"A very...interesting game this....poker"
I think I now offically have more books on poker than Amazon. What follows is a selection of a few of the best books on poker that I've come across, in no particular order whatsoever.
Read any poker books lately? Are you good with words? Do you hanker after instant immortality and are willing to work for free? GREAT! Email me your book reviews and if they're any good I'll stick 'em up on the site here for all to see, discuss and enjoy. I can't promise to pay you any money (Bland has all mine) but you will get a credit at the foot of your review. Lots of the books below still need reviews, so let's be having them, and be as close to the bone as you like. I'll upload any old bollocks, me. Publish & be damned!
- Dan Harrington
 For my money 'Action' Dan Harrington has got to be one of the best No Limit Holdem Tournament players in the World and right now he's at the top of his game - his record of final table finishes at the WSOP alone attest to this. He won it in '95, came third in 2003 and fourth in 2004. That's some accomplishment, especially considering the size of the field in 2004. This book (the first of two) is probably the single best thing I have read on NLHE tournament strategy to date. Covering value and probe betting, pot odds and including comprehensive analysis of example hands taken from actual play, this book offers tremendous insight into what you should be thinking when play comes round to you. I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone aspiring to become a better tournament player.
 Volume 1 of H.O.H. covered how best to play in the early stages of a tournament when you still had full tables, big stacks relative to the blinds and were a long way off the money. In his second, eagerly anticipated (by me, anyway) book Dan shows the reader what happens when you reach the closing stages of a tournament, when none of the above conditions apply. New topics such as 'inflection points', the 'Zone Concept', and short-handed play are all covered here. along with stacks and stacks of example hands taken from real play. All this and a bright red cover too. Not available in the UK yet - I had mine shipped over by one of my 'mules' along with an assortment of other poker-related contraband. You could just order it from Amazon.com. Either way, buy it. You won't regret it.
 Written in the same offbeat style as all the other 'For Dummies' series, Poker for Dummies is a good entry-level book for the beginning poker player. If you're trying to lord it over the $15/$30 PLO ring games on 'Stars this ain't the book for you, but for a more general overview of several different poker games this really isn't a bad place to start your poker reading, and I think there's something here for everyone. I especially liked the second part of the book (Advanced Strategy) which deals with bluffing (clearly a major part of my game!) and the thorny issue of money management, a subject we could all do with reading up on. I keep my copy in the loo to skim through while I'm smoking a 'bum cigar'...
– Tom McEvoy
 "Offers strategies and advice for winning each of the eleven games of the World Series of Poker". Yeeees. That's the incredibly detailed synopsis on this title lifted straight from Amazon - probably the least helpful thing I've ever taken the trouble to read. Astounding. Hands up who thinks the reviewer hasn't even bothered to read the bugger and just skimmed the (albeit very colourful) front cover for that gem of information? Not just me then. Any road up, be warned - this book is more a collection of McEvoy's anecdotes from the game than an insight into specific strategies for tournament play. There's only about two dozen pages on No Limit Holdem so unless you plan on entering every event at the WSOP I'd spend your money elsewhere.
– David Sklansky
 OK, I'll be honest, I haven't actually got round to finishing this one yet. I'm putting it off until I've discovered whether Lady Tabitha chooses rakish and handsome Sir Clive or bookish and dependable Lord Trevor at the end of "Don't Fart on my Heart" (Harlequin Mills & Boon). Anyhoo. You should buy this for 'Essays on Poker' alone, which is hard enough to obtain on it's own these days, and if you're a fan of Razz (er - is anyone actually a fan of Razz?) 'Sklansky on Razz' is chucked in to boot along with (as the observant among you will have already noticed) a special section on tournament play. Hoo hoo! If you're serious about poker you'll want to read most of Sklansky's outpourings, but this book is particularly informative on things like middle round strategy, how to play a tournament, and much more.
- Ray Zee
 I consider it my mission in life to get as many people as possible weaned off the tit of No Limit Holdem and immersed in the almighty fish pond that is Omaha8 before the year is out, and Ray Zee is evidently of the same mind, and quite right too. Zee is a long time member of the 2+2 team, and 'High-Low-Split Poker' has long been recognized as the book on the split pot game. I've not yet read the part that deals with seven card stud, but the OH8 section embraces a whole gamut of topics, including game psychology, playing against tight, solid players, getting quartered, position, multiway versus short-handed play, scare cards et cetera. There's a comprehensive Q & A / summary section at the back of the book. A recommended read for anyone looking to advance their OH8 game up a notch.
- David Sklansky
 Considered by many to be the best book ever written on poker. Did you get that? The Best Book Ever Written on Poker. Ever. That means it's required reading people! I would go one step further and say that this is not so much a book that should be read so much as studied. Be warned, though, it's not for complete newcomers to poker or anyone looking for a quick lesson in the rudiments of the game. It's aimed at those who are looking to become serious (and I don't mean po-faced and dour) poker players, or anyone aiming to better their game substantially. Offering insight into each and every factor a player must consider during a hand, Sklansky goes through every aspect of the game thoroughly, delving into game theory as well as examing the thought processes of the more advanced players. Buy it.
– Doyle Brunson
 First published in the 70s this book was (and still remains) probably the most ambitious book ever written on the game and is held by many to be the 'Poker Bible'. Whilst being a damn good read (and a mighty fine draught-excluder!) I think a lot of the info in this doorstop of a book is now somewhat out of date and of limited value in todays's game. Brunson offers an extremely aggressive strategy, but I would have to say that his section on No Limit Holdem is still probably the best guide to playing a NL cash games you can buy. For No Limit tournament play however, I'd still go for Harrington on Hold'em, Championship No-Limit and Pot Limit Hold ‘Em by Cloutier & McEvoy and Sklansky's Tournament Poker for Advanced Players.
– Doyle Brunson
 Following my scathing review of his last title (see above) Doyle has seen fit to rework his epic tome for the latest generation. Super System 2 has been eagerly anticipated for quite a while now and I have to say it IS much better than the original. I especially like Daniel Negreanu's section on Triple Draw 2-7 (another game I intend to foist down the throats of our unwilling home game crowd like a mother bird with a large unappealing worm in her gob) and Todd Brunson's chapter on Stud 8 or Better. Jennifer Harman's contribution on Limit Holdem is also an interesting read, but be warned: if you're looking for a fresh insight into No Limit Hold'em SS2 offers nothing new, and that's primarily because Doyle's original advice is as sound today as it was then.
– Mike Caro
 Another poker classic. Strangely enough (for a game which features, by popular misconception, a lot of bluffing) I think this is the only book out there that actually addresses the subject of 'tells' (or body language) in poker. The book, featuring a variety of different types of poker game in its many illustrations, covers most physical and verbal tells that both amateur and pro players exhibit. OK, OK, the photos are grainy and dated and the cowboys all have handlebar moustaches, but the information itself is invaluable. Anyone who wants to improve their play, anyone who wants to have a better handle on the psychological element of poker and anyone who has ever heard 'poker clack' but doesn't know what the hell it means needs to buy it, and read it.
 Like Theory of Poker, this isn't a book for beginners. It assumes you already play poker to a reasonably high standard and you're looking to raise your game a notch or two. Although it has specific sections devoted to Hold 'Em, Omaha, Lowball, 7-card stud and Omaha8, the concepts throughout are very powerful and easily applicable to more or less every form of poker. It discusses a lot of more general game theory rather than focusing on specific hands or particular situations (see Harrington on Holdem if you're looking for this sort of stuff) and whilst it's geared more towards Pot Limit and No Limit ring games (i.e. cash games), pretty much all of the book's suggestions can be carried over quite nicely to into a good player's No Limit tournament strategy. Highly recommended read, hard to find.
- Alan N. Schoonmaker Ph.D.
 I'll admit I struggled getting to grips with this one on the first readthrough, but it's a well respected tome so I persevered with it. I'm glad I did. Most folk are of the opinion that poker is just a card game played by people, whereas in fact it's actually a people game that just happens to be played with cards. What The Psychology of Poker does is ask the question WHY people play the style of poker that they do and how you can adjust your own style to effectively play against them, whether they fall within the author's categories of tight or loose and agggressive or passive. Lots of reader questionnaires give you the opportunity to assess your own style of play according to the author's principles. Whether you're an experienced player or fairly new to the game I'd say that this one's required reading. Go buy it.
– Bob Ciaffone
 Bob Ciaffone is a regular contributor for Card Player Magazine, and this book is a compilation of some of his better articles, a general treatise on improving your poker presented in a series of short essays and embracing a whole gamut of topics. Much of what you will find in here is not specific to one particular game (e.g. Omaha8), but even those that are can be easily applied to other forms of poker. Similar in terms of content to 'Poker Essays' by Mason Malmuth (very hard to get hold of these days) and much more accessible than something like 'The Theory of Poker' (or anything by Sklansky, come to that!) this for my money is one of the best poker books on the market. No matter what your level of play, you'll find something in here that will help you improve your poker game.
– Mike Caro
 Don't get me wrong, I like Mike Caro (the self-styled 'mad genius of poker') and I really enjoyed his Book of Tells and the accompanying DVD was also reasonably entertaining, if a bit repetitive, but IMHO this book was poorly constructed, poorly written, and lacking in content. This is not a how-to book for the beginning or inexperienced player. What it IS, though, is a broad grouping of tips and strategies that the reasonably experienced player might well have already known but on which their perspective had become a little jaded over time. This book gives you a refreshing perspective and enables you to see and appreciate your plays and your mindset in a different light. All the info from Caro's seminar videos is included here, so if you liked those, buy this!
– Lou Krieger
 This is an excellent book if you are just getting started playing Holdem. And that's as much as I can be bothered typing at the moment. I'm going to sleeeeep now.
- Matthew Hilger
 Not read this one yet, so you'll just have to wait.
– Lee Jones
 Or WLLH as we poker-spods like to refer to it in our own secret-handshake poker lingo stylie. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
– Tom McEvoy & T.J. Cloutier
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- David Sklansky
 This one's a doozy. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
– Shane Smith
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
 This was my all-time favourite book on poker for a looong time, and I've read it back to back a number of times. I had to order mine from the US, but it's just (April 2005) been re-published in the UK with a span-dangly disco jacket new cover. You lucky, lucky people. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
– Jim McManus
 Vincent and Nick got me this one for Christmas, and I couldn't put it down. No, it wasn't beacause it was smeared with Superglue© - it's a damn good read! It follows the exploits of Jim McManus (a journalist commissioned by Harpers to do a piece on the WSOP) who ends up using his advance to enter the main event at Binions itself, where he goes on to make the final table, and a payout of over a quarter of a million dollars! He also follows the progress of the Ted Binion murder trial which is taking place at the same time, and the book offers an interesting insight into a Las Vegas that most of us know exists but may have never witnessed first hand - one that is seedy, erotic and deadly. The description of the hands will almost make you feel like you're right there with Jim, butting heads with TJ...
– Anthony Holden
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
– Al Alvarez
 My favourite books would receive the Dewey Decimal index system category 'Poker professional / biographies / 1981 / classic'. Unfortunately, the only book you’ll find at 64/345/32/1 is 'The Biggest Game In Town'. Based around the World Series of Poker way back when 'This Ol’ House' was keeping Shakey at the Top Of The Pops, it tells of a Vegas gone by, as viewed through Mr Alvarez’s un-tinted glasses. The book is not so much a study of the game, but the characters who play (or played) it. Al is happy to point out the bad as well as the good and it never becomes the exercise in hero worship that modern bios often do. A consuming read with rich imagery which I polished off quicker than a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. Well worth the cash. And the book is too (I second that - DP!)
- reviewed by Rick Theobald, who is much better at this stuff than me...
– Jesse May
 I seem to have lost my copy of this (I'll find it though Vincent!) A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Phil Hellmuth
 ...and roll around on the floor crying like a two year old. Good old Phil. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Michael Craig
 Who in poker hasn't heard of 'The Big Game'? Andy Beal (The Banker of the Book's name), is a talented poker player, math whiz and billionaire banker, and this book offers an insiders view of the game he used to play in regularly at The Bellagio, where he sat down opposite some of the biggest names in poker, players like Chau Giang, Todd Brunson, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer (the titular 'Professor'), Chip Reese, Johnny Chan, Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Ted Forrest, Bobby Baldwin, John Hennigan, Ming La, Lyle Berman and Barry Greenstein. Millions were won and lost in a day in a game where the limits ranged from $4000-$8000 to a wallet-busting $100,000 - $200,000, this was unquestionably 'The Richest Poker Game of All Time'.
- Matt Matros
 I bought this thinking it was the tale of someone deliberately setting out to become a pro and succeeding, but in actual fact, Matt Matros’ memoirs show him almost falling into the game and tumbling to the top. The book is laid out as a potted history of his life and leads us from playing for quarters to the final table of the WPT. Along the way, he becomes friends with Chris Ferguson and plays in Greg Raymer’s home game in a classic 'before they were famous' styl-ee. He also manages to pack in plenty of his favourite topics, namely Game Theory and Mathematical hand analysis. I like a lot of his concepts (like playing to win, not just to cash) and, although the finer points of game theory will remain as baffling to me as Finnish, the book introduces some excellent concepts for developed players.
- reviewed by Rick Theobald, who is much better at this stuff than me...
- Amarillo Slim
 Again, I picked up my copy of this from The Gambler's General Store in Las Vegas, but through the wonders of the internet you can know get hold of the UK-version from our friends at Amazon. Lucky Sods. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Barry Greenstein
 Not yet available in the UK. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Phil Gordon
 Not yet available in the UK. A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Andy Bellin
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Michael Konik
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Al Alvarez
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Chris Moneymaker
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
- Nolan Dalla & Peter Alson
 Anyone who plays poker knows the story of Stuey 'The Kid' Ungar, acknowledged by many to be one of, if not the greatest poker player who has ever lived. This book chronicles in meticulous detail the tumultuous life of one the undisputed legends of the game, from his early days as a gin rummy specialist in New York's Lower East Side, through his golden days of poker and historic (and his as yet unequalled) three WSOP main event wins, to his ultimate decline and death in the Oasis motel in Las Vegas at the tender age of 45. A book not just for fans of poker, but also for anyone interested in the story of a life less ordinary - Stuey lived an unimaginable life of highs and lows and this book is the story of that life. He truly was one of a kind.
 I've discovered after reading this that I've got a lot of time for Phil Gordon, and this little gem of a book he's written comes a very, VERY close second to the much-lauded (by me, anyway) Harrington books in terms of being an all round excellent treatment on poker in general and No Limit Holdem in particular. The sections on post-flop play, pot-odds, implied odds and hand match-ups are all extremely well thought-out, rich in content and clearly explained - it's evident that Phil has spent a lot of time putting together the information in this book and also that he enjoys sharing his knowledge of and his enthusiasm for the game with others. I'm kind of hoping no-one else in my poker group reads this review, or bothers to go buy this book. It's the bollocks.
- Phil Gordon
 Not yet available in the UK, or anywhere come to that, because Phil's still writing it and he's stopped taking my calls. Expect it to hit a bookshelf near you very soon...
 Am I the only guy out there who thinks that Andy Nelson rocks? Answers on a postcard please. There are stacks of poker books out there dealing with statistics, starting hands and fancy pants squeeze plays. What this book focuses on, though, is pure gold. Filled with short, easy to read essays on a multitude of important poker topics including emotional control, patience and attitude, 101 Ways to Win translates many of the finer points of the game into a readily understandable, accessible language that even I could get to grips with. Go figure. Good luck finding one of his books in print over here by the way. I had to get mine sent over The Pond at truly exorbitant cost, but it was worth every red cent, dammit.
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait.
 Steve Rosenbloom’s Mum thinks he hasn't enough money yet, so he decided to write this little gem, my first poker book that falls into the category of 'coffee table. Neatly divided into 52 different sections, each featuring a different Pro Player’s remembrance of their favourite ever hand, it's well packaged and ideal for dipping in and out of. After a brief biog of the player and their individual account of the hand in question, Steve includes a breakdown of the key learning points. Although the actual tips are fairly shallow (Daniel Negreanu, for example, never reveals exactly how he put Freddy Deeb on the AK that made his play so good), it’s a nice little fillip to read between games and a reminder that each hand needs a level of consideration you’re probably not giving each and every time.
- reviewed by Rick Theobald, who is much better at this stuff than me...
- Mike Cappelletti
 A review is coming, but people keep pestering me for updates, so you'll just have to damn well wait. It's feckin good though...
 This book's rather like the hand it describes in the title. On first inspection, it looks quite promising with Greg Raymer (who I think is great, by the way) being sound-bitten with 'bound to become a classic of it’s time'. However, after the flop (when you open it up and start to read), you realise it’s actually very limited and compares badly to other hands/books you could have had. To finish bleeding this crude analogy to death, if you put your faith in it, you end up losing £10.99. The book claims to teach the secrets of a range of pros, from old time pool hall hustlers like “Puggy” Pearson through to the internet whiz kids and even Phil Ivey. You actually learn… well, not one thing, unless you’ve never actually read a poker book before. Not worth it.
- reviewed by Rick Theobald, who is much better at this stuff than me...
- "Behold the power of the Beer Hand!" -
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