position, etc.

The one thing I think this book has over SSH is that it is a shorter book. Some people new to the game might appreciate conciseness over completeness. Once a good/decent basic foundation is laid, the student can move over to the more complete and better work. I guess this is kinda like taking physics 100 in college before moving onto a calculus-based physics. :-)

Regards,
Wally

[Joe B.]

ITH is way better biginner book for low limit holdem than WLLH

[Rudbaeck]

[ QUOTE ]
That's probably why I think the book is decent. For a complete newbie to hold 'em, it's a good idea to play it safe and get some experience at the tables.
...
The one thing I think this book has over SSH is that it is a shorter book. Some people new to the game might appreciate conciseness over completeness.

[/ QUOTE ]

Comparing it to SSH is kinda pointless, SSH is an intermediate-advanced small stakes book. WLLH is what you give to someone who has yet to play his first hand of hold'em. It's like comparing basic trigonometry with multivariate calculus.

[Wally Weeks]

[ QUOTE ]
Comparing it to SSH is kinda pointless, SSH is an intermediate-advanced small stakes book. WLLH is what you give to someone who has yet to play his first hand of hold'em. It's like comparing basic trigonometry with multivariate calculus.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true, good analogy. I think the main reason I compare the two is because I've heard enough discussion of getting one over the other, getting both, reading them individually, simultaneously, etc. It's not that I think the books are the same or at the same level. My point was that it might be more attractive for someone to read a shorter book even though much of SSH are hand quizes...

Regards,
Wally

[chipolino]

Thanks again for all the posts. I got WLLH 2 days ago and read about half of it, however, after having read SSHE(which by the way is excellent) I find WLLH very simplistic. I've had SSHE for a month and a half now and have reread it several times. I also got HEAP which I plan to read next after mastering SSHE. But I tend to read the sections in it that are referenced by Ed Miller. I find this to be very helpful.

As for a NL tournament book I decided to go HOH for now. But I will still get David Sklansky's book later on.

Once again thanks to all those who helped.

[BarronVangorToth]

To help facilitate the learning process, I think you'd do well to read a book through, then go to the next, then the next, then the next...

I'm on a pretty steady rotation of SSH, TOP, HPFAP, and now HOH and once I get to the end, I start back at the beginning.

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[madmisha]

Not to hijack the thread, but I do exactly the same thing Baron.

Does anyone have any thoughts for my 5th book for the rotation? I was going to add Psychology of Poker with Stars FFP points, but I am not sure it would belong in the rotation.