If you had to choose between these four poker books, which two would you get?


The theory of poker-Skalansky
Advanced hold'em- Skalansky
Caro's book of poker tells- Caro
SS2- Doyle Brunson

i have left over PSO points, enough for two and want peoples advice (i know i must be crazy).

anyways tell what you know or think about these books. At this point from what i have heard theory of poker is a must buy...

SS2 would be one of my choices as it covers so many different games - the Omaha and Limit Hold Em sections are great reads

theory of poker is number 1.

the rest all depend on what kind of games you play

- only holdem, if so, NL or FL... if u play predominantly FL, then holdem poker for advanced players is good

-if you play live, caro's book is ok.. if you are only an online player, its useless, but a good read nonetheless

-if you play other games than holdem, ss2 is good.... i'd get them all eventually anyway, if poker books are your thing.

Harrington on Hold'Em 1 and 2

Get amazon GC's with your points.

The end.

if he doesnt play NL tournaments, what good are they?

Hold 'Em for Advanced Players by Sklanksy/Malmuth (which I asssume is what you mean) is very, very dry and difficult to get through but if you can do it it will patch a lot of leaks in your game.

Basically, it won't teach you how to read people better but you can save youself a lot of money by cutting down on a few stupid calls here and there. I didn't even realize that some of the mistakes I was making were mistakes, let alone how to correct them.

Also the Caro one is mostly obvious stuff but there was one thing that I learned from it which I will tell you here so you don't have to waste your money.

He says that one of the best and most important times to watch for tells in your opponents are when they AREN'T currently playing a hand. This is because they will think that no one is watching them and will act natural, and the information you can gain will tell you how they are likely to play when the finally do (i.e. lose, aggressive, on tilt, etc.).

thanks for the replys. i am definitely getting theory... and will probably get SS2 for now.

Harrington's books are next on my list. Are his books purely tournament advice? (which i do play and plan to play more of)
or do they over more than that?

thanks

Yes. Harrington's books are only tournament advice.

But, I shouldn't say only because they're the absolute best books available that you can use to become a better NLHE tournament poker player.

It takes into consideration specific situations/strategies that only involve or happen during tournaments, but some of it can also be applied to regular ring game play.

They're great books and I highly recommend them.

Jason