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My poker library

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  1. threebanger threebanger is offline

    United States

    Posts: 5,094
    Joined: Sep 07

    Mar 11th, 2008 (3/11/2008 11:04am)

    All the poker books I now own.

    1) HOH I, II, III: I is great if you're fairly new to the game, II helps experienced players take it to the next level. I haven't gone through III yet, except for a few problems. I used to think I would be a strict disciple of Dan. I've found that doesn't really work and you have to play your own game. Still, they are remarkable for the level of inside thinking from a top pro not usually found in a poker book. Overall I don't think the advice plays out that well online (except in micro SNGs where it's pretty spot on) but is probably about as close to perfect for a big stack live event as you can find.

    2) PHIL GORDON LITTLE GREEN BOOK: Great for new or mid-level players. Lots of good basic info and tidbits of advice. I also own his Little Blue Book which is just analysis of hands he's played. It's good also but if you pick just one get the Green.

    3) SUPER SYSTEM 2: Great for cash games, or so I'm told. I haven't read much of this book, with the exception of Jennifer Harman's chapter on limit, which I thought was excellent, and Doyle's chapter on nl, which is basically rehash of his chapter from the first SS book. Bottom line is I have yet to really get into this one, but it looks good on my bookshelf.

    4) FULL TILT TOURNAMENT STRATEGY GUIDE: I don't hear many people talk about this one and that makes me glad, I feel like I'm reading privileged info. I'm a noob so Andy Bloch's chapter on preflop play, Ferguson's on postflop play, and Gavin Smith's on playing with a big stack might be old news to an online pro, but for me they were groundbreaking. For an up and coming player who is just starting to cross the winning threshold, if I had to advise them to buy one book it would be this one. For someone who only knows starting hand selection from HOH I, Bloch's chapter is an amazing eye opener and worth the price of the whole thing.

    5) PLAY POKER LIKE THE PROS: Lots of people hate on Phil. I'll admit his NL advice is pretty weak here, but for micro-LHE games I think you can do a lot worse than his "intermediate" advice, which is playing his "top 10" plus suited aces and KQ. His chapters on other games like razz give decent basic, beginner information to these games, but not much past that level. I also own "Phil Hellmuth's Texas Hold Em" book, but it's just the NL sections of PPLTP plus one added chapter on "How to Win a NLHE Tournament." Not missing much if you don't have it.

    6) HOW TO WIN NO LIMIT HOLD EM TOURNAMENTS: Tom McEvoy. I just bought this. Starting to think I wasted $20 on it at Barnes and Noble. It's not that it's bad advice, it's not, it's good advice. It's just that it's uber-tight, nitty, and doesn't cover anything that Harrington already did, and did better.

    7) HOLD EM WISDOM FOR ALL PLAYERS: Negreanu's first book. It's 50 Hold em tips in a concise, easy read. It's nothing groundbreaking or too deep, but a good refresher to refer back to every once in a while. Still waiting for his definitive small ball book, "Power Hold Em" or something like that. It keeps getting delayed so who knows when that will be released.

    8) MAKING THE FINAL TABLE: Erick Lindgren. I just got this book a couple weeks ago and I am liking it. Some people will say it's not deep or thorough enough, but that's what I like about it. Instead of assaulting you with highbrow concepts about math and leverage, he simply assumes you know how to play the game already and offers some solid insights into how to get better at advancing in tournaments and having a chance to win. Mostly he is trying to help create a winning mental approach, by using selective aggressiveness and small ball tactics.

    That's it. Yup, no Sklansky or Chen or that other theoretical stuff. I'm still fairly new to the game, and right now I'd rather develop the basics and a good feel for the game through play and application of some of the above named authors' ideas before I get too deep into the math/theory side of the game.

    If I had to recommend these to a newer player, I would say read, in order, HOH I, II, then Bloch and Gavin Smith in the Full Tilt book, and then Lindgren. It would be a good way to develop some basics from Harrington and then open it up a little in aggressiveness and small ball tactics with the advice from the other guys, without overloading a new player with complicated ideas.
  2. jdibss jdibss is offline

    Posts: 1,079
    Joined: Nov 07

    Mar 11th, 2008 (3/11/2008 3:35pm) in reply to threebanger

    you dont have the Theory of Poker: David Sklansky?... thats no library then.
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