Poker Books and Reviews
Below, you'll find a list of all the books I've read and re-read since May 2005. Although not each of these books is worth its weight in gold, I strongly believe that each poker book every written offers at least one or two pieces of sage advice that will save you (or make you) money at the tables.
Ace on the River (Greenstein)
If you're looking for a strategy guide or a "how-to" for poker, this book is not what you're looking for. Howver, if you like Barry Greenstein, pretty pictures, well-written text, keen insight into the mind of a professional poker player, or stories about the various games and lifestyles that the poker scene offers, this book is for you.
Score: 4/5
Big Deal (Holden)
This book is much like McManus' Positively Fifth Street but without all the legal fluff and stripper talk. I much preferred Holden's writing style and his focus on poker, as opposed to McManus' talk of tar heroine, cheats, criminals, and U.S. history. If you're looking for a book that describes the thoughts, trials and tribulations of a wannabe poker pro, I highly recommend this book. If you're looking to learn how to play poker, there's nothing you'll learn here that you don't already know (I'm assuming you have passable knowledge of hold'em: otherwise, you wouldn't have stopped by my blog).
Score: 3/5
The Biggest Game in Town (Alvarez)
This book takes place around the 1981 WSOP. The focus of the book is not on Stu Ungar but more on the other players and characters who make up the rest of the field and background in Vegas. I honestly can't remember all that much about the book, except that it was well-written though a little dryer than Holden's book.
Still, for anyone interested in poker and stories about the great poker players of our time, this book is well worth a read.
Score: 3/5
Championship No Limit & Pot Limit Hold'em (Cloutier/McEvoy)
I know that Cloutier and McEvoy are both great pros and well-respected in the field, but this book left me a little disappointed. I'd originally picked it up in the hopes that it would make me a better NL cash game player. All I did learn is that I should never go broke with AK after missing the flop. Actually, that's good advice.
That being said, I just finished watching an episode of the PPT where Cloutier went broke with AK against Mortensen's pocket eights. Please T.J....please tell me you pushed pre-flop and not after the flop.
One last thing: T.J.'s stories about being on the road and of the games he played make this a book worth reading. I just feel that from a strategy point of view, there are better bangs for your buck.
Score: 2/5
The Education of a Poker Player (Yardley)
I'm expecting this book to come in the mail and I'm pretty excited to read it. It's either Holden or Alvarez who talks about how much he liked the book. I really enjoy reading stories about poker players who go from rags to riches, or who work their way through the ranks and climb the ladder of professional poker players.
One review on Amazon.com states:
I have an old moth eaten, doggie-eared copy of this, in pocket book form. I think I got it for pennies in the discount bin way back when. What a steal! My good friend and I used to practice magic, had all kinds of card books by John Scarne and others. I bought several on card manipulation, and poker strategy. When you like to play around with card tricks, I guess poker just comes along naturally as a game. This book was put aside for a long while, and then one bored evening, I started to read it. Wow, what an entertaining book I thought. It featured colorful stories of a young punk, getting involved with a cagey veteran gambler. What he learned in each of these stories is a strong life's lesson on playing poker.
I'll let you know what I think about the book when I get it in the next 4-6 weeks.
Harrington on Hold'em Volume I (Harrington)
If you haven't read Harrington's first volume and you like playing NL hold'em tournaments, you have really done yourself a disservice. Stop reading right now, click this link and order the book now.
Harrington's book explains how to play in tournaments of all sizes and buy-ins. Although "Action" Dan isn't the flashiest player out there, following his tight early tournament strategy will see you into the money time and time again. In fact, after reading his book, I cashed in 5 of my next 6 tournaments (a feat I have yet to repeat, mind you).
This book gets my highest rating because I think it has fundamentally changed the landscape of tournament poker and poker theory forever.
Score: 5/5
Harrington on Hold'em Volume II (Harrington)
Does lightning ever strike twice? It does if your name is Dan Harrington! Dan's second book is a must have for anyone looking to take down their first big tournament. In this second volume, Dan introduces the concepts of M and Q, both of which have become integral parts of a tournament players vocabulary. I'd fill you in on what M and Q mean, but you really need to read the entire book to fully appreciate those concepts.
And for those of us who don't really play that many tournaments, Dan also gives lots of advice regarding the best strategies for approaching sit-n-gos (which play out much like a final table at a tournament).
This book is another must have!
Score: 5/5
Harrington on Hold'em Volume III (Harrington)
I just finished reading this book and I found it a little wanting. The book places you in 50 hands played in various tournaments, putting you in the shoes of Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, and other great tournament players. The goal of each exercise is to select the optimal strategy at each step throughout a hand, with points being scored for each possible answer.
Although many tournament players may find this to be a great learning tool, I found myself blindly picking the choices that I knew each pro would take (or took if I'd seen the hand played on TV). For example, playing as Daniel Negreanu always calls for a pre-flop limp followed by a flop check: Daniel like to keep the pots small unless he flops something really good. Likewise, David Williams like to make aggressive moves at the pot and Juha Helppi likes to bluff with his weaker hands.
Looking back, the book doesn't seem half bad. Maybe I'll revisit it after I've played some tournaments and see if it can help me out. Dan does list a number of common player leaks as an index at the back of the book, listing sections of his book and passages that will help the reader improve on his or her game.
Hmmm, that does sound pretty good, doesn't it? I guess I do highly recommend it.
Score: 4/5
Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players (Sklansky)
No one makes me feel stupider than good old Sklansky. Seriously - I used to think I was a bright enough guy until I read this book. I'll need to revisit this book once I've got another 5 or 10 years of experience under my belt. Until then, however, I can't recommend this book to anyone playing anything less than $10/$20 limit hold'em. Trying to apply any of Sklansky's teachings to the low-limit bullshit that most of us deal with will just result in your bankroll getting a bitch slap or two.
That being said, if you're playing the $10/$20 games or higher, you should be reading this book over and over again until you've memoried each and every line. It can be hard to swallow that much arrogance, but it'll be well worth it when you're raking in the chips.
Score: 1/5 (for beginners - it will just confuse and frighten you), 5/5 (for advanced players)
Inside the Poker Mind (Feeney)
When I first read a review of this book, I though: "Hey cool! I'd love to find out how professional poker players think!". And then I received the book in the mail and realized it was a 2+2 book...with Sklansky as a technical advisor. Little did I realize that all professional poker players think like Sklansky.
That being said, the book is well written and neatly divided into well-focused and easy-to-digest sections. And as an added bonus, you may get a copy just like mine that has duplicate copies of all pages number 250 to 310: that's 60 extra pages absolutely free!
I've only read the book once, but it's definitely one that I'd like to go back and revisit from time to time...especially the section discussing tilt and other psychological problems that get in the way of playing optimal poker.
Score: 3/5
Internet Texas Hold'em (Hilger)
Unlike many other limit hold'em books out there, Hilger's book has a few features that make it well worth a read if you're a beginning poker player:
Whether or not you know Matt Hilger, I recommend that you get to know his book: it's a must read as you start down the path to a profitable career in online poker.
Score: 5/5
The Making Of A Poker Player (Matros)
Once again, this is the type of book I like: a nobody finds poker, starts playing poker, gets good at poker, wins lots of money playing poker, and then writes a book about it. Matt discusses his time spent learning poker the hard way, in casinos, and via the Internet and the RGP newsgroups.
It may sound boring, but it's not. There's no ground breaking information in this book, but it's nice book to keep in the bathroom for a daily visit or two...or tres if tu quieras Taco Bell.
Score: 3/5
Making the Final Table (Lindgren, Matros)
I've got the book now and so far, so good. To put it succinctly, Lindgren is like the anti-Harrington. Rather than telling his readers to focus on survival in tournaments, Lindgren repeatedly reinforces the fact that chip accumulation should be the number one priority of any player in a tournament.
Lindgren also encourages readers to play a lot of small pots instead of waiting for big hands. This helps create a looser image that can pay off when you do hit a big hand. And the small pots all add up.
At first glance, this book seems rather simplistic. Beneath the surface, however, I found a wealth of knowledge that gave me the skills and confidence to take down my very first victory in an online MTT.
Score: 4/6
Mastering No-Limit Hold'em
Although some may say Fox's book is too simplistic or presents too conservative a strategy for NL cash games, I find that his advice translates well to online full-ring NL games. Fox starting hand advice, flop play, turn play and river play seem carefully selected to minimize variance as much as possible. Get your money in with good hands and good flops, play it cautiously otherwise. This book helped me become a winning player (3 BB/100 over 653 hands!) at the $25 full ring NL games and I will probably re-read prior to sitting back down at a $50 NL table. All in all, a good book from a little known author.
Score: 4/5
The Mathematics of Poker
I'll admit it: I'll blindly follow the suggestions of better, more successful poker players. In the case of this book, I ordered it simply because Matt Maroon mentioned it in his blog. Recently, I've started to turn my cash game focus more and more towards the "math" side of things in an effort to better my day to day results. I haven't read Chen's book yet, but it's been ordered and I'll be reading it as soon as possible.
Middle Limit Hold'em
I remember purchasing this book as I prepared to make the jump from $0.50/$1 limit hold'em to $1/$2 limit hold'em. In my mind, I considered $1/$2 to be a middle limit game. Boy was I wrong! The advice in this book, while most likely sound for middle limit hold'em, did not translate well to micro-limit stakes of $1/$2. I lost so much money so quickly that I almost gave up poker for good (see this post). This book contains a number of hand quizzes and sound advice; however, I find this to be one of the most boring books I've ever read. I may read it again in the future, but not without first chugging a can or two of Red Bull.
Score: 2/5
Caro's Book of Tells
For a live game player, this book is pretty good. Caro does a great job of outlining different tells and some probable interprations of their meanings. In an effort to make things seem more scientific, Caro also breaks down the value of spotting a tell in BB per hand. These numbers seem spotty at best, but whatever: I'm not a mad genius.
One disturbing trend in this book is that all the guys have 70s porn star affros and moustaches. All the women are dressed like hippies or like that lady in Rosemary's Baby. Oh, and everyone smokes! In fact, I seem to recall a string of 5 or 6 tells that all deal with smoking. Old school...
In my opinion, the reasons for me not finding the book useful boils down to one simple fact: there is no live poker being played in any casinos within a 400 mile radius of Ottawa. I also have a wife and a brand new son which means my chances of going to Vegas are sitting squarely at 0% (my chances were probably only 2% before my son was born anyway). So you tell me: what do I care about physical tells? That's right - nada! And if you play online poker, you'll agree that this book is not for you.
Score: 2/5 (extra point docked for excessive use of Ron Jeremy look-alikes)
No Limit Hold 'em: Theory and Practice
The Sklank throws his hat into the NL cash game arena. The results? Same as always. Experienced players will love it! This book screams "Show me the money!". If you have a number of hours under your belt, love math and game theory, and are willing to apply yourself, this book will undoubtedly turn you into a killer NL cash game player. If you're a useless card monkey like me, this book only causes lots of head scratching and an uncontrollable urge to fling feces.
I'll have to re-read this book after I've got another few hundred hours of NL cash games behind me.
Score: 2/5 (for n00bs), 5/5 (for experienced players with a solid NL track record)
One of a Kind
Stu Ungar is probably the greatest natural talent player to ever play the game of poker. With his great abilities came a number of fatal flaws, including his love of nose-candy and other drugs. If you haven't read this book and really like poker, the WSOP, Vegas, or Stu Ungar, go ahead and pick up a copy.
Score: 3/5
Phil Gordon's Little Green Book
This book is one of the greatest books ever written on the subject of poker. Phil's writing style makes the book an easy read. However, beneath it all lies a wealth of knowledge that can only mean more money for you at the tables.
If you don't own this book, you need to pick it up now. Read it, re-read it, then read it again. Each pass through will give you a better understand of the game of hold'em and will undoubtedly make you a force to be reckoned at the tables.
Score: 5/5
Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book
Everything I said about Phil Gordon's Little Green Book is doubly true for his Little Blue Book too! This time around, Phil expands the area of discussion to NL cash games. This time round, Phil's primary teaching tool is hand histories. Phil takes you through a number of hands, from start to finish, and gives you an insight into the thought process underlying every decision he makes at the tables. It took me a few bus rides to finish this book, and I'll most likely read it two or three more times before the year's up. It is really that good, trust me!
Score: 5/5
Play Poker Like the Pros
Phil Hellmuth is great! Unfortunately, his book is not. As an autobiography, it's ok. As a poker reference book, it's all fluff and no substance. Leave it to Phil to keep his secrets closely guarded.
Score: 3/5 (from an entertainment point of view), 1/5 (as a learning tool)
Positively Fifth Street
Lots of people love this book: I didn't. I found the prose to be overly verbose. I found the story deviating too much from poker, which I like, to the trial surrounding the murder of Ted Binion. If I want court room drama, I'll watch Law & Order.
Sorry Jim - nice try, though.
Score: 2/5 (+1 point given for solid poker content)
Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker
Much like the other Ciaffone book I read, this one was a little tough to read.
First of all, the writing is quite dry at times.
Secondly, each page is packed so full of words, it takes a good two or three minutes to get through each page.
Lastly, there is a lot of discussion about games that hold no interest for me, including London Lowball...whatever that is.
Still, the book is quite sound and I'm sure that I'll read it a few more times as I grow as a player and look to better my game.
Score: 3/5
Pressure Poker
I've finished reading Pressure Poker (Scott Gallant a.k.a. Doubleas). If you're brand spanking new to online poker and don't know where to start, Scott's book is a must-read. Some of his talk about specific poker rooms and bonus offers is a little out-dated but you'll get the general idea. The Poker Tracker stuff is invaluable for new players and some of the general interest topics from Scott's contributors are a good read if you haven't spent time reading any other books.
The real meat of the book comes in the strategy section. This is the section that I found the most valuable. Many of Scott's strategies are his own creation and this comes through when he explains key concepts and presents example hands.
Score: 4/5 (for new online poker players), 3/5 (new B&M and online poker players), 2/5 (for everyone else)
The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King
This book was awesome! It's the perfect balance of poker, psychology, and just plain entertainment. In the beginning, I found myself cheering for Andy Beal in his attempts to beat the pros. By the end, I found myself cheering for the pros as they struggle to keep it together mentally and financially. Seriously, this is one of the single best books I've ever read: if you like poker, buy it! This another book that I guarantee you'll love, assuming you're a fan of the poker.
Score: 5/5
Psychology of Poker
Schoonmaker's book does a great job of outlining the different personalities you'll meet at the tables, both live and online. If you find yourself having difficulties beating a particular player type, a quick look at a section of this book will have you back on track and winning.
Unlike other books, however, Schoonmaker also outlines the pros and cons of your very own playing style, whether you're a fish, rock, calling station, or TAG.
I've only read this book once, but I'll be revisiting it soon: I'd like to continue to be a winning player and this book is a necessary stepping stone towards that goal.
This book is a great read for anyone wishing to be a successful poker player.
Score: 4/5
Small Stakes Hold'em
This was the first good poker book that I read. In it, Miller outlines a solid set of starting hands and strategies that can be effectively used by any student of limit hold'em. One warning though: this book should not be read by fresh-off-the-truck beginning poker players since many of the suggestions require a little experience to understand and apply properly at the tables.
Although I believe that Hilger's Internet Texas Hold'em is a slightly better book in terms of outlining appropriate play at the limit hold'em tables, Miller's book is tremendously important to any and all aspiring poker players.
Score: 4/5
Super System
Good book. Bible of poker. Lots of good stuff, lots of useless stuff. It doesn't matter what I say here because most of you will read this book regardless of what I write here. So read it, digest those parts that are not too obvious or outdated, then move on.
Score: 2/5
Super System II
This update to Doyle's earlier work, Super System, is a much better learning tool. Not only is the NL cash game advice given by Brunson still solid and quite applicable, but the other sections of the book are great.
Jennifer Harman's Limit Hold'em section is solid, though a little light on content. Negreanu does a great job of detailing the winning strategies for Triple Draw poker (available to play at Ultimate Bet). Todd Brunson does a great job with 7-card stud 8. And the list goes on for some of the other games as well, including Omaha O/8 and PL Omaha.
Buy this book, read this book, then go back and revisit the appropriate sections as necessary.
Score: 4/5
Tales from the Tiltboys
I ordered this book and I have a feeling I'm gonna love it! I have yet to read anything by Phil Gordon or about Phil Gordon that I haven't liked. Honestly, how bad could a book about a poker-playing giant (literally and figuratively) and his friends be? I'm guessing this is a winner. Plus, reading about others going on tilt makes my own tilty feelings seem less "tilty" somehow.
Texas Hold'em Odds
When I ordered this book, I thought that it would greatly improve my limit game. Unfortunately, the book is rather large and unwieldy, and largely unintelligible due to a dry yet verbose writing style.
I haven't finished reading this book because I can't seem to stay awake much past the first two pages. Unless this book gets really good really quickly, I'm afraid that I can't recommend this book to anyone.
Score: 1/5
Texas Hold'em Odds And Probabilities
Another solid book by Hilger. Lots of real world examples. Lots of easy-to-apply math.
A very good book that examines and explains everything you'd need to know about odds and probability as they apply to Texas Hold'em.
Score: 5/5
The Theory of Poker
I get that everyone loves this book. I also get that I hate this book. It's boring and so overly theoretical that I find it unbearable to read. Do people actually find this book useful? Do I really need to know that my EV is 2.13 BB when I bet on the river against a player 47% likely to be a calling when I hold second pair on a paired board on the eve of the harvest moon and the dance of the Ewoks?
Sklank: could you please write me a book that I understand? Just one...please?
Score: 1/5
Weighing the Odds in Hold'em Poker
I really liked this one! It's a good combination of math, hand examples, and solid advice. Although not much of the content is new in this book, Yao's method of calculating outs and pot odds is unique and easy to apply at the table. I'd give you the formula here, but King Yao needs to get paid for his solid advice. Go buy the book now!
Score: 4/5 (+1 point added for cool odds/outs calculation)
Winning Low-Limit Holdem
This book is a great book for absolute beginners to read as they first step into the world of limit hold'em. No bells, no whistles: just solid advice that will make you money.
Score: 4/5
Winning Omaha/8 Poker
I've read two-thirds of this book and have, so far, found it quite dry. Omaha seems to boil down to one thing: wait for a great hand, wait for a great flop, hope for a great river. I though Omaha was supposed to be an action game?!
Still, Krieger explains the game quite well. Although I believe that there is very little value in this book for advanced Omaha players, I think this is a must read for beginning players.
I'll hold off on giving this book a score until I've had the chance to apply its teachings in a real game situation.
Score: 3/5
Winning 7 Card Stud
Adams' book make 7-card stud quite accessible. Easy to read, good hand examples, and well thought out sections.
However, I'll again wait on giving this book a score until I've had the chance to throw my hat into the 7-card stud ring.
Winning Texas Hold'em
Some critics slammed this book, but I'd have to say they're on crack. Matt's book turned around my entire limit hold'em game and is responsible for me breaking through to the $3/$6 games. Although a lot of the book is standard fare, the section on starting hands is very good. Matt's thoughts on becoming a professional poker player and bankroll management are quite interesting. But the real gem of this book is Matt's section regarding short-handed limit hold'em play. Great stuff that I hope to apply in the future.
I've read this book about six times and I'll read it many more times as I close in on the higher stakes games.
Score: 5/5
Here's a list of all the blogs that I read on a daily basis. Each one of these sites is great in its on way and deserves to be visited and re-visited ad nauseum. Don't be a dick: grab a coffee, put your hand on your mouse, and get clicking!
Here's a list of some of the online casinos that I believe offer the most bang for your buck. This list used to be a part of my blog's template; however, I've moved the list here in an effort to clean my site up a bit.
Here's a list of some of the poker rooms that I believe offer the most bang for your buck. This list used to be a part of my blog's template; however, I've moved the list here in an effort to clean my site up a bit.
Here's hoping everyone had a great Christmas! And here's to a happy New Year too!
lately: great game if you like RPGs.
and 
soon. 
Things change.
Where have I been? Not a long story, but a boring one. Basically, when life and work get really busy, it's always the blog that suffers. However, I'm assuming that most of my readers didn't notice or didn't mind, given the amount of reading available now that the Vegas trip reports are up. Anyway, here's a rundown of what's happened over the past week...
Yep, I'm still kicking! And I'm still playing poker. However, there's been so much stuff coming up in the old real world that I've had little time to write. Let me bring you back up to speed and we'll go from there.
. As always, I'm paying almost twice as much for it up here in Canada: that's the price we pay for Beaver Tails, cheeseburgers with mayo, and poutine, I guess. If you don't own an MP3 player and you're looking for a great all-round player, the 4GB Creative model is a great fit.
Just wanted to give a shout out to a few poker pros out there who stepped up and gave me enough short-handed limit links and information to keep me reading for a long while.
