Good PokerBooks

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j0na1234

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What books did you guys read on poker? Did it improve your game dramatically? What can you recommend? Did you stop at 1 book?

I am currently reading "Harrington on hold'em Volume 1; Strategic Play" by Dan Harrington. I read 50 pages already and I have to say I like it. It gives me more insight on the game. Now I know what pot odds and implied odds are (I did't think they were important before, but they are!). I'm more thinking about the math, the odds. He's also discussing the different strategies one can have playing different types of tournaments: online sit&go's/tournaments, multitable/singletable, normal/turbo, higher stakes mean more skilled players etc.. What I like the most about this book, is that it's only about Holdem. That's the only poker type I play. In other good books (i heard they were good) like doyle's, Phil Hellmuth's and others, they discuss other types like omaha, razz, stud. If I buy a book I want it to be on Holdem only. I like focusing on one game (the Cadillac of poker as they say). So what do you guys like?
 
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mightyah

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ive never read a single poker book. Im a big fan of online forums because you have a vast amount of info available to you from a wide range of play styles. a book just gives that persons view, based on there experience.... if that makes sense lol.
 
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hourofpower

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poker books

I agree Harrington on Hold em is an excellent book as Harrington is one of the most skillful players. He blends his conservative style with a sometimes aggressive level of play which is extremely effective.
 
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TurningStar

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I actually am reading through the Harrington book you mentioned right now.....I read it once before....liked it...learned a lot....have had some success and now I am just going through it again as a refresher....

I also have Part II the "EndGame" and that has been helpfull as well....Kinda puts you in a poker mindset and helps me resist making donk moves as well as makes me put more thought into the solid or tricky moves that I want to make...

Nothing like experience on the felt though....combined with your reading...

Finally....CC is a good place to be for a lot of supplemental info to what your learning.
 
DKnight10

DKnight10

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Yeah HoH is great. But i'm more of a STT player that a MTT so my mosty highly recommended book is Colin Moshman's "Sit'n Go Strategy." It is an amazing book if SnG's are your thing and simply that book alone will turn you into a winning player. Right now im trying to learn some on cash games though and am currently trying to find a cash games book, anyone have any suggestions?
 
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DREW0

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Harington On Cash Games 1&2 seem very good to me but they are the only ones I have read read devoted to cash games so I have nothing to which I can compare them.
 
Steveg1976

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Yeah HoH is great. But i'm more of a STT player that a MTT so my mosty highly recommended book is Colin Moshman's "Sit'n Go Strategy." It is an amazing book if SnG's are your thing and simply that book alone will turn you into a winning player. Right now im trying to learn some on cash games though and am currently trying to find a cash games book, anyone have any suggestions?

I too really enjoyed Sit & go Strategy and have now switched to Cash games. Professional No'Limit Hold'em was great for me. I learned as much from PNLHE about cash games as I learnd from SNGS about Sitngo's.
 
Boeggs

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I've read to many to recall all of them. But I really think playin the game is what gives you the experience to be good. I don't buy to many. I go to Starbucks inside of Barnes and Noble, have a Caramel Frappuchino (don't know if I spelled that right) and read the poker magazines and books for free. I probably do this 3x per week for a couple hours at a time, lol.
 
Steveg1976

Steveg1976

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...I really think playin the game is what gives you the experience to be good...

Studying the game is good, your comment misses the point by stating one is better than the other. Both are necessary to become really good.
 
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snoopy89

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Harrington on hold'em is a good book to read, and it helps. But i am currently reading THE fulltiltpoker STRATEGY GUIDE......Most of the poker books i have read come in handy at one time or another.
 
mjdavinci

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Reading any book is helpful. Any knowledge you can gain through either forums or books will improve you thought process. One is not better than the other. Each has its own point of view. The more information you can gain, the better understanding you willhave of how things progress through an hand the better you will play. The books that I have read are as follows "Ace on the River" by Barry Greenstein. "Killer poker online Crushing the Internet Game" by John Vorhaus."Hold'em Wisdom for All Players" by Daniel Negreanu. "52 Tips for Texas Holdem Poker" by Barry Schulman. Just to give you some ideas.
 
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pokerb1tch69

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I too have never read a book. And like someone else mentioned you can get alot from the forums.Also you can watch videos on youtube the professionals give some pretty good tips,you just have to make it your own.
 
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j0na1234

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haha youtube. You do know that what you see on youtube is 5-10 minutes cut of an episode of 60 minutes. And IN that 60 MINUTES is cut from a time of 4-6 or more hours. They cut the best plays. You see extraordinary plays (reraise a reraise and so on). But the pro's don't always make that play. Sure u can learn from some things but u have to put it in perspective (you don't know if someone has been playing that tight, cause they dont show poor plays). The pro's actually said it themselves: "they cut some great plays by me blablabla", "they don't show it all".
It's like phill hellmut saying "damn i play so tight". And the next hour he does play thight. I bet if i see him say that at the wsop he will raise big pots after he said that, hoping you'd fold.

In my opinion: The best learning online is forums like these and pokertube (there they explain online tournaments in their point of view. Great stuff!
 
EvilGenius

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MTTs: Harrington On Hold Em 1-3...Definately worth a read.

SNGs: Sit N Go Strategy...Out of all books, I think that I gained more from this book than any other. Excellent read.

RING: Harrington On Cash Games 1-2 are the only ones off the top of my head. I believe that Sklansky has one out on small stakes though as well. Haven't read any of them though, so I couldn't give you a good assessment.

FORUMS: Probably your best friend in the world if you want to improve. Take the advice and find how to apply it to your game to create your own style of play.
 
califantasy

califantasy

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I'm gonna jump on the Harrington bandwagon.

I also liked Fishman's book, 'Online Ace,' but some of the information seems like it would have worked better against unsophisticated fishies that lived in these lakes 2 years ago. The game has evolved a little since then IMO.
 
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custo80

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Ace on the River - Barry Greenstein. I just finished this book in 3 days, couldn't put it down and absolutely loved it. I've even written my personal review on what I got from it.

Book review here.

Get on it, will change the way you think and approach poker for the better imo.
 
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fry56

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i have read doyles super system thought that was quite good lol
 
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Cicero

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Hey guys. I try to read as much as possible. Books and forums. Here's my favorite books:
Winning Low Limit Hold'em - Lee Jones (excellent newbie book)
Theory of Poker - Sklansky
Hold'em Poker for Advance player - Sklansky
Small Stakes Hold'em - Sklansky
No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice - Skalansky
Any of the Harrington Books
Caro is always a good read.
The Mathematic of Poker by Bill Chen is a Great book if you get turned on by numbers. Otherwise it'll give you a headache :)

A question; Has anyone read Gus Hansen's new book "Every hand Reveald."? What did you think of it?

Cheers,
Cicero
 
rounder22

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I read the Gus Hansen book I really liked it he gives you insight into how he thinks and plays the game.
 
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