Poker literature...?

Some of my friends believe that poker literature is outdated, some say that it is very important now. Why is this happening? Why are opinions divided? Do I understand correctly that all the same you need to read all the books of Harrington?

Alex, I would encourage using literature if you already enjoy reading in general. Outdated or not, there is always somthing to be learned, for there is always someone who knows better than us. Hell, you can buy Doyle Brunsons Super System, in paper back, brand new off the shelf today. That book was published something like 50 years ago.
Remember books ain't always cheap and there is A LOT of free info online.
But personally, I enjoy paper. Being able to write my own notes in ink, and flipping back to reread certain nuggets of info.
We really should unplug more anyway.

I think if you play high poker books can help you ,but when you play only freerolls or very low the players play very loose and make many blufs so a book cannot help you very much ,you need good cards and some experiens

fourroses said:

I think if you play high poker books can help you ,but when you play only freerolls or very low the players play very loose and make many blufs so a book cannot help you very much ,you need good cards and some experiens

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Yes, agree. I think that will use these knowledges in cash nl2 and nl5.

alexand8r said:

Some of my friends believe that poker literature is outdated, some say that it is very important now. Why is this happening? Why are opinions divided? Do I understand correctly that all the same you need to read all the books of Harrington?

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In my opinion, that is because some books teach information that seems to transcend time and other books seem to have ideas that only used to work well, but have since become exploited as the game of poker changes.

A great example of this is the "math" side of poker. The math part NEVER changes: it is still a standard 52 card deck just like it was back then. Information based on this wouldn't change. However how one utilizes this information might change. For example, you will typically hit the flop 1 in every 3 flops you see. The math never changed, but how players reacted to this has changed. Back 20 years ago or so, the average player didn't know this and so regs could 3 bet flops really wide and show an instant profit because people tended to fold too much. Compare to now, online and poker software has now made basic math like this accessible to many people (not just the math-person doing calculations on paper), so 3-betting this wide for purely the idea of forcing folds is not as profitable as it used to be.

Some books teach information that never changes. Others teach ways of exploiting tendencies that may shift over time and some books are a combination of both.

I think this is why there is a difference in opinion: they both are correct in a sense. It depends on which books they've read and their experiences with those books.

alexand8r said:

Do I understand correctly that all the same you need to read all the books of Harrington?

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I just have his latest book Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker. In it he discusses differences with what he said in his previous books, due to changes in what other players are up to. Keep in mind thats 2014, already 6 years old.

Player tendencies change with time and place. The underlying poker math, GTO and exploitive play theory don't change and are important to understand. What changes is how you apply the theory to exploit specific players.

perrypip said:

I just have his latest book Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker. In it he discusses differences with what he said in his previous books, due to changes in what other players are up to. Keep in mind thats 2014, already 6 years old.

Player tendencies change with time and place. The underlying poker math, GTO and exploitive play theory don't change and are important to understand. What changes is how you apply the theory to exploit specific players.

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Thank you, I will read it.

I would recommend: Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em by Jonathan Little, a great book that tells how poker has changed recently, some new poker strategies etc. Suitable for both beginners and experienced players.

sequoia said:

I would recommend: Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em by Jonathan Little, a great book that tells how poker has changed recently, some new poker strategies etc. Suitable for both beginners and experienced players.

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Thank you!