Probability Books

[LesWormMurphy]

Once again guys, hello.
Last year when I was 15 I was on my school trip to New York and I had some money to kill. So I stopped at a bookstore and picked up Poker For Dummies. Read it about twice, and started playing. Here and there, I started reading about tactics and such, and about 2 months ago I read Caro's book on tells. I've played against, and more importantly, played against many kids and was able to really determine strengths and weeknesses. But, really.

Just the other week, based on the second-long stare at the cards, and the forceful bet without counting the chips-- I knew he had nothing special. Especially once the flop came out, and he looked at it, then shuffled his cards, and before he even called the bet, I predicted his flush draw. lo and behold, he had two diamonds, and there were two diamonds on the flop. At my games, I really decipher VERY well. Defenietly not at a professional level, but considering I've only read the book once..

I really take poker seriously. I might not play for high stakes, but I've devoted many hours to reading not only books, but also articles at www.cardplayer.com, and I really READ the books, I don't just skim over words. The question is-- I'm trying to get my probability skills up there. I figure I'm really gonna keep working on my tell reading, but I also drastically need probability working for me. If I can read a book once, and capitalize on it-- and actually apply to the table-- what book will help me with probability, like Caro's book did for my reading?

Thanks,
Bye

[dogmeat]

I have a book that was enjoyable (besides the essentials of Physics) by Edward Packel. "The mathematics of games and gambling" is a 20-year old book (ISBN 0-88395-66-x) but it has information on craps, roulette, keno, bridge, and of course, probabilities in poker as pertained to permutations, combinations and applications. If you like math, this is a fun book. If you don't really like the math, books like Super/System have odds worked out for different hands and then what to expect on some draws. If you go to the "Gambler's Book Store" online they have plenty of probability and poker books.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[astroglide]

while your goal to learn is certainly admirable, the stats you seek to learn are very simple: outs calculations and preflop favorite situations.

[SossMan]

Hi Les,
While they are fun to play around with, and make really good movie scenes (Oreo?), tells are probably the most overrated aspect in poker. Much more important skills are hand reading (i.e. narrowing down your opponents cards based on betting patterns) and pot odds (and how they affect how you will proceed in the hand).
Welcome to the forums.

-sossman

[sin808]

I'll second this book. I have it as well and found it to be pretty informative.