My Poker Library

Obviously there will be some overlap in these categories; you might consider a lot of the books in Courses/Guides and/or General Reference as beginner books (and vice versa ); you might consider Cat Hulbert’s book for women as a specialty book (or a beginner book); a bunch of the beginners books are limit poker only, etc.

Some of these are brand new and I have not had a chance to read (the Chen and the Varrone book), or have not studied because of a different focus right now (most of the limit books), some I read a long long time ago (lots of the course/guides and beginners books).

I think most of the books in Math/Theory are almost essential to any good library, or would at least be useful in the advancement of your understanding of the game.

General Reference
The Art of Texas Hold’em by Ernest and Selinker
Stepping Up by Randy Burgess
12 Days to Hold’em Success by Mike Caro
Internet Poker by Krieger and Watterson
Internet Texas Hold’em by Matt Hilger
Little Black Book (aka Poker: the Real Deal) by Phil Gordon
What No One Else is Saying about Online Poker by Carl Varrone
The Tao of Poker by Larry Phillips
Lessons from the Pro Poker Tour by David Apostolico
Why You Lose at Poker by Russell Fox and Scott Harker
Killer Poker by John Vorhaus
Killer Poker Online by John Vorhaus
Killer Poker Holdem Handbook by John Vorhaus
Secrets the Pros Wont Tell You About Winning Hold’em Poker by Krieger and Bykofsky
Winning Methods of Bluffing & Betting in Poker by Lynne Taetzsch
Secrets of Winning Poker by Tex Sheahan
Caro’s Fundamental Secrets of Winning Poker by Mike Caro
Poker Wisdom of a Champion by Doyle Brunson
Thursday Night Poker by Peter Steiner
Winning Poker for the Serious Player by Edwin Silberstang
Championship Hold’em Tournament Hands by Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier
Outplaying the Boys by Cat Hulbert

Comprehensive Courses or Guides
No Limit Texas Hold’em, A Complete Course by Angel Largay
Super System by Doyle Brunson, et. al.
Super System 2 by Doyle Brunson, et. al.
Guide to Doyle Brunson’s Super/System by Mike Caro
Hold’em Poker by Gary Carson
Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold’em by Ken Warren
Phil Helmuth’s Texas Hold’em by Phil Helmuth
Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein
77 Ways to Get the Edge at Casino Poker by Fred Renzey
Poker for Dummies by Harroch and Krieger

Beginners Books
Getting Started in Hold’em by Ed Miller
Winning Low Limit Hold’em by Lee Jones
The Badass Girl’s Guide to Poker by Toby Leah Bochan
Online Ace, by Scott Fischman
Hold’em Wisdom for All Players by Daniel Negreanu
The Only Poker Book You’ll Ever Need by Johnny Quads Wenzel
Online Poker by Doyle Brunson
Starting Out in Poker by Stewart Reuben
Hold’em Excellence by Lou Krieger [limit]
More Hold’em Excellence by Lou Krieger [limit]
Fundamentals of Poker by Malmuth and Loomis
Low Limit Texas Hold’em Poker by Abulencia and Abulencia [limit]
Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em by Bill Burton [limit]

Math and Theory
The Mathematics of Poker by William Chen and Jerrod Ankenman
Killer Poker by the Numbers by Tony Guerrera
Texas Hold’em Odds and Probabilities by Matt Hilger
Weighing the Odds in Hold’em Poker by King Yao
No Limit Hold’em by Sklansky and Miller
Hold’em Poker by David Sklansky
Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmuth
Poker Essays by Mason Malmuth
Poker Essays II by Mason Malmuth
Poker Essays III by Mason Malmuth
Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
Getting the Best of It by David Sklansky
Gambling for a Living by Sklansky and Malmuth
Gambling Theory and Other Topics by Mason Malmuth
Fighting Fuzzy Thinking in Poker, Gaming & Life by David Sklansky

Limit Holdem
Hold’em on the Come by Rolf Slotboom
Million Dollar Hold’em Limit Cash Games by Johnny Chan and Mark Karowe
Improve Your Poker by Bob Ciaffone
Middle Limit Holdem Poker by Ciaffone and Brier
How Good is Your Limit Hold’em? By Jacobs and Brier
Small Stakes Hold’em by Ed Miller, et. al.
Real Poker II: The Play of Hands by Roy Cooke and John Bond
52 Tips for Texas Hold’em Poker by Barry Shulman
Championship Hold’em by Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier

No Limit (and Pot Limit Holdem)
Mastering No-Limit Hold’em by Russell Fox and Scott Harker
Killer Poker No Limit by John Vorhaus
In the Money by Antonio Esfandiari
Shuffle Up and Deal by Mike Sexton
Pot Limit and No Limit Poker by Reuben and Ciaffone
Little Green Book by Phil Gordon
Little Blue Book by Phil Gordon
Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold’em by T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy

Tournaments
Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky
Poker Tournament Tips from the Pros by Shane Smith
Tournament Poker by Tom McEvoy
Poker Tournament Formula by Arnold Snyder
Win Your Way Into Big Money Hold’em Tournaments by McEvoy and Daugherty
Harrington on Hold’em I by Dan Harrington
Harrington on Hold’em II by Dan Harrington
Harrington on Hold’em III by Dan Harrington
Poker Tournament Strategies by Sylvester Suzuki
The Secret to Winning Big in [Limit] Tournament Poker by Ken Buntjer
Kill Phil by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson
How to Win No-Limit Hold’em Tournaments by Don Vines and Tom McEvoy

Other Specialty
The Book of Bluffs by Matt Lessinger
Read’em and Reap by Joe Navarro
Caro’s Book of Poker Tells by Mike Caro
Ultimate Guide to Poker Tells by Randy Burgess
Professional Poker Dealer’s Handbook by Dan Paymar, et. al.
Psychology of Poker by Alan Schoonmaker
Inside the Poker Mind by John Feeney
Psychology of Poker Psymplified by David Whalen
How to Turn Your Poker Playing into a Business by AnnJohnston, CPA
Professional Poker, by Mark Blade
Fortunes Formula by William Poundstone
Poker Face 2, photographs by Ulvis Alberts
Dirty Poker by Richard Marcus

Fiction
Poker Nation by Andy Bellin
Shut Up and Deal by Jesse May
King of a Small World by Rick Bennet
The Prop by Pete Hautman

DVDs:
The Big Blind: A Real Poker Movie
Controlling the Game with Phil Laak
Chip Mastery with Antonio Esfandiari
Ed Miller’s Limit Hold’em

Biography/Real Life Story (often mixed with lessons)/Interviews & Profiles
Pizza, Pasta and Poker by Vince Burgio
Cowboys, Gamblers & Hustlers by Byron Wolford
Swimming with the DevilFish by Des Wilson
Hunting Fish by Jay Greenspan
The Education of a Poker Player by Herbert O. Yardley
The Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez
How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and won Mon Millions by Annie Duke
Poker: Bets, Bluff and Bad Beats by A. Alvarez
Poker Face by Katy Lederer
Take Me to the River by Peter Alson
Telling Lies and Getting Paid, by Michael Konik
Big Deal by Anthony Holden
The Making of a Poker Player by Matt Matros
One of a Kind: the Rise and Fall of Stuey “The Kid” Ungar, by Nolan Dalla and Peter Alson
Aces and Kings by Michael Kaplan and Brad Reagan
Winning Secrets of Poker: Interviews with the Game’s Best Players by Peter Thomas Fornatale
Read’em and Weep: A Bedside Poker Companion, by John Stravinsky, editor
A Friendly Game of Poker: 52 Takes on the Neighborhood Game by Jake Austen, editor
Moneymaker, by Chris Moneymaker
Diary of a Mad Poker Player by Richard Sparks
Getting Lucky by Richard Sparks
Johnny Magic and the Card Shark Kids by David Kushner
Poker Aces: the Stars of Tournament Poker by Ron Rose
How to Win the World Series of Poker (or not) by Pat Walsh
The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King, by Michael Craig
Bad Beats and Lucky Draws by Phil Helmuth
Championship Table by Smith, McEvoy and Wheeler

Books I leant to someone and now no longer have:
Man with the $100,000 Breasts by Michael Konik
Zen of Poker by Larry Phillips

Dogshit and/or worthless books I can’t recommend to anyone:
Beyond Tells by James McKenna
Texas Hold’em On the Net by David Bradshaw
Texas Hold’em Odds by Catalin Barboianu

Books I need or want:
Poker Mindset by Matt Hilger
How to Read a Poker Player Like a Book by Henry Calero
Power Hold'em Strategy by Daniel Negreanu
Pressure Poker: Poker Strategy and Tools to Improve Your Game by Scott Gallant
My 50 Most Memorable Hands by Doyle Brunson



Anything I missed or you would consider essential to having?

Ok, I conceed, you're way more commited than I am, and probably need to be commited!

Holy Jeezus, AG! That's a lot of books. You could seriously suppliment your bankroll if you sold half of them.

This gives me an excuse to post this pic of my bookshelf I took a few weeks ago. I was proud of it until I read what AG has. Now I feel like a hobbyist. I've only read half of my poker books and only a couple of the non-poker others. The only book missing from the pic is "Theory of Poker", which I am 10 pages from finishing:

Sell books?!?!? Never!
(you should see my chess library)

Wow! How long did it take you to buld that poker library?

Well i have read well over 3000 books, but they were not about poker. Science, History, and Romance novels, One of my hobbies is reading, it is great for the mind. And i agree with AG, never sell.

That's a great library - as you know! - but would you be able to recommend, say, the top 10?

I'm in South Africa, and with the cost of shipping would rather have 10 great books than take a chance on 20 with no guidance.

I have Sklansky on Poker
Super System
Caro's Tells
Harrington's first book (name escapes me)...

I just ordered ("just" as in five minutes ago) ordered Stoxtrader's new limit book ("Winning in Tough Hold 'em Games"), so I'm one up on you there. I'm probably 50 down on you in the rest of your list though.

Did you read Greenstein's book? I've heard good things about it and that will probably be my next poker related buy.

I would say about four years all total, but certainly not linearly-- most of it over the past two, as I became more serious about the game.

It's always tough to recommend books generally without a bit of background info on the individual. Your current library is very good, and defiantly on the more advanced side.

How did you find these books with regard to your current experience/skill level? Also, what area of poker are you currently focusing on, limit cash games, NL tournaments? It also depends on what you want from your book-- more Sklansky theory, or a bit of entertainment?

Assuming that you were comfortable with what you have you can always go with a good odds book like Matt Higer's "Texas Hold'em Odds and Probabilities".

Also, some books that might be considered a bit on the "basic" side are nice to have for somewhat easier reading, and to tough base with concepts that you know but are good to have a refresher in. Phil Gordon's "Little" series comes to mind. You can read these a break from the "study" you really need to put into a Sklansky book.

Also, for a lot of the same reason I recommend most of the books in the Biography section-- some like Richard Spark's books and the Pat Walsh book are really really funny. Books like "Making of a Poker Player" by Matros are good if you like your lessons mixed in with a bit of story.

I enjoyed all of the fiction books listed as well.

I guess it's too hard to pick-- that's why I got them all !!

I love reading books, but most of them are not poker related stuff. Poker related, I've only read Harrington's series, Matt Hilger's ITH, Super System 1. My God, you can build a decent bankroll with the money you spent on those books. Still, I think it's a show of your dedication.

I think I've seen your handle on FT recently, on the $10 PL tables. Anyway, my handle's donnylucky on FT. Holler if you see me.

Still trying to amass a library of essential poker books.

WHen I started here, I read all the articles, SS & SS2 and a few others, read the HH's and comments, and occasionally still win something. But in general I have not advanced as far as I want. My Br is very close to becoming

"Gone With the Wind"

Not surprised you have an extensive library as well....

Greenstein's book is beautiful, lots of pictures (but they are unlabeled, so you don't always know who you are looking at), very well constructed physically (glossy think pages).

The content is interesting, sometimes a bit odd/weird. He does touch on some topics that no one else really addresses (Chapter 16: "Poker and your Sexuality", I kid you not). I recommend it because I recommend almost all poker books, and I think you will want to have it in your collection.

Let us know what you think after you get it!

I am glad you have a stacked library but is that many poker books really necessary? I have about 5 good quality books and I think I learned as much as I can about poker . I may get a few more but I can't see why anyone who need more then 10 books . The rest you have to learn by playing the game and experience as well as improving your reading abilities.

No, it's not "necessary" per se. Did I really need to read Annie Duke or Chris Moneymaker's biography, of course not. Do Gordon's and Wenzel's books cover much of the same ground and topics, sure.

Did reading any of these books hurt my game? No.* Did I learn something, or review something from/in each of them? Yes.

I guess your real question/comment is "Was it worth the investment?" ($2965 total cover prices, for those interested).

Certainly some books are more "bang for the buck": I can say that for $19.95 "Poker Tournament Tips from the Pros" by Shane Smith at 139 pages of semi-fluff is definitely not as good a buy as Arnold Snyder's "Poker Tournament Formula" at the same price.

But I guess in the end I don't regret any of the purchases*, and would have to say that the value of books is an individual thing (I have lots, not just on poker).




*"Maximum" Dave Bradshaw's book, and others in the dogshit category excepted...

Wow, that's all I can say is, Wow. Well that, and that I am extremely jealous of your library.

Mine concists of:

Harrington on Hold Em I, II, and III
Poker Odds and Probabilities
The Theory of Poker
Online Ace
Super System I and II

I just started about 6 or 8 months ago putting my collection together. I just got Poker Odds and Probabilities so I haven't read that yet, and I'm in the midst of reading The Theory of Poker now.

Oh.........and let's not forget the subscription to Bluff Magazine that I bought (along with other things) with my party poker points when party poker shut us Americans out. I guess i'll probably need to renew that soon.

Yeah, it's really nice as a coffee table book.

It's one of those ones that I'm glad I read, but at the same time I'm glad it was a library book as it doesn't have the same re-reading/reference kind of quality that ones like Phil Gordon or Harrington's books have. It does, as you say, have some different thoughts than some of the more theoretical books have though.


Very nice collection!

Didn't see this one... you have so many maybe I missed it:

Positively Fifth Street by Jim McManus -- a must read documentobiography (yeah I made that up)

Wait, add that to my "lent to someone and now no longer have" list... [guess that puts it right about at 3k spent on poker books]

I agree, excellent read!

Ok you got some knowledge for sure how about screen shots of all the cash in your accounts it must be 10s of thousands.

That bottom line is the clincher, ain't it?!

Thanks for the reply. I'm actually swamped by Sklansky and Super System was only marginally easier to digest, so I figure my library is well in advance of my ability to understand the concepts.

I would like to get the ones you recomended to me, but the last six books, whilst ordered from Amazon, came from four different suppliers and cost me a ton! Could you suggest an online source?

Nice collection - you have read all of them already?

Conjelco is a good source.

And you should be able to order Hilger's books right from his site.

Not sure if Barnes and Noble is an option for you?

If you google poker books I'm sure you will find a lot of sites like this, maybe one of those would work for you.

Not all of them, no (see op).

Great stuff, aliengenius, and thanks!

omg get a life nerd


(gol, mol, sol, dol)

Nice collection allingenius!

My comparatively anaemic library pictured below. A few extras back at my parents' house, "7 Card Stud" by Roy West, "The Biggest Game in Town" by Al Alvarez, "Online Poker" by Doyle Brunson (which is actually one long tedious advert for his site, was given it).

Attached Images

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I'd rather have your collection and $3,000 in cash to be honest!

Hey alien, I am looking to pick up a few more books, could you recommend some to me since you've probably read more poker books than anyone on this forum lol?

This is what I currently have-
Theory of Poker - Sklansky
Hold'em for Advanced Players - Sklansky & Malmouth
Real Poker II: The Play of Hands - Roy Cooke
Little Green Book - Phil Gordon
Mike Caro's book of Tells
Super/System 2 - Brunson
Harrington on Hold'em 2
Harrington on Hold'em 3
Ace on the River by Barry Greenstein
Killer Poker No Limit - John Varhaus
Killer Poker - John Varhaus
Ken Warren Teaches Texas Hold’em

I'd like a few more books: one or two focusing on no-limit cash games, but nothing fluffy or basic that is going to overlap what I already have. I enjoyed Hold'em for Advanced Players but unfortunately a lot of it is very specific to limit games which I don't play often. I really enjoy the play-of-hands stuff like in Roy Cooke's book and in Little Green Book and wouldn't mind something similar to this. I would also like a really good autobiography from a top pro, whatever you recommend. I also wouldn't mind an online hold'em book but only if there is something really good- I leafed through Brunson's and Varhaus' and they both seemed horribly fluffy. Thanks.

Where is NL Theory and Practice by Sklansky/Melmuth?

Also, The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King is an interesting read. Not going to teach you anything about how to play but a nice insight into how gamblers live and think.

NL cash game books:

If you like the play of hands (even though The Play of Hands was re limit) type stuff you might look at Gordon's Little BLUE Book, a similar concept, but NL.

And obviously Sklansky's NL book (Theroy and Practice) wont be fluff.

Esfandiari's book "In the Money" is subtitled "Strategies for Winning Texas Holdem Cash Games"-- it's not as theoretical or mathematical as Sklansky (what is?), but it doesn't quite fall into the "fluff" category either, so you might want to check it out (knowing that it will be a bit more "basic" than most of your library).

Not strictly NL cash game, but King Yao's "Weighing the Odds" has sufficient gravitas to hang with your current gang of books.

Internet books I general consider to all be fairly "basic" and if you are already an experienced online player they probably are not going to add too much to your game. That being said, Hilger's book is probably the best of the bunch.

Biography:

There are so many good ones. If you are not set on "biography" per se I would recommend McManus' "Positively Fifth Street", a very good read-- it's about McManus doing a story on the murder of Ted Binion and playing in the WSOP ME at the same time.

In a similar "real person plays ME" storyline, but with a humorous slant, both Richard Sparks' books and the Pat Walsh book are both pretty funny.

"Professor Banker and Suicide King" about the pros battle with Texas banking billionaire Andy Beal was also interesting.

A book I found super interesting and recommend to everyone is "Fortunes Formula" by Poundstone. It's not about poker per se, but a look at concepts like the Kelly Criterion, statistical arbitrage, and gambling/stock market similarities. Like I said, super interesting.

Straight biography, I liked "One of Kind" (by Dalla) about Stu Ungar. Annie Duke and Moneymaker were both decent too.

Other "fun" reading: Konik's "Telling Lies and Getting Paid", "Man with the $100K Breasts", and his sports betting book "The Smart Money" were all good.

I'm awful online. I play mostly at casinos, do okay there but you get me online and everyone is so much tighter and aggressive it seems. Some more practice I guess. Funny thing is that at the casino I'm always happy to see an Internet player show up. They get ripped apart by all the players more accustomed to live games.

Ok I will get the Sklansky NL book. I will check out Weighing the Odds and get the Esfandiari book too- I was looking for an excuse to get that chip tricks dvd haha! Positively Fifth Street sounds funny, haven't heard of that one.

What do you think of Malmuth's Poker Essays books? Is there any particular one I should get or would they be overlapping my other Malmuth/Sklansky stuff?

Wow, that is quite a collection of books. I have still not read any poker books even though I have been meaning to do so for quite some time now. Mostly I cant decide which one to get because I play all types of holdem. I used to play almost all SnG tournaments, but lately I jump all over the place. Somedays I play SnGs, other times I will play all cash or even MTTs here and there. I have been winning quite a bit lately, no matter what I am playing. Any suggestions as to a book that kind of covers everything, cash, sng, and mtt and is focused on online play??

All three poker essay books are excellent. As usual with Sklansky and Malmuth (S&M!) they are geared toward LIMIT poker in their specific examples; but the concepts and theory are still valid, and the essays get you thinking about the game.

p.s. Positively Fifth Street is one of the NOT funny ones (unless you find murder funny?), but is an excellent read (McManus is a professional writer turned poker player).

Wowow all in genius, thats a really HUGE collection compared to my pitiful one. I havent really started reading poker books in earnest but I plan to start soon and Im sure itll improve my play further. Anyway how are you doing on the tables? GL with it, hope to catch you around in FT soon.

I'm amazed the mods have not yet made a sticky of this list..!

Hey alien did you see that Dan Harrington is making a series on no-limit cash games?! Volumes 1 & 2 are coming out Dec 2007. I'm so excited!

Also I ordered (for now) One of a Kind, NL Theory and Practice by Sklansky, Moneymaker, In the Money by Esfandiari, Annie Duke, Telling Lies and Getting Paid. I realized I already own Little Blue Book heh. Thanks for the recommendations.