HEPFAP Question

[mwilli31]

I've read Jones' WLLHE and Slansky's Hold 'em Poker. I'm about to start playing .05/.10 limit games on Stars or Paradise and will attempt to move up to .5/1 Party games. My question is would HEPFAP be worth buying at this point? I'm going to purchase ToP and SSH. Should I add HEPFAP or maybe go with Hilger's book? I've read good things about it. I've also read HEPFAP is geared more toward tougher games and somewhat higher limits. Comments appreciated.

[busguy]

All of the books you mentioned are required reading over the course of your poker career, but in my opinion you should not read them all BEFORE getting started.If you are new to poker, the biggest suggestion that I would make is that you read one book at a time and before moving on to the next book be sure that you have THOROUGHLY read, understood AND put into practice (with lots of hands, ie. days) the concepts and strategies of the current book that you are reading.

Each book will have slightly different ideas on how to play (starting hands, each street etc.) and if you are reading different books at the same time it can be rather confusing.

The reading list that I suggest to my friends who are new to hold-em looks something like this:

1) WLLHE - Lee Jones - The bible for beginners. Keeps out of trouble while you get your feet wet.

2) Theory of Poker - Sklansky - essential for understanding the "why's" and "how's" of poker.

3) Internet Poker - Hilger

4) Serious Poker - Kinberg (spelling ?) - explains the math behind poker (pot odds, implied odds, outs etc)

5) Complete book of hold-em - Carson - focuses on the "draw" or the hand not yet made

6) Small Stakes Hold-em - Miller - newest book out and the most relevant to the game as it is currently being played in small limits ($1/2 - $15/30)

7) HEFAP - Sklansky + Malmuth - Advanced concepts

WLLHE will get you through all of the Micro-Limits (up to $1/2) just fine. Read TOP along the way but I wouldn't move on to the next text until you have a TON of hands under your belt. Maybe read one new text every couple of months but I would save HEFAP until you have moved up a lot of limits ($2/4 - $3/6 etc)

Good Luck

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] busguy

[deacsoft]

It is true that HPFAP id geared towards tougher games. However the information within it should be used throughout your time playing poker. Some of the concepts are too advanced for a micro-limit game, but the rest of the book is golden.

I suggest getting TOP and reading it 8 times, but all of the books you mentioned should be read. I suggest this order... TOP, HPFAP, SSH, ITH.