Top 10 Favorite Poker Books

[pipes]

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Incidentally, I truly believe that seven card stud for advanced players might be the best poker game specific book ever written. Its absolutely amazing what Mason, Ray, and David put together.



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After reading it, I felt the same way. The 3rd street discussion is awesome.

[Peter McDermott]

I've read hoards of theory books, but truth be told for my reading pleasure, I prefer books about poker culture. As a change of pace, I'll offer you my favourites in that sub-genre:

1. Big Deal by Anthony Sampson - this was the book that first got me interested in poker.
2. Positively Fifth Street by McManus - this was the book that, ten years later, made me decide I was going to learn to play.
3. The Biggest Game in Town by Al Alvarez
4. The Education of a Poker Player by Yardley
5. Fast Company by Jon Bradshaw
6. Easy Money by David Spanier. (IIRC, there's a better Spanier book, but I can't recall the title off-hand.)
7. Aces and Kings by Kaplan and Reagan (Really an updating of Fast Company.)
8. Amarillo Slim in a World full of Fat People. (Yes, I know he's a terrible self-promoter, not as good a player as he thinks he is, and has recently been accused of child molestation, but I'm a real sucker for those old timey gambling stories, and he has a wonderful turn of phrase.)
9. Suckers Progress by Herbert Asbury. The author of Gangs of New York does a history of Gambling
10. Doubling Down by Donald and Steven Barthelme. (OK, I cheated slightly here in that this one is about blackjack, but it's a really poignant true life story about compulsive gambling from a couple of guys who write like a dream.)

Unlike Mason, I didn't hate Andy Bellin's Poker Nation. Personally, I quite *like* the idea that gambling circles are full of work-shy, low-life types. I don't think it's completely true, but wander a little way off the beaten track in Vegas and you'll soon see where people get that idea from...

[Jeff W]

For Limit Holdem I still read these sometimes after a year of play:

TOP by Sklansky
MLHE by Ciaffone&Brier
How good is your...limit by Brier
WTO by Yao
SSHE by Miller
Real Poker II by Cooke

HPFAP by S&M is okay also. ITPM by Feeney. Everything else out there is only worth reading if you're a novice.

I dont need to read 15 books all on the same thing.

Oh yay how to semi bluff raise, how to slowplay, taking a freecard, how to calculate pot odds etc.

This stuff is covered in half the poker books around so whether I reread TOP, HEPFAP, SSHE or some other book doesnt really matter.

Killer poker books are fluff but at least they give you something different to think about.

[silvershade]

I play largely limit so my choices reflect that. I got a lot of books but the only ones that stand out in my mind are;

Small Stakes Hold Em - Great book on the basics, the tight starting chart's good when you are really green and post flop sections are great stuff, this was the book I learned from initially and I still go back to it.

Middle Limit Hold Em - Teaches you how to think even if I wouldnt necessarily make the same plays against typical opponents in the games I play, I like this as the counterbalance to SSHE because it's taught me to think about my opponents, sometimes it's not right to be over aggressive, its ALL situational.

Theory of Poker - If you could only read one book on poker I think this would be the one, pretty much required reading IMHO.

Other books I'd give a mention too;

Internet Texas Hold'em.
Weighing the odds.
Inside the poker mind.
Ace on the river.
Hold Em for Advanced Players.

[King Yao]

These three books stand out to me now because they impacted me tremendously when I first read them.

Big Deal by Anthony Holden
I read this before I had any experience playing poker in a casino. The poker world was completely new to me at that time and I ate it up. If I was to read this book for the first time now, I think I would still enjoy it, but I wouldn't remember it as fondly.

Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
This was and still is a great book. When I read this back in the early 90s, it really opened my eyes on how a thinking player can beat the games.

Inside the Poker Mind by John Feeney
I read this book after I thought I was already a decent player. Say around a $20 an hour player in regular 20/40 casino games. This book impacted me similarly as the Theory of Poker did, but at a different stage in my poker life. It made me aware there was a different level of thinking, and I needed to get to that level.

[Andy B]

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2. HLSP7CSAO8BFAP

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[Andy B]

1) Positively Fifth Street
2) The Biggest Game in Town
3) Total Poker (this is probably the Spanier book that someone else was thinking of)
4) Knights of the Green Cloth
5) The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
6) One of a Kind
7) Theory of Poker
8) Big Deal
9) High-Low Split Poker for Advanced Players
10) Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players

Someone mentioned Sucker's Progress. I bought that a number of years ago, but I haven't gotten around to reading it. I'll have to do that some time.

[Piers]

Theory of Poker – DS
I remember when I first started playing poker, this was about the forth or fifth book I read. A couple of chapters in it suddenly hit me that this guy actual knew what he was talking about. A feeling that had been notably missing from the first few books I read.

Small Stakes holdem – EM etc
The book that has demonstrated to me the best understanding of limit holdem. (or maybe the author has similar misconceptions as me).

Getting Started in Holdem – EM
It amazes me how many people don’t understand the concepts covered in the No limit section.

Harrington on Holdem 1 – DH
Harrington on Holdem 2 - DH
The only two books worth reading on No limit tournament play.

Internet Texas Holdem – MH
Good comprehensive coverage of limit holdem.

Pot-Limit & No Limit Poker – SR & BC
There is not much on big bet cash games. I guess this is it, still not bad.

Kind of struggling, but I suppose

Ace on the River – BG
Really aimed more at the B&M player, but nether the less an entertaining well presented book

Inside the Poker mind –?F?
Well I liked his “Best poker player you will ever meet”.

HFAP – MM & DS
Really struggling, thought about adding GC’s book but was worried that would get me banned.

[BlackAces]

Theory of Poker
Harrington on Hold 'em 1+2
Pot-Limit and No-Limit Poker
Improve Your Poker
Tournament Poker for Advanced Players
Positively Fifth Street
The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King
Ace on the River
The Making of a Poker Player