Poker Books Part 2

Today we continue with Happy Donkey's list of worthy poker reading material:

2. Harrington on Hold ‘Em by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie
Until the Full Tilt Strategy Guide came out, this three volume set was the authority on tournament play. Dan Harrington is a renowned tournament player with many accolades. He has won major tournaments as recently as last year. Dan has done a great job of writing a piece that helps players develop their entire strategy from the ground up.

The series is divided into three volumes. Volumes One and Two are essentially one book split in two. Volume Three is a workbook that allows for more hand analysis and is the least critical of the three to read. Online, the books are frequently referred to as HoH.

Early tournament play is very different from play during “the bubble” (the time just before everyone ends up in the money), and short handed and heads up play is very different from the first two stages. Volume One (V1) deals primarily with the earlier stages of the tournament. V1 introduces you to Dan’s main method of conveying information: detailed hand analysis. Experienced tournament players might not find V1 as compelling as newbies, but it contains several concepts that merit the time taken to read it. {Tamara: I agree with this analysis. I found V1 fairly slow and felt that I had a pretty good grasp on most of the concepts conveyed before I read the book. There are good little tidbits scattered throughout though, so I'm still glad that I took the time to wade through it.}

Where HoH earns its money, however, is V2. V2 contains what is arguably the single most important concept in tournament play: “M.” M (which stands for Magriel, the last name of a famous backgammon author who developed the concept) is equivalent to the total of the small blind, big blind, and antes for one orbit, basically the total amount that it costs you to see on orbit of hands. Once you calculate how many M your stack is, (as well as what your opponent’s stacks are) you can develop your entire tournament strategy around this information. (Many online tournament players consider stack size in relation to the number of BBs, or Big Blinds, instead of M. While M is a more accurate method, BB is an easier method. Serious poker players should understand the benefits of and be conversant with both methods.) To be clear: if you don’t understand this concept, you will have your butt handed to you on a regular basis. {It is fascinating to me how many people play in tournaments semi-regularly and do not understand how to take M into account when making important decisions. If you play in tourneys and do not have an in depth understanding of M, the red zone, and other issues surrounding stack dynamics, then you need to educate yourself as soon as possible.}

V2 also discusses short handed and heads up play, something that some cash (ring) game players {especially those who play low or mid limits} are unfamiliar with. Once again, the main format is detailed hand analysis based on real tournament hands.

While natural talent and extensive experience will carry a tournament player a long way, HoH is one of the most critical set of books available today.

3. Card Player magazine
If you play poker in a card room, you’re probably familiar with Card Player magazine. It’s free, it’s well put together, and many pass time reading them during lulls in action at the table (when they really should be observing their opponents.) Many poker players seem to take this publication for granted, and they really don’t know what they are missing. Barry and Jeff Schulman have put together a very well organized magazine that provides information on many different aspects of the game.

Aside from the dozens of features and sections that you would expect to find in a poker oriented trade magazine, there are numerous regular columns that help hone your game. The regular contributors are highly regarded poker players, some selected for their writing and educational skills (David Aposolico, Barry Tannenbaum, Bob Ciaffone), some for their marquis names (Daniel Negraneau, Todd Brunson, Phil Hellmuth). Craig Tapscott does a great job of interviewing players and getting inside their heads on specific hands that they’ve played. Aside from the online forums, this bi-monthly publication is the most up to date method of obtaining information on current concepts and popular strategies that are being developed daily. {I agree wholeheartedly about the value of reading Card Player. Not only do the articles help develop aspects of your game, but they allow you to get inside the minds of your fellow players. Sometimes reading about how other players are approaching certain plays, will allow you to develop a strategy to counteract that style of play. In my opinion (and I think that this would be a great topic for a blog post all its own) poker styles move in cyclical waves...much like the economy. For a while, it was considered "correct" to play very tight, conservative poker. Loose aggressive players were regarded as donkeys or maniacs and very few serious pros took this approach to the game. Now loose aggressive play is regarded as the pinnacle of poker achievement. Being able to enter and "mix it up" in a large number of pots and still come out ahead is thought to be the hallmark of a great player. Understanding these tendencies within the poker playing community can help you to adjust your game to take maximum advantage of the trends. And Card Player helps you keep your finger on the pulse of that community. (Yeah, I definitely need to do a post on the changing face of poker...there is so much that could be said on that topic.)

If you can’t get enough current material there are a few other magazines out there that are very much worth reading. Poker Player News headed by Mike Caro and Bluff magazine both provide more information and different perspectives.

All of these magazines are available for free in the various casinos and card rooms. For those that don’t have easy access to these outlets, you can subscribe to them for a reasonable cost. Just google the publications and order them online.

4. The Tao of Poker by Larry Phillips
This is a great little book that helps you develop a solid, healthy approach to poker. While most other books are about specific concepts like selecting your starting hands or when you need to get into “push or fold” mode, this book helps you develop more of a mindset for the game. Everything needs balance, as does your education in poker.

For those that have studied the Tao, you might be surprised or even a bit disappointed at first that the book doesn’t seem to address the Tao more directly. But if you understand the Tao, read through the book, and then reflect back on the information, you find that it is very Taoist and does help you mold your game into a more fluid approach.

If you find that you explode easily, take bad beats harder than most, or wish that you did not let your emotions affect your game as much as it does, this would be a good read for you. {I found this book interesting but not indispensable. I would actually recommend it as a great addition to your bathroom library. Reading it all in one sitting makes it easy for you to gloss over the little tidbits of inspiration and wisdom. Reading a couple of pages each day would probably make for more effective and constructive absorption of the material.}

5. Honorable Mention: Super System
Props have to be given to Doyle Brunson for putting together Super System. Perhaps the most famous poker player ever, Doyle compiled the first book at a time when very few poker books existed. Doyle was very wise in assembling the best players at the time and getting them to extol their knowledge with the intent of educating newcomers and pros alike. Mike Craig unashamedly cites Super System as his model for The Full Tilt Strategy Guide, Tournament Edition. It is very likely that if polled, Super System would appear at the top of the list of first poker book read by new players. {Well if the new players started playing in the 90s or before (as I did) then that would probably be the case. Now days, I'm not sure how many new players are reading it...especially the first edition.} This is why Super System has been referred to as “the Bible of Poker.”

In Doyle’s heyday, tournaments were overshadowed by the cash (ring) game, and that is what this book focuses on. (After all, it was only a few years before Doyle wrote the book that the winner of the WSOP was established by popular vote!) The book provides new players with a solid foundation on how to play the cash NLH game as well as several other poker styles.

Why this book is not more essential, is because the material is dated. You can certainly gain a lot of information from Super System, but as you become more aggressive about honing your game, you realize more and more that poker is not only evolving, it is evolving rapidly. The strategies in this book are too tight and conservative to be effective. {I'm not so sure about that...I think that in a world increasingly dominated by loose aggressive players, the niche for tight conservative players is growing somewhat. More on this concept in a future post.} They’ll keep you out of trouble as you improve your game, but for the experienced player who is looking to maximize their educational bang, there are a lot of newer books that subscribe to the current school of thought that you need to be aggressive to win. To be fair, Doyle has subsequently compiled Super System 2, a good sequel enlisting more prominent, successful players to contribute. {I have not yet read Super System 2 but it is on my list of things to do.}

6. Honorable Mention: David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth
Prolific writers, Sklansky and Malmuth wrote most of the early books on poker. You cannot go wrong reading any of their books (published by 2+2 Publishing), although most of their information has been assimilated into the other more current publications. These authors forged the path for others to follow, and while they are a bit dry for the times, their content is still very valid and applicable. {Sklansky and Malmuth are the once and always kings of the mathematics behind the game. The first poker books that I read were written by these guys. I actually HIGHLY recommend getting your hands on at least one Sklansky/Malmuth book and digesting the material. Math plays an important role in poker and (in my opinion) before you can move on to the intricacies of psychological play and "people factors" you need to have a solid foundation in the probabilities and statistics that define the game. If you don't, your education will be lopsided and incomplete.}

One final recommendation is for those that have read the essential books and are looking for something different. Barry Greenstein’s Ace on the River is a great book for someone that is looking to take their poker game from being a money making hobby to being the centerpiece of their lifestyle. The beautiful book stays away from the technical side of a poker and focuses on some very important intangible concepts. These concepts include how high-stakes players interact with each other, strategy on keeping live players in the game, and a frank discussion of the downswings that all professional players inevitably go through. You will not learn how to pull off a triple barrel bluff in this book, but you might learn some life skills that will be necessary to survive if you aspire to be a professional poker player. {I LOVED Barry's book and if this were my list (and not Happy Donkey's) I would have placed it much closer to the top. There are plenty of great technical and "how to" poker books on the shelves today, but only one Ace on the River. Barry's discussion of life as a pro hit home with me. It was great to realize that I'm not the only one who has experienced the frustrations that sometimes accompany making your living at this game. Just knowing that successful pros have faced the same temptations and challenges (with varying degrees of success) makes me feel more hopeful that I will be able to work through them in my own life/game. If you play for a living...or want to someday...you must read this book.}

The list above is certainly not comprehensive nor exclusive. It does, however, provide you with a list of essential reading and you can feel confident that the books listed are a worthy investment of your time. Feel free to post your suggestions in reply!