What THREE books would you recommend to a brand new player....

[BarronVangorToth]

[ QUOTE ]
6. Inside the Poker Mind


Sorry, just had to add one more.

[/ QUOTE ]


hahaha--- yeah, um, no. He bought the five books in question and is already annoyed that we conned---er, convinced---him to read all five thoroughly.

Fortunately, he is very well off, so hitting the $2/$4 tables at Foxwoods and applying what he learns as he learns, while it might prove to be a loss of money, will prove to be a loss of irrelevant funds for him.

I've read (I think) every book recommended in this post and I simply believe Clarkmeister's Five Book Poker Course o' Doom (TM) (R) (C) incorporates the best five books, no offense to any other authors intended -- heck, I bought all of your books, so just remember, an entire 25-cents of your royalty came from yours truly.

As Teddy Long says, Buhlee Dat.

Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com

[Al_Capone_Junior]

For a beginning player I would substitute psychology of poker for middle limit hold'em. Not that Brier's book is bad, but with four hold'em books, I think the new player could benefit more from learning the basic psychology than from yet another hold'em book, particularly one intended for middle limit games that are no doubt quite different from the games SSH was intended for.

al

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I disagreed with you in another post about your inclusion of middle limit hold'em, but I must admit, you make a good case for your arguement here, whether I agree or not.

Really, I think if you had to choose just three and only three, I'd pick SSH, Lee Jones, and TOP. But only including three is like being assigned a 500 word essay for college english, then only writing 300 because "you figured it would be enough."

My list of "required reading" would include about eight books, plus more if you are playing tournaments, stud, or omaha-8 games. Gambling theory and other topics should be in there, psychology of poker, inside the poker mind, plus the ones I mentioned in my other post (mostly the same as your list).

Ultimately there are NO poker books that I own that I am sorry I bought, and I have almost all that are worth a damn (that I am aware of the existence of).

al

[Elfan]

[ QUOTE ]
GTBOI on the math of poker,
TPFAP on tournament play, and
NL & PL POKER on NL play.


[/ QUOTE ]

What are the full names of these two?

[deacsoft]

HPFAP, TOP, SSH, and Caro's Book of Poker tells (if you play live poker).

[uuDevil]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
GTBOI on the math of poker,
TPFAP on tournament play, and
NL & PL POKER on NL play.


[/ QUOTE ]

What are the full names of these two?

[/ QUOTE ]
Not sure which 2 you mean, but:
GTBOI= Getting the Best of It, by David Sklansky
TPFAP= Tournament Poker for Advanced Players, by David Sklansky
NL&PL Poker= Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker, by Bob Ciaffone and Stewart Rueben

[Stew]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I find it interesting that you recommend Middle Limit Holdem before Small Stakes Holdem. May I ask what your reasonong behind this is? You would think it would be the opposite.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think SSH is a more advanced book conceptually than MLH.

In an oversimplified nutshell, I think it is important to have a strong overall strategic approach to the game as a foundation. Despite their respective flaws, WLLH offers a great strategic approach to the game for beginners and MLH is the perfect natural extension of that.

SSH and HPFAP meanwhile are IMO more tactical in nature. I feel most players need to focus on a fundamental strategic approach to the game before worrying about more sophisticated tactical maneuvers that they don't necessarily understand or correctly apply.

Essentially, I think it is good for players to begin with a somewhat weak-tightish mindset that then grows into a more sophisticated attacking strategy. Most newer players have a natural tendency to be loose and aggressive. WLLH followed by MLH should help hammer home a nice weak tight mindset and overall strategy that can then begin to "plug in" the more advanced tactical ideas contained in SSH and HPFAP.

I add TOP in after WLLH because the ideas involved there are too important to overlook once someone has played a few hours and read that initial book. I don't expect my friends to "get" TOP fully that soon in their poker career, but it forces them to look at poker in a dry analytical manner instead of in a "the game is about psyching out your opponents, bluffing and making reads" manner.

Hope this makes sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your reasonings make complete sense to me and I agree with you whole-heartedly. I haven't read MLH yet, but I have it here in front of me so I'm looking forward to it as I really enjoy Ciaffone's work overall (Improve Your Poker is an excellent read along the lines of Poker Essays).

Anywho, back to my question, have you read Hilger's Internet Texas Hold 'Em book? The reason I ask is I had always been in the Jones camp for best book for beginners and I still think it fits that task very well, but I feel Hilger's book is better. It is better written, it explains concepts such as pot odds, bluffing, deception, free cards and check-raising much clearer than Jones book and I think the advice overall is sounder. Additionally, I like the format of the book in that it is a chapter of information followed by a summary with hand quizzes at the end of each chapter.

[As Zehn]

Anywho, back to my question, have you read Hilger's Internet Texas Hold 'Em book? The reason I ask is I had always been in the Jones camp for best book for beginners and I still think it fits that task very well, but I feel Hilger's book is better. It is better written, it explains concepts such as pot odds, bluffing, deception, free cards and check-raising much clearer than Jones book and I think the advice overall is sounder. Additionally, I like the format of the book in that it is a chapter of information followed by a summary with hand quizzes at the end of each chapter.


Please accept this continuation of your thoughts from a newbie with limited play experience. I am currently reading ITH and agree that it explains many concepts clearer and the quizzes are helpful in reinforcing his thoughts.

Had this been my first book on Hold Em, I think the amount of information would have been overwhelming. To date I have only played B&M, and attempting to memorize the starting hand charts he lists prior to having played would have turned me off to playing.

I think WLLH was a good choice for a beginners book. It gave me a foundation to build from. ITH is much closer to SSH than to a raw beginners book.

[DrPhysic]

Getting the Best of It, Sklansky
Tournament Poker For Advanced Players, Sklansky
Pot Limit and No Limit Poker, Ciaffone & Reuben

Sorry for delayed response, have been out of town for four days.

These are all great books!

Doc

[G. Ed Conly]

I'd go with Begin to Win, my audio CD for beginners, then Hold'em Poker, HPFAP, and SSH. That's 3 books and 1 CD. Without fundamentals the advanced theory is likely to be too esoteric for most people.