Learning Poker

[RRed8925]

Any book recommendations?

[SharpAngles]

You really don't need any book. If those authors really knew what they were doing they wouldn't waste time writing and selling a book. The opportunity cost is too high compared to just beating poker games.

Most books will only teach you bad habits anyway. Forget hands charts and crap like that. No matter what game you're playing, holdem Omaha stud etc, it comes down to your position in the hand, your knowledge of your opponents tendencies and making bets they can't call. It really is that simple.

[daneblazer]

You really don't need any book. If those authors really knew what they were doing they wouldn't waste time writing and selling a book. The opportunity cost is too high compared to just beating poker games.

Most books will only teach you bad habits anyway. Forget hands charts and crap like that. No matter what game you're playing, holdem Omaha stud etc, it comes down to your position in the hand, your knowledge of your opponents tendencies and making bets they can't call. It really is that simple.

Yea, but you have to learn how to do those things. Books are a good way to lay a foundation, but there's only so much information you're going to be able to retain out of them. I have gotten more out of videos, study groups, & playing than I have out of books though. I wouldn't spend too much $ on them.

[downsouth]

[MiAMiEDDY]

Personally poker books are a bit boring to me and can get somewhat confusing just reading it. YouTube videos work just fine and you can watch videos according to your preference exp: Mtt, cash games, pot odds etc etc. best of all, ITS FREE

[SharkAA]

My recommendation:

-MTT books: Harrington On Holdem Vol.I, II, III, Kill Everyone, Tournament Poker For Advanced Players.

-CG books: Small Stakes No Limit Holdem, Super System.

I also recommend visiting 'Gripsed' Youtube channel and see the videos.

[SharpAngles]

Those books are all outdated as far as strat goes. I heart Dan Harrington but anyone playing "by the book" is easily exploitable.

[SharkAA]

Those books are all outdated as far as strat goes. I heart Dan Harrington but anyone playing "by the book" is easily exploitable.

Not really, they are pretty useful concerning strategy. You don't read a book, so you can play by it. It just gives you basic info/concepts, the rest is on an individual poker player.

[Jeffie]

Whatever $$ amount you are planning on spending for a book you might as well burn. Join training sites is the best investment as far as improving your poker game. They will go over all your hand history and show you what you need to work on etc. In my honest opinion nothing has taught me more than just plain out experience the more you play the more situations you'll see which will help you not make the same mistakes.

[Triple_D_Bet]

Guys, it's all well and good to say "don't play by the book"...obviously, at any significant level, doing so will make you lose. But books are the best shot to learn the basics (and almost every book worth reading includes the basic concept "mixing it up"). After the basics are down, you can move on to better resources and start experimenting...but those intermediate/advanced sources are definitely not the best place to start. Books Shark mentioned are a good a start as any

[daneblazer]

Rip my poker book thread

[SharpAngles]

Jeffie 100% gets it. If you have to spend money on something, spend it on someone who knows what they're doing to go over hands you've played and show you the errors and explain why they're wrong. I got into poker way before that was a thing but if I had to start today that'd be my plan.

I also agree the best way to learn is experience. Depositing the 30 bucks or whatever you'd spend on a book onto a site and playing small stakes will teach you more than the book would.

[Triple_D_Bet]

Jeffie 100% gets it. If you have to spend money on something, spend it on someone who knows what they're doing to go over hands you've played and show you the errors and explain why they're wrong. I got into poker way before that was a thing but if I had to start today that'd be my plan.

I also agree the best way to learn is experience. Depositing the 30 bucks or whatever you'd spend on a book onto a site and playing small stakes will teach you more than the book would.

I think you guys are drastically overestimating a newbie's ability to learn correctly from videos or experience. Taking $30 to the tables and learning the hard way instead of buying a book isn't likely to work; if that was the case, every casual player would be a decent player!

I understand that past a certain basic level, books might not be optimal; but to grasp those basics (required to grasp concepts from videos, sweating, or playing experience) a book or two is the way to go. Doesn't seem possible that Harrington and super system would be bad investments for a pure beginner, especially given the low-low price of free they can be found for if the money is an obstacle. Once you've read those, experience implementing the basics is probably necessary before other methods are going to be particularly useful.

[BeerDog99]

TBD gets it. On this site, and I see it everywhere I have played, people still do not understand a lot of basic concepts of poker. A lot of the rigtards on this site do not understand basic odds let alone understanding that the cards are just part of the story on how a poker hand plays out.

It is always easier to blame the site and cheating than look at how you played a hand. Books (even the older ones) go a long way to educating people on the basic concepts required to understand the more advanced scenarios that are used in the videos.

[Jimmy Proffett]

If you're just starting out, my suggestion for books to learn basics would be the Phil Gordon poker books. They're easy to understand, and there's some good stories woven in there to break any monotony.

If after you read those books you want to further your education, then definitely move away from books and try training sites. Also take a look at the 2+2 forums; plenty of good information available.

[daneblazer]

I think you guys are drastically overestimating a newbie's ability to learn correctly from videos or experience. Taking $30 to the tables and learning the hard way instead of buying a book isn't likely to work; if that was the case, every casual player would be a decent player!

i don't agree with a newbie trying to learn at the tables, but there's some pretty basic videos out there. Books can get pretty boring, complicated, and expensive for a newbie too. Many are redundant and it's tough to retain all that information without putting or seeing it in action unless you have a photographic memory. I'm not going to sit here and say don't read them, because I have and I've gotten a good deal from certain ones, but there's definitely other avenues to explore when you're wanting to learn outside of books.

[stevek173]

Sklansky. And LOTS of smurfs reruns.

Next case.

[YouHave2outs]

Any book recommendations?

read harrington on hold em, especially the section about M, to get a basic understanding of the game.

[YouHave2outs]

You really don't need any book. If those authors really knew what they were doing they wouldn't waste time writing and selling a book. The opportunity cost is too high compared to just beating poker games.

Most books will only teach you bad habits anyway. Forget hands charts and crap like that. No matter what game you're playing, holdem Omaha stud etc, it comes down to your position in the hand, your knowledge of your opponents tendencies and making bets they can't call. It really is that simple.

i played poker professionally for 3 years, making around half a million dollars in that time period. and i strongly disagree with this. youhave2outs on stars, youhav2outs on tilt, among other sites.

[Triple_D_Bet]

i don't agree with a newbie trying to learn at the tables, but there's some pretty basic videos out there. Books can get pretty boring, complicated, and expensive for a newbie too. Many are redundant and it's tough to retain all that information without putting or seeing it in action unless you have a photographic memory. I'm not going to sit here and say don't read them, because I have and I've gotten a good deal from certain ones, but there's definitely other avenues to explore when you're wanting to learn outside of books.

No doubt dane, videos would certainly help people with shorter attention spans, or who learn better that way. My main point was that the very basic concepts are available from books and are so widely applicable because they're fundamental truths of poker. I learn better from technical documents, applying knowledge and repeating, but everyone's different. The only thing I think wouldn't work well at all would be jumping in and trying to learn just by playing...far too easy to think you're learning good habits while reinforcing bad ones, and being unaware of what separates the two.

Sklansky. And LOTS of smurfs reruns.

Next case.

Ducktales got me through another month of grinding, but if you want to try to learn at this point, probably smart enough not to do it for a living and get burned out

read harrington on hold em, especially the section about M, to get a basic understanding of the game.

Best part of this plan: after mastering such a simple concept, laugh at some of the self-proclaimed "best" players at SBR who have no idea about it

[Auto Donk]

hard to believe anyone on sbr, even wwaves and carseller, wouldn't have at least some knowledge of the basics of being blinded out, how to calculate how many rounds they have left based on current blind levels, and how to adjust play accordingly, but maybe so.....

waves watches his M dwindle on a nightly basis; and prays that sbr will bail him out with a big pair or ak/aq to finally get it in with....

[SharpAngles]

i played poker professionally for 3 years, making around half a million dollars in that time period. and i strongly disagree with this. youhave2outs on stars, youhav2outs on tilt, among other sites.

Curious what you disagree with? You talking about books or the basic ABC I laid out?

I guess I should have made it clearer that I believe poker, and in fact all gambling, is something you're good at or you're not, and if you're not a book isn't going to help you. No book teaches the courage, logical thinking and "the feel" of when they have it and when they don't. I guess a new player who does have these traits will get some benefit from the books but why waste the BBs when you can use that same money to gain the most important and hardest to achieve goal of experience? Does it really take a book to comprehend pot odds or position? If it does you're probably in the not group.

And responding to a couple others,

Watching videos on youtube or some training site is totally different than having a pro look at your hand histories and critiquing your play seriously.

[Triple_D_Bet]

Curious what you disagree with? You talking about books or the basic ABC I laid out?

I guess I should have made it clearer that I believe poker, and in fact all gambling, is something you're good at or you're not, and if you're not a book isn't going to help you. No book teaches the courage, logical thinking and "the feel" of when they have it and when they don't. I guess a new player who does have these traits will get some benefit from the books but why waste the BBs when you can use that same money to gain the most important and hardest to achieve goal of experience? Does it really take a book to comprehend pot odds or position? If it does you're probably in the not group.

And responding to a couple others,

Watching videos on youtube or some training site is totally different than having a pro look at your hand histories and critiquing your play seriously.

I certainly would disagree that you're either good or you're not. Poker is certainly something that can be taught, up to a certain level which is significantly better than novice. Courage is basically applied risk/reward assessments, logical thinking is certainly teachable and the "feel" is subconscious processing of information that can be consciously practiced and honed.

[mikejamm]

Just fuk'in play and learn to get screwed over here, at the ultra sophisticated, complex and completely modern for monkeys who throw shit at tourists software, that is SBR poker. If this shit hole doesn't teach you the concept of the one outer river bad beat, nothing will.

We've got it all here, hit and run cash game pussy assholes who win a hand and leave like the chicken shit dick head losers they are! And lets not forget the fuk'in thieving stiffs who show up and play every day after screwing over a fellow player who loaned them points. They don't chat much, hmm wonder why? Throw in a few sbr "special" players who will ream your ass with 2, 7 os, all the ghost accounts and you've got the makings of, well, just about every site out there. Except other sites actually do "upgrade" their software.

Yeah, and like steve and Trip said, smurfs reruns, ducktales, and spongebob, lot and lots of spongebob, dude is incredible in heads up play.

[stevek173]

I like Harrington a lot too. I would recommend Sklansky and Harrington to anyone, Theory of Poker by Sklansky should be read #1 then go from there. For advanced players both of these books written by the best online players in the world awhile back are great reads for raw hand by hand action. For live action Annie Duke had some great things to say about studying FBI tells, I don't remember the name of that book, you can find the tells in many places. If you study those tells be careful who you share that you know them with because you will find yourself uninvited to casual games, lol. Also very advanced players will "Hollywood" the tells meaning they know you know them and they do the opposite of what you're expecting. Phil Laak is the best of all time at multitasking - doing pushups in front of everyone while mulling over a hand is pure genius. I do think Esfandiari is the best player I have ever seen followed by Neagranu. I view composure as part of being good so despite Hellmuth's success I view him and all players that treat others like that as garbage. The main thing that helps me stay successful is I always have lesbian porn going or have at least one female on my nuts when I'm playing so even if I bust out I just go back to that and still win.

[SharpAngles]

The main thing that helps me stay successful is I always have lesbian porn going or have at least one female on my nuts when I'm playing so even if I bust out I just go back to that and still win.

Sounds like a win win. Or in this case a bust bust