"GrimJack808"
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grimjack808@gmail.com
Sep 16, 2006, 10:51 PM
Post #8 of 8(419 views)
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| Re: Texas Holdem: Book recommendations for beginners [In reply to] | Can't Post
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I couldn't agree more with Stephen Jacobs' post.
If you are just starting out as a rank newbie, then you are not going
to get much from some of the best books out there. While I learned how
to play poker years ago, it wasn't until recent years that I started to
take it seriously and to also play Hold Em.
If you are looking for the single book that will do you the most good
overall, one you must have for your library, then this will have to be
SuperSystem, or the more recent Super System II. This is the one book
that will give you exposure to all types of games. It is really a
compendium that Doyle Brunson put together as it has multiple chapters
each focusing on a different game. Each chapter is written by the best
poker players for the particular game they are writing about. You will
recognize the names of those who have written each chapter from the
people who appear on television in final tables over and over again.
While not entirely focuses on hold'em, it is a book you should own, and
on a cost per page basis, it is the best deal on the market.
If you are a complete newbie, as you seem to indicate, then go check
out every book on poker at your library and start reading. You will
find a lot of information you can use, even from those books that in my
opinion give very little value, just because you are new and have not
been exposed to the most basic concepts of poker, and more specifically
Hold Em. What I mean by this is there are a lot of books at the
library that you should read starting out, but that you shouldn't
bother earning. Don't worry, this is a short learning curve that you
will climb rather quickly.
Once you have the basics down, hand rankings, the basics of play etc,
then some of these beginner books will be basically useless to you. But
each book will almost certainly have a chapter on each of these areas
that you will normally just skip over. Hold'Em for Dummies is actually
a pretty good book, I am somewhat hesitant to say. It is fairly
comprehensive and a good text of well put together advice from A to Z.
If you are interested in Hold Em specifically and have the basics down
pat, then the books by Sklansky, including Hold'em Poker for Advanced
Players are very beneficial. The books by Harrington and Cloutier are
about the best you will find on NL tourney play. And Caro's book of
tells is a must for any Brick and Mortar player.
But the most important thing you can do is to read, play reread, play,
reread, play... A lot of the concepts you will read about will be
basically lost on you until you have played a few hands and have a
situation in your mind that you can use to visualize the response.
This is why re-reading the better books at a later date is so
important.
Think about each book as giving you a few insights that you can use to
win hands. None is complete in and of itself.
I would also say that starting out, you need to be careful as to where
you choose to learn. Its hard to find good quality competition that is
not for real money. I have always recommended the Poker Stars play
money tournaments. You can only start out with so many play chips in a
given day, and they have a lot of tourneys you need to work your way up
to play. A lot of people take it seriously, so its a good place to
start out.
Once you have become a consistent winners at those tables, then you may
consider checking out one of the online sites since some (Like Titan)
offer true micro limit poker at .01/.02 blinds. Plus you can get a
free bankroll there (see below) and start out with $50 without ever
having to deposit on your own. As you are doing all this, make sure
you reread, reread and reread.
This will make you a solid player.
Good Luck!
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Stephen Jacobs wrote:
> "Scott Steiner" <steiner.scott@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:dfb3b$450bea7c$54710882$20125@news.chello.at...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I am very much interested in texas holdem poker and require solid basic
> > information on how to play successfully.
> >
> > Are there any good books out there that you would recommend someone new to
> > texas holdem poker? Any "must read books" that every player should read?
> >
>
> I have to disagree with the previous replies strictly because you're new to
> poker. They're good books, but they're beyond you right now. When I was
> starting, I got a lot out of Malmuth and Loomis, "Fundamentals of Poker."
> It's a skinny little book that's inexpensive and widely available. My
> favorite beginning hold'em book is "Hold'em Excellence: From Beginner to
> Winner," by Lou Krieger. A lot of people prefer Lee Jones' book; they're
> generally similar, but you wouldn't hurt yourself reading both. Read one of
> those, play a while (small stakes, limit betting please) and then read
> "Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players" by David Sklansky (And Malmuth?).
> That's the fundamentals.
>
> My must-read for all poker players is Roy West's book on stud poker ("42
> Lessons") because of the attitude.
>
> If you really must play no limit poker right away, read the NLHE chapter in
> Super/Sustem 2 (by Doyle Brunson), TJ Cloutier's (and Tom McEvoy?)
> "Championship Pot Limit and No Limit Hold'em" and Dan Harrington's first
> volume. It's generally cheaper to get your early training in limit play.
>
> A year from now, read "The Theory of Poker," by David Sklansky
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