Essential reading?

Hi all. I've been spending the last few weeks dividing my time between playing micro sit'n'goes, doing a bit of online reading (ICM, SNG strategy, bankroll managment etc), and getting to grips with PT4/HM2.

So... my question is, What poker books(or articles) would anyone suggest as absolute fundamental reading that made a difference to their game.

I've skim-read 'Theory of Poker' by David Sklansky and 'Super System' by Doyle Brunson.

Those two are really good books and next in the line should be MTT related books because that's what I plan on playing, learning and improving.

like dusty schmidt said in his book " treat poker like a business".. you wanna study about 20% and play 80% if your planning on playing online. Though they say its important to split up the time on what you apply yourself to, i agree with what hes saying. You want to be there at certain times, and put in as much time on playing. If a person shows up enough times, odds are he will eventually catch on and get better and start winning. check out the book, its very interesting and a very helpful guide for anyone starting off.

I read by Beyond tells: Power Poker Psychology by James A. McKenna.. Its really good and usefull book but just for people who play live. For internet players is very good book that I´ve read : Internet Texas Holdem- Winning strategies from an Internet by Matthew Hilger. Its cheap but good book i bought it for 7 dollars on Amazon.

"Super System" and "The Raiser's edge" by Bertrand Grospellier aka Elky.

I also listened to a fair bit of poke podcast. The books mentioned above are very good for strategies and stuff. The podcast called "The Mental Game of poker" helped me with the mental aspect of the game. A lot of poker professionals have made guest appearances on the show - it's like a radio show.

Hey thanks for the replies guys!
Bare with me as I try replying to you all in one post

Out of the list I've drawn up so far "Theory Of Poker" & "Super Systems" were at the top & def seem the most highly recommended.
I actually didn't come across any Dusty Schmidt books during my research so thanks for the mention Zayzoo, I'll look into him tonight.
Nor did I come across McKenna, I'm not much of a live player though, but the Internet Texas Hold'em def sounds worth a look, thanks Dzesska!

Just to mention Twoplustwo are doing a good offer right now, you get a choice of 5 books after reaching a certain amount of points on a chosen site, with no time limit to reach it.

Although not a strategy book "Ace On The River" by Barry Greenstein was also mentioned a lot, have any of you ever read it or would ye recommend it? Or what about Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed" ?
Thanks in advance guys!

Raggamuffin said:

Hi all. I've been spending the last few weeks dividing my time between playing micro sit'n'goes, doing a bit of online reading (ICM, SNG strategy, bankroll managment etc), and getting to grips with PT4/HM2.

So... my question is, What poker books(or articles) would anyone suggest as absolute fundamental reading that made a difference to their game.

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Theory of poker, Super/System, Internet hold 'em, Harrington on hold em 1&2.

Every hand is a great book, but not really a "how to play" text...

Asking what books to read is a pretty broad question. The ones that are most appropriate vary from player to player and can depend their knowledge, preferences, styles, goals, etc.

AugustWest said:

Every hand is a great book, but not really a "how to play" text...

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Hey August, good to hear its worth the read, I've always liked Gus! Not necessarily only looking for strategy books, just with there being soooo many to choose from I wanted to start with the most essential & work my way down the list! I read Daniel Negreanu's most recent book was pretty much a fail & received a lot of stick over the multi-author approach.

Arjonius said:

Asking what books to read is a pretty broad question. The ones that are most appropriate vary from player to player and can depend their knowledge, preferences, styles, goals, etc.

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Sorry if my question was to broad for you to answer. Judging by the replies so far I believe I'm on the right track anyway so no worries, thanks anyway Arjonius!

Jollocks said:

Theory of poker, Super/System, Internet hold 'em, Harrington on hold em 1&2.

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Hey Jollocks, cheers for the reply. I've read a lil bit of each of those so far (except Super Systems) There's something about Doyle Brunson's calm demeanor at the table that makes you respect him immensely so Super Systems is def being bumped to the top 3 in the list!!!!

Raggamuffin said:

Hey Jollocks, cheers for the reply. I've read a lil bit of each of those so far (except Super Systems) There's something about Doyle Brunson's calm demeanor at the table that makes you respect him immensely so Super Systems is def being bumped to the top 3 in the list!!!!

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Super System really outdated especially for holdem, although it has good chapters on other games like PLO PLO8 Stud Stud HL triple draw etc

rhombus said:

Super System really outdated especially for holdem, although it has good chapters on other games like PLO PLO8 Stud Stud HL triple draw etc

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It is outdated, but doyle has a great writing style, and there's still a lot of useful stuff in there.

I love doyle brunson but I think a lot of what he teaches in his super system is pretty elementary. I can't say dated because the things he talks about still apply today as much as they did back in the 1970's when the book was first published but most of what he says in that book is common sense, IMHO.

I would strongly suggest you read Harrington's Vol I, II, and III for tournament play. I haven't looked at his cash game books yet but I plan on doing so when I find the time. The nice thing about harrington's stuff is that he quizzes you after each section and provides answers so you can know if you understood what you read. He also has a new book on sit n gos which I haven't read yet either (soon).

I would definitely consider Bill Chen's work "the mathematics of poker" essential to any serious player's arsenal.

There is so much good information out there and a lot of it is in book form. I've read more poker books than I kind remember. Theory of poker is good to start getting a good grip on fundamentals. Raiser's edge is great for MTT players. Think about diversifying your training and watch videos and such also. Some people learn better from different media so make sure to try a bunch.

zayzoo said:

like dusty schmidt said in his book " treat poker like a business".. you wanna study about 20% and play 80% if your planning on playing online. Though they say its important to split up the time on what you apply yourself to, i agree with what hes saying. You want to be there at certain times, and put in as much time on playing. If a person shows up enough times, odds are he will eventually catch on and get better and start winning. check out the book, its very interesting and a very helpful guide for anyone starting off.

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I like the 80/20 idea, that sounds pretty good to me. What's the name of Dusty's book?

suby_rafael said:

"Super System" and "The Raiser's edge" by Bertrand Grospellier aka Elky.

I also listened to a fair bit of poke podcast. The books mentioned above are very good for strategies and stuff. The podcast called "The Mental Game of poker" helped me with the mental aspect of the game. A lot of poker professionals have made guest appearances on the show - it's like a radio show.

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Jared Tendler "The Mental Game of Poker" podcast guy, also has two books of the same title and theme that are really good for the mental/emotional/tilt/psychology side of the game.

Many will say Super System is outdated, but I think it is a 'everything comes around again' thing. Especially good if you have been playing online, but haven't figured out what game you prefer just yet.

Not to mention that so many other books assume you have read and understand SS. That is JMHO, and never really stated that way, but it was very apparent to me as I read other books.

rhombus said:

Super System really outdated especially for holdem, although it has good chapters on other games like PLO PLO8 Stud Stud HL triple draw etc

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Cheers Rhombus, i only play NLHE as of now but I believe the basic principals in the different games are pretty much the same so it'll (hopefully) still be worth the read

punctual said:

I love doyle brunson but I think a lot of what he teaches in his super system is pretty elementary. I can't say dated because the things he talks about still apply today as much as they did back in the 1970's when the book was first published but most of what he says in that book is common sense, IMHO.

I would strongly suggest you read Harrington's Vol I, II, and III for tournament play. I haven't looked at his cash game books yet but I plan on doing so when I find the time. The nice thing about harrington's stuff is that he quizzes you after each section and provides answers so you can know if you understood what you read. He also has a new book on sit n gos which I haven't read yet either (soon).

I would definitely consider Bill Chen's work "the mathematics of poker" essential to any serious player's arsenal.

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Hey Punctual!

I actually have all of Harringtons books + many others in PDF form on my pc, but find it draining trying to study with the glaring screen so haven't gotten very far in any of them yet lol
Anyway I've been convinced to buy Harrington's Vol 1 & get the show on the road properly!! Soooo many people recommended it as a "must read" so I'm gonna order it online later!! The quizzes at the end of the chapters will no doubt be very helpful, nothing worse than the author mentioning something from a previous chapter and you think "wait...what was that again"

Even the title of Chen's "The Mathematics Of Poker" scares me haha!
Only today I've started reading up on +EV & odds so I think I'll hold off on Chen's awhile, but will def keep it in mind thanks! I've always liked Hold'em but was never really bothered to
actually study it, but I've been having a good run lately & figured, why not? I've nothing to lose, tons to gain
Anyway thanks for your input & best of luck on the tables!!!

Harrington books are the best. His style is so specific since he was once a chess master.

If your problem is the screen, you can print it out.

For SNG:

Colin Moshman's SNG Strategy made my game profitable.


For MTT:

Kill Everyone turned a lot of things around for me.


Paws up

If Ev and pot odds are taxing you, i wouldnt recommend the mathematics of poker, ive got an A Level (English qualification) and I find i have to concentrate fully when learning some of the more difficult principles...

I've heard that if it takes you more than 5 seconds to count your outs, just bet....

AugustWest said:

I've heard that if it takes you more than 5 seconds to count your outs, just bet....

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You must be a hyper turbo player.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mavericks-Guide-Poker-Charles-Tuttle/dp/0804830320/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1410238984&sr=8-3&keywords=maverick+poker+book"]Maverick's Guide to Poker[/ame]