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| The Theory of Poker |
| by David Sklansky |
| Price: $19.77 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
This book covers poker in a very general way. It doesn’t focus on any game in particular, rather uses many different poker games to illustrate key concepts. For this reason having a very basic understanding of all games is a prerequisite. This should not be a deterrent as learning about all the poker games will improve your thought process.
Poker is a game that is constantly evolving, as result many poker books can get outdated fast because players read the books start following the "rules" set out, which works fine until the good players will find ways of exploiting this form of play. Theory of Poker does not fall victim to this as it doesn’t try to teach a style of play, rather it teaches you how to think like a poker player and come up with strategies yourself to beat the game. For this reason i recommend this poker book above any other.
David Sklansky has a mathematical background, and uses maths to explain quite a few concepts. If you struggle with maths these chapters will be hard to grasp, and be quite boring. But you can still glaze over the maths heavy content and still benefit greatly from this book. The key to this book is the chapter Psychology of poker which should be read repeatedly until you grasp it fully. This chapter alone is worth the money paid for this book.
Review by Arul Thillai
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| Winning Low Limit HoldEm |
| by Lee Jones |
| Price: $16.47 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
This book outlines the basic concepts on how to play limit holdem against weak opponents. The book is targeted at beginners to the game, anyone who has studied the game for more than a few months will find it less useful (seek holdem poker for advanced players by Sklansky (lets put a link to it)). It covers the simple concepts that help you be beat soft games, such as starting hands, playing draws, check raising ect.
The strength of this book is that it is extremely easy to read and understand. I strongly recommend to any player starting out in limit holdem or anyone who is not sure about the fundamentals of the game to read this book.
Review by Arul Thillai
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| One Of a Kind |
| by Nolan Dalla |
| Price: $11.20 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
This book documents the life of the late Stu Ungar, considered by many the greatest poker and gin rummy player of his generation. It begins during his early teens where he is exposed to the world of gambling and crime. His father was a bookmaker with mob ties and from an early age Stu found himself surrounded by the demons that would later haunt him. His prodigious talent and addictive personality led him to being absorbed by this world and it wasn’t long before he dropped out of school to be a professional gambler.
The highlight of this book is the brilliant anecdotes provided by those who knew him in the gambling world. This is one of the easiest books you will ever read and is extremely entertaining. It is without a doubt the best non educational poker book I have ever read. Every gambler should read this book.
Review by Arul Thillai
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| Holdem Poker For Advanced Players |
| by David Sklansky |
| Price: $19.77 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
Don't let the title put you off this book, I consider it an intermediate level book for Limit Holdem. The book targets those that are beating the soft, loose passive games, but struggle when faced with a few tough opponents on the table. The book covers concepts such as semi bluffing, how to vary your play based on game conditions, and how to control the size of multi-way pots based on your hand.
Nowadays most players have read this book, so just applying the concepts may not be enough to beat the tougher games, however not knowing them would be a major leak. Most of the book covers full ring games although there is a small section on short handed play. Sklansky’s books can be hard to read and weighed down with maths, but this particular book dissects the game of limit holdem well and is certainly worth reading. Even an intermediate no-limit player has something to learn from it’s contents in my opinion.
Review by Arul Thillai
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| Kill Phil |
| by Lee Nelson |
| Price: $16.47 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
Lee Nelson is a great tournament player, and unlike most players that write books, he has definitely backed it up at the tables. The book’s main theme is to provide beginners a strategy to combat experienced tournament players, and it does this very well. The key being aggressive preflop play by coming over the top of opening raises. By playing this preflop style game beginners can cut down on experienced player’s edge by now allowing them to play small pots. There are some great charts in this book detailing situations in which using this strategy can be very profitable and in my opinion many players who have been playing for some time will also benefit from these concepts
This book will help a wide cross section of players, including rank beginners, intermediate tournament players and even very solid cash game players who have struggled to adapt to a tournament setting. Lee doesn't try to spend too much time trying to teach you how to play no-limit holdem but rather focuses on the tournament poker aspects, making it easier to digest and implement. Well written and easy to read, Kill Phil concepts are already changing the way tournament poker is played.
Review by Arul Thillai
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| Harrington on Holdem Vol. 1: Strategic Play |
| by Dan Harrington |
| Price: $19.77 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
Volume 1 of this series discusses most of the topics one would consider when looking to improve their tournament game. The beginning stages of tournaments are dealt with along with some advanced topics, specific situations and decryptions of how tactics should change the deeper into the tournament one progresses.
Harrington then examines common playing styles, table image and information on odds and problem solving. This is mostly basic information but essential to the foundation of any successful tournament player and is written and displayed in a straightforward manner. In my opinion the biggest value of this book is the many examples and hand history discussions we find in the last 200 pages or so. These examples examine play on every street for each hand in specific situations and allow the author to demonstrate how certain concepts apply in real life scenarios.
Review by Nick Nicolaou
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| Harrington on Holdem Vol. 2: Endgame |
| by Dan Harrington |
| Price: $19.77 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
In Volume 2 Harrington focuses of the latter stages of tournaments. In the earlier chapters of the books we see detailed discussion of situations where we may consider bluffing and slow playing. These sections are extensions of the concepts brought forward in Volume 1. This volume will demonstrate how strategy varies greatly between the different stages of a tournament and explains why some unorthodox plays are called for in specific situations.
Harrington begins his ‘End Game’ analysis by detailing what he calls ‘inflection point theory’ in which he explains how out stack size in relation to the blinds and antes becomes important in our decision making. The short handed/heads up material in this book is in my opinion some of the best stuff ever written on the subject. The depth of analysis is excellent and real life play by play examples of previous heads up battles are extremely beneficial to any tournament player. This book is a worthy addition to Volume 1 and is certainly on the list of must reads.
Review by Nick Nicolaou
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| Harrington on Holdem Vol. 3: The Workbook |
| by Dan Harrington |
| Price: $19.77 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
The third installment of this fantastic series of books acts as a companion to the first two. The ‘Work Book’ is a collection of 50 poker problems taken from hands in real life scenarios played online or live. The focus of this book is to improve your post flop play and through the detailed analysis of the hands leads to some advanced poker concepts.
When should you check? When should you bet? What can you conclude from your opponent’s action? All of these questions are dealt with in a straight forward, yet detailed way through the examples in this book. Harrington dissects hands to show you the correct play regardless of the result of a particular hand. This book is one of the best tools ever written for post flop tournament play and players of all levels will benefit from its contents.
Review by Nick Nicolaou
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| The Psychology of Poker |
| by Alan N. Schoonmaker |
| Price: $16.47 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
Alan N. Schoonmaker, who holds a PhD in psychology, attempts to understand what motivates poker players and to understand how they think and why. This book explores idea’s that you won’t read in other poker books and it is my opinion that considering what it has to say is essential in any poker player’s development. Understanding yourself and your motivations for playing the game are central to becoming successful in the high stress environment that is the poker world. The author asks the reader personal questions that drive at the heart of what it takes to excel in this game.
Once Schoonmaker deals with helping the reader understand himself he then switches to considering what a player must do to understand his opponents and it is in this section where poker skills such as head reading and understanding personal tendencies are discussed. The information in this book will help any player at any level and much will be gained by reading it periodically.
Review by Nick Nicolaou
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| Winning Omaha/8 Poker (Paperback) |
| by Mark Tenner / Lou Krieger |
| Price: $16.47 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
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There are not many books on the subject of Omaha Hi Lo and it’s a relief to see that Tenner and Krieger have written a comprehensive guide ranging from starting hands to Intermediate play. The book is easy to read and covers all the basics necessary to become a winning player. An essential for beginners looking learn the game with the aim of become serious winning player.
Review by Jethro Horowitz
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| High-Low-Split Poker, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha Eight-or-Better |
| by Ray Zee |
| Price: $23.07 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
Ray Zee is well renowned as one of the leading split poker players around today. It is a blessing to us that he has compacted all his years of knowledge into an extremely comprehensive book. The book deals with position, low hands, high hands, your starting hand, how to play your hand, play on the flop, multiway versus short handed play, scare cards, getting counterfeited, and your playing style.
The 7-card stud hi lo section is excellent and includes all the essential information including starting hands, when an ace raises, disguising your hand on third street, play on fourth street, fifth street, sixth street, seventh street, position, bluffing, staying to the end, and scare cards.
This book is essential for serious players looking to make serious money.
Review by Jethro Horowitz
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| Zen and the Art of Poker |
| by Larry Phillips |
| Price: $11.20 |
| Buy Now! |
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| Cardacademy Review |
This book applies the calm and serene principles of Zen to the ultimate game of strategy and deception. Phillip’s spends the first part of this book detailing the differences between the principles of Zen and poker which I think is very important in helping the reader fully understand what he discusses in later pages. Notions of calmness and discipline are explored in detail in regards to how they apply to a poker player’s life. The sections in this book that deal with discipline are especially useful in my opinion and worth the price of the book alone. The book is filled with Zen quotes that summaries important messages and although most of it seems like common sense you will be amazed to find how much you could be doing that you are not.
I disagree with 1 section in this book which implies that streaks in cards do happen and how to either end the rot or ride the rush. Apart from that, this book is an excellent resource that should be read over and over.
Review by Nick Nicolaou
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