Aggressive Betting Book

[ks4be]

I am a newbe and wanted to know if there is a book or web site available on how to aggressively bet,raise,call,etc. for each of the 2 pocket cards and/or hands you should play. Thanks, RB.

[Allan]

Its called Hold'ed Poker for Advanced Players. If you are a complete novice I suggest you go to the beginners forum and the books and software forum and read up on some of the book recomendations there. There is an excellent "curiculum" list that skp, a prominent mid-limit forum poster, put together that is an excellent way to go about learning the game. As for web sites this one is pretty darn good.


Good luck,

Allan

[Clarkmeister]

As Allan said, Holdem for Advanced Players is the right book.

www.posev.com (http://www.posev.com) is a website with an exceptional section devoted to preflop play.

[ninthyaga]

I have to disagree. HEFAP is too advanced for someone just starting off, and skips over too many of the general concepts. I think you should read a more basic book. The Lee Jones book on low limit hold'em has received a lot of negative criticism, but I think it has more stucture and guidance for someone starting hold'em. After reading that and logging a few hours on the table, then start to think about something like Poker Theory (by David Sklansky).

[bernie]

start a foundation with a basic book. even if you find you know most of the material, it's good review, just to make sure, before advancing...whether it's jones, krieger or sklansky (and yes, ive read em all as have most of us) just about any basic book will be good...however, i seem to remember that kreiger had a more aggressive approach.

i also shudder when i see players recommend TOP as a beginners holdem book.

b

[Bob T.]

I think that because Theory of Poker (TOP) explains the logic behind different plays, it is one of the first books that you should read. I don't necessarily think that Holdem Poker for Advanced Players (HPFAP) needs to be read early in a players education.

[bernie]

i also dont think HPFAP is a good beginner book. as it's like building the 2nd story of a house without the first story being done yet. however, id recommend this over TOP if it was just between the 2 as far as a starting book.

the problem i have with TOP is that it shifts from game to game. so some of the correlations are not that easily seen. therefore it can confuse a new player. i just recently read it for the first time last year. and i had to take some time with it to decipher hw to translate some of the concepts where they used examples in other games to holdem....im not a 7 stud player...so some of those examples i had to rework to get it...

my point is, if one is trying to learn a specific game, start by learning THAT game. it's kind of like learning 3 different programming languages at once. the concepts are the same, but if youre not used to the syntax, learning 3 diffferent syntaxes can be confusing....or even 3 different languages. learn german, spanish, and japanese all at once. sure, much of the structure and phrasing is similar, but what is easier? starting with one, or all 3?

or take a language book that shows how the similar concepts, among different languages, work. is this really a better starting point for learning 1 of those languages? chances are your not going to comprehend as much as if you already knew one of those languages to start out.

i think the basic books give more of a head start, which can lead to learning the game quicker....

just some ideas...

woo hoo

b

[SoBeDude]

First off, welcome to the wonderful world of Poker!

Everyone who responded is really trying to send you on the right path.

I'd agree that TOP and HPFAP are the wrong place to start.

Start with Lee Jones' book, or Ken Warrens'. They'll both get you the fundamentals and get you ready to really begin to learn the game.

Also pick up Wilson Software's Turbo Texas Holdem. great software to practice on.

good luck!

-Scott

[Bob T.]

the problem i have with TOP is that it shifts from game to game. so some of the correlations are not that easily seen. therefore it can confuse a new player. i just recently read it for the first time last year. and i had to take some time with it to decipher hw to translate some of the concepts where they used examples in other games to holdem....im not a 7 stud player...so some of those examples i had to rework to get it...

You know what bernie, I think that you might be right here. I came to playing casino poker, after playing chess, bridge, and backgammon competitively, and having played a fair amount of casual poker. I have a nice library for each of those other games, and am used to reading and translating theory into practice.

With that, I can see how I might like TOP as an introductory book, but I already had a framework of game playing, even if I didn't have the framework of playing holdem. Your example of learning computer or spoken languages applies exactly here.

The first one you learn, you just want to figure out how THIS works. As you go on to learn more, it is easier to learn the theory, so that you understand the differences between one and the other, and you can learn how to apply them. When you learn the third of fourth one, it is easier to learn the theory and syntax, and then translate that, instead of learning from the bottom up.

[Georgia Peach]

Speaking of aggressive betting books, has anyone read Vorhaus' "Killer Poker"? Lou Krieger wrote the intro and said it was a great book.

I saw a post on the Books/Software forum that Mason was going to review it, but I haven't seen his thoughts yet.