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The books listed below are our picks for getting started reading about poker. They range from basic strategy (like Poker for Dummies, which is actually quite good) to more advanced tactics (like Holdem Poker for Advanced Players) to narratives written about adventures in the poker world (like the extremely popular Positively Fifth Street). You can't go wrong with any of these.
For independent reviews of poker books, try the following:
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Positively Fifth Street. James McManus went to Las Vegas to
cover the World Series of Poker for Harper's Magazine, but decided
the only way to truly capture the excitement was to risk his entire
advance on the $10,000 entry fee and play in it himself. This is the
story of his adventure in the Las Vegas world of tournament
poker. See review by Nick C. |
The Biggest Game in Town. A classic from 1983 that set the
standard for books about the world of high-stakes poker. Alvarez,
living in London, brings an outsider's perspective to capture the
characters and spirit of the era's highest limit players. A new crop
of players has since appeared, but these stories about the old guard
stand the test of time. See review by Dan K. |
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| Poker for Dummies. This isn't a useless "dumbed down" book, despite its name. It's a surprisingly good introduction to all the basic poker concepts you need to get started. It begins on the ground floor and works up to strategies for popular games such as Holdem and Stud, with lots of interesting subtopics including card room etiquette, slang, reading tells, and tournaments. This is an excellent first book on poker. | Internet Poker. When you're ready to jump into some poker with real people, the internet is a great place to start for both play money and low-stakes games. Lou Krieger's book tells you how to get started and what to look out for. You won't need this book if you're comfortable exploring online yourself and maybe losing a little starter money. But if you need help getting your feet wet then this is the book for you. | ||
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Complete Book of Holdem Poker. When you are ready to work on
your basic Holdem game, Gary Carson's book is a good choice. Gary's
approach is to help you develop the thinking skills to succeed in any
poker situation, rather than give you a cookbook-style recipe for
each. His writing style is sometimes overly confident, but many on
rec.gambling.poker praise this book. See review by Nick C. |
Holdem Poker for Advanced Players. Despite some readers'
complaints about its writing style, this book remains the classic for
middle-limit Holdem strategy. It introduced a number of key concepts
that still apply to today's games, whether online or in real-world
casinos. See review by Nick C. |
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Theory of Poker. Put on your thinking cap! This is absolutely
the best book ever written on the analytical side of poker. From the
underlying game theoretical results that explain optimal bluffing and
calling frequencies, to a mathematical discussion of when to
check-raise and when to simply bet out, this book covers it all. If
you make the effort required to study this book, your poker game will
move to a new level. (Not recommended for beginners.) See reviews by Nick C and Dan K. |
Caro's Book of Poker Tells. This is the only book published on
how to use physical tells to your advantage at the poker table (and
in daily life!). Mike Caro is a flamboyant poker personality who has
written about poker for many years and has made a study of what makes
people tick (or tic!). See review by Dan K. |