Best poker book?

[Thanks for comin' out]

Hey, I think I'm going make my move from house games to casino poker. I'm looking for a to-the-point book to sharpen my skills. I've been playing infrequently for years, but I wanted to tighten my game up.
I don't need a "This is the flop, this is the turn ... " book. Something more advanced that can teach me something without bustling through 500 pages. Any suggestions?

 

[PHINJ]

All of the Sklansky books are excellent. If you're playing tournament poker, the Harrington on Hold'Em books are essential reading.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

The classic everyone loves.

 

[Buck]

I'm a big fan of Sklansky.
Try 'Hold 'Em Poker,' 'Hold 'Em Poker for Advanced Players' and 'The Theory of Poker.'
He's tremendous.
Check his affiliated Web site at twoplustwo.com.

 

[Chi City 81]

The classic everyone loves.

Agreed. Mike Caro's Pro Poker Tells also helps tremendously.

 

[Buck]

I think SKlanksy's better than Brunson.
That doesn't mean that he's a better player than Brunson, but his books are better.

 

[Bristol Insider]

Phil Gordon's books are solid, but a little elementary ... If you're willing to spend some time, the best is probably Dan Harrington's ...

http://www.amazon.com/Harrington-Expert-Strategy-Limit-Tournaments/dp/1880685337

 

[Jones]

I'm going to second (third?) Harrington.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Tight, with meaningful flashes of aggression, is the answer . . . and Harrington personifies it.

 

[LiveStrong]

Fifthed? on Harrington. I also thought Hellmuth's Play Poker Like the Pros was very good. (not his bat beats book, though)

 

[zeke12]

Sixth on Harrington's book.

Super/System is a must-read, too.

 

[bigpern23]

Super System is essential. I look at that book, as well Sklansky and Caro's books like I would a textbook. If you want to learn about your subject and get good at it, these books are essential to your learning process. And they'll pay for themselves, I'll promise you that.

I thought Hellmuth's book, Play Poker Like the Pros was quite rudimentary and useless. Avoid it if you've played more than two or three times.

Haven't read Harrington yet.

 

[BB Bobcat]

If you are interested in no limit cash games, read the Fox and Harker book first (I forget the title), and then read Sklansky's No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice.

If you are interested in tourneys, Harrington is the bible.

If you want to play limit, there are tons of books that are all good. No one cares about limit anymore.

 

[bigpern23]

If you are interested in no limit cash games, read the Fox and Harker book first (I forget the title), and then read Sklansky's No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice.

If you are interested in tourneys, Harrington is the bible.

If you want to play limit, there are tons of books that are all good. No one cares about limit anymore.

Limit is a science, based on mathematical probabilities and mastery of implied odds, as well as pot odds. No limit is pure art, baby.

 

[maberger]

funny we've all assumed he's talking about no limit hold em, tho he never says so.

presuming you understand the math and feel pretty good about hand ranges, i'd say pick up phil gordon's books -- pick one, (they're modeled after harvey penick's books) and read it. he'll go through calculating outs (rule of four is close enough) and demonstrate with particular hands.

OP also doesn't mention whether his house games are cash games or tournaments. assuming he means cash games, my advice after 13 years of profitable playing in LA (bike, HP, hustler) is this: you MUST know the math, but understand it can often be useless because of the way games are structured with capped buy-ins. in other words, expect other players to make plays completely contradictory to the math. you CAN make money in those games, but MUST be prepared for huge variance swings in any particular session/s.

for my 2 cents i certainly agree with everyone who's mentioned sklansky/harrington, impenetrable tho some of that stuff is. my live experience is, your opponents will generally be ignorant of concepts like taking one off or floating, AND you will often not have a big enough stack to beat them into submission -- so, in other words, be VERY careful when you bluff.

and cheap[ tournaments are a WHOLE other thing.

great discussion.

 

[GB-Hack]

I learnt a lot from Full Tilt's online lessons. It deals with all games and different aspects of playing and they usually update a new one each week.

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/pro-tips-archive.php

 

[PHINJ]

I would also recommend a couple of message boards: 2+2 forums are great and I like flopturnriver.com.

Key to live cash games: Value-bet the hell out of hands when you're against bad players, proceed cautiously against good players. You don't have to be good to win money, you just have to take money from the players worse than you.

maberger's advice is good. Only bluff against players who can be bluffed. By the same token, don't even bother slowplaying if you have a monster hand against terrible players.

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

For limit holdem, it has to be Small Stakes Hold Em by Sklansky/Ed Miller/Mason Malmuth.

For no-limit, Super System, and although I haven't read any of Harrington's books, I've heard overwhelmingly positive things.

 

[bigpern23]

I would also recommend a couple of message boards: 2+2 forums are great and I like flopturnriver.com.

Key to live cash games: Value-bet the hell out of hands when you're against bad players, proceed cautiously against good players. You don't have to be good to win money, you just have to take money from the players worse than you.

maberger's advice is good. Only bluff against players who can be bluffed. By the same token, don't even bother slowplaying if you have a monster hand against terrible players.

As the saying goes, you don't have to even be one of the top players at the table. All you need is to not be the worst and to recognize who is.

 

[bigpern23]

And I don't know if Gavin Smith has a book, but as I watch him on Poker After Dark right now against Ivey, all I can say is, I wouldn't take a lick of advice from that POS. Oh my god, that ****er is annoying. And, apparently, Canadian. I'm sure it's all a coincidence.