Older Poker Books

Thought of this thread after reading the thread "The more I learn the worse I do".

I was wondering if the info that is some of the older poker books still applies to the style of poker that is played today. I'm talking of books written before "The Moneymaker effect" and the boom of online poker sites. I don't read books because I can't seem to retain what I've read. I'm not sure if this means that I'm left brained, right brained or even maybe no brain.

The point I am trying to reach is could some of the old info hurt a new player's play? What do you think?

Are you talking about stuff as old as super system?

Poker advice from the pros is still pro advice, regardless of how old it may be. Doyle Brunson wrote Super System decades ago, but hes still been able to make good money using strategies that are outlined in that book. Researching and applying anything that has to do with poker from a winning source can only help your game.

I enjoy learning about the history of poker, and so like to read through old poker literature sometimes (including texts written as early as the 1800s). That is where their primary value lies, though; I don't find them all that useful for learning strategy applicable to the game today. The early stuff tends to emphasize "intuition" and having a "feel" for your opponent's frame of mind, and generally deal with the analytical aspects of the game with far less precision than contemporary sources. The original Super System, for example, sincerely advocates selective employment of 'ESP'. So I wouldn't consult old books for practical tips, but consider them worth a visit if you're interested in getting a sense of how the game developed.

The sklansky book on math of poker and super system are the two "old" books I would HIGHLY HIGHLY reccommend. The sklansky book is like the science of poker and super system is like the philosophy of no limit hold em. If I was just going to read one it would be super system.

Yeah I enjoy learning the history also and I feel super system can still be used live for the most part but is pretty useless online from A strategy point of veiw.

The older books are great. Personally I think too many writers like to distill good play to math, but that only works vs. bad players (or Limit Poker). Psychology is equally important in No Limit poker, and the "classic" poker books make extensive use of it. If you are reading Super System pay special attention to the part about playing against bad players otherwise you will level yourself and stackoff in the wrong situations.

I think that reading poker books (old or new) will help you get better at poker to some extent but I think where you really get better is from exeperience or from watching pros in videos and seeing how they play hands in certain spots.

credsfan03 said:

I think that reading poker books (old or new) will help you get better at poker to some extent but I think where you really get better is from exeperience or from watching pros in videos and seeing how they play hands in certain spots.

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Emulating pros can be less productive than you might think, even counter-productive. That's because they play based on assumptions about their opponents that don't necessarily apply to yours.

The first book I read (3 months ago, I'm new to poker) was David Sklansky's The Theory of Poker that was first written over 20 years ago. I was looking for a "classic" that would still be as relevant today as when it was written. It's not an advanced strategy book that has made me a poker genious (well, it's too early to tell really) but it definitely helped me to understand the fundamental theorem of poker.

Justinawe12 said:

Poker advice from the pros is still pro advice, regardless of how old it may be. Doyle Brunson wrote Super System decades ago, but hes still been able to make good money using strategies that are outlined in that book. Researching and applying anything that has to do with poker from a winning source can only help your game.

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I think most of supersystem doesn't apply anymore to online games except 2NL and maybe 5NL. Today's games are a lot more agressive. I would say that out of the older books that would still apply are the ones based on math and game theory. Sure the basic concepts still apply but many of these old books do have a lot of mistakes like betting for information, etc.

Iselo said:

The first book I read (3 months ago, I'm new to poker) was David Sklansky's The Theory of Poker that was first written over 20 years ago. I was looking for a "classic" that would still be as relevant today as when it was written. It's not an advanced strategy book that has made me a poker genious (well, it's too early to tell really) but it definitely helped me to understand the fundamental theorem of poker.

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Probably one of the best books from the old days. Theory and math is still relevant in todays games. Math is quite important in the mid and high stakes.

I've read Super System and I find it incredibly relevant. To be honest i only play live, not sure how that changes things, but the philosophy behind an aggressive play is legitimate.

Some of the old books aren't bad, but the new books have the benefits of building on prior knowledge and adding some of the contemporary changes. Super System is good for some of the other games, that have evolved less than holdem. I've got an old McEvoy on tournament poker book and it's awful by today's standards. A new player would be much better served reading Harrington. Personally, I've found that from a time efficiency stand point, ease of digesting material and getting the most current info, that watching videos/listening to podcasts from a training site is better than reading books nowadays.