Top Five Poker Books

November 12, 2007 at 1:57 pm | Posted in gambling, poker | Leave a comment
Tags: books, gambling, hold em, poker, reading

1. Professional No-Limit Hold ’em: Volume I, Ed Miller, Sunny Mehta, and Matt Flynn. The latest offering from Two plus two publishing does not disappoint. The authors mainly emphasize the point of planning hands from the very start, a critical concept that many players fail to grasp intuitively. Study of this book will result in a very solid technical understanding of no-limit cash games. Probably too advanced for players just starting out, but definitely a must read. The PNL system is an all-encompassing way of playing through and evaluating poker situations. The beauty of it is that it allows for adjustments in adapting to different kinds of opponents.

2.Harrington on Hold ’em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1, and Vol. 2, Dan Harrington. If you caught any of the World Series of Poker in 2004 or 2003, you know Mr. Harrington as “Action Dan,” the conservative player who sliced his way through record-setting tournament fields to two straight final tables. As he explains in his book, there’s more to his game than just playing conservatively. His analysis of different situations that occur in no-limit hold em tournaments is invaluable.

3.No Limit Hold ’em: Theory and Practice, David Sklansky and Ed Miller. The first great book about no-limit hold em cash games explores many concepts that are either butchered or ignored by the majority of poker players. While it lacks the interactive aspect of some of the newest books (the hand quizzes from Harrington, for example), its concepts section alone gives the reader great advice for some very common and specific situations. Mr. Sklansky and Mr. Miller develop a solid section on reading hands.

4.The Theory of Poker, David Sklansky. This book is an absolute must read for any poker player who wishes to take himself seriously. Mr. Sklansky explores the theory behind the most general concepts in poker, which apply to all of its forms. Mastery of such concepts can typically lead to accelerated learning when trying to pick up a new game. The book does not pursue handling specific situations, but rather attempts to teach players how to evaluate them on their own.

5.Super System II, Doyle Brunson (with Daniel Negreanu, Lyle Berman, Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Bobby Baldwin, Johnny Chan, and Mike Caro). This behemoth of a poker book (624 pages) is actually several books in one. While it certainly will not make the reader an expert in any of the games it explores, it will introduce important concepts from games about which there is very little good literature. The hold em player will have little use for this book, but players looking for information about triple draw, stud/8, and omaha/8 will find some good material. Probably better as a supplement to other books that explore the games more in-depth.