Poker library rating...

[TaoTe]

A few months ago I decided to become a "serious" student of the game, and went about that the only way I know how, that being to buy literature from other experts and learn and study from what they have to write about poker. I've found some good, some great, and some horrible books. Here is a list of the books that are directly related to poker strategy. I will use abbreviations when I know them: HoH1, HoH2, ToP, Winning Low Limit Hold'em: 2nd edition, Winning at Internet Poker for Dummies (not a good book), SSHE, The Psychology of Poker, Inside the Poker Mind, SS1, and Championship Omaha.

Books not directly related to poker, but what I think are helpful: Blink, Dental Floss for the Mind, and The Power of Your Subconscious Mind.

I normally play small buy-in NL SNGs, NL MTTs, $1/2 limit/NL Hold'em, and limit/PL Omaha8. I just ordered Ray Zee's book on Omaha8.

Any other books that you would suggest to continue learning with. I continually read the better of these books periodically (ToP, SSHE, HoH,) but I am always wanting for fresh ideas and thoughts. That's why I cam to this website. Any suggestions for further reading material?

[AKQJ10]

Eventually I hope we get some consensus reading lists up at the wiki to refer to.

You seem to have most of the "canon" (ToP, arguably SS, SSH, WLLH) covered. Like me you seem to enjoy bouncing around between games -- nothing wrong with that. If you're picking up Omaha a good complement to the Zee book might be Tenner and Krieger's O8 book whose title I forget. As for hold 'em, you're pretty well covered up to the mid-limits and I can't speak first-hand about them. Weighing the Odds by King Yao has gotten good reviews on the books forum; that might be one to consider if you want another HE book.

In short I don't see any obvious gaps that you just have to cover!

[uuDevil]

Well, how about

Hold'em for Advanced Players, by Malmuth & Sklansky
Middle Limit Holdem Poker, by Ciaffone & Brier
Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker, by Yao

[TaoTe]

Would Hold'em For Advanced Players be effective at the 1/2 level of play, and also, is reading through the middle limit book something of a prerequisite for HFAP?

[Ben Therre]

Funny you bring up rayzee, I just played in local tourney with him last weekend.
Read all you can and play as many hands as you can at a level that won't hurt you pocket. I believe in the experience factor more than anything.
GL

[TaoTe]

I play as much as I can, but I know that there are many experts who could help me learn more, which is why I read. Experience is the master teacher though.

[uuDevil]

[ QUOTE ]
Would Hold'em For Advanced Players be effective at the 1/2 level of play, and also, is reading through the middle limit book something of a prerequisite for HFAP?

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably none of the books I recommended would apply as well at 1/2 as, say, SSH. Nevertheless, I think they would improve your understanding of important Hold'em concepts.

I wouldn't say MLHP is a prerequiste for HPFAP. They're both targeted at middle limit games. The nice thing about MLHP is it has lots of examples (some of which have been criticized for being weak-tight-- look up Mason Malmuth's review of the book if you want to know more). I would read HPFAP first.

[AKQJ10]

I agree with uu, and I'm a little embarrassed to have overlooked HEPFAP as part of the 2+2 HE canon. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] That said, no, HEPFAP won't directly apply to low-limit games. However, in much the same way that ToP has a lot of important concepts that you'll chew on throughout your poker career, HEPFAP gets you thinking about aspects of
hold 'em (especially with fewer than 4 seeing the flop) that you may not have thought about.

So in sum, you don't need any more books to be a successful low-limit HE and O8 player. But if, like me, you enjoy buying poker books almost as much as playing poker [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img], here are my suggestions:
<ul type="square"> [*]HEPFAP if you feel like learning more about limit Hold 'em [*]I don't think we mentioned it yet, but HOH2 if you want to work on tournaments.[*]Tenner/Krieger if you want a different (but somewhat redundant) perspective on O8 [/list]

[TaoTe]

I must have forgot to put HOH2 on my list. I have it and have read it. The results I've had after reading through the first book once were amazing, several final table finishes, etc.

I'm a book worm too. I love to read just about anything. It's great because I work in a library, though the library doesn't have a single poker book available. What a shame!