Building a Poker Library

One of the most common questions I get asked by customers is "which book should I buy for X?". Recently we talked about getting started in blackjack. This month I thought I'd give you my recommendations for poker. This list will focus mainly on limit Texas Hold'em and seven-card stud. I will not consider books that focus mainly on other games (e.g., omaha), or other forms of poker (e.g., no-limit, tournaments.)

Having said that, all of the following books belong in any serious poker player's library (if you play the game in question). They are listed in alphabetical order.

Hold'em Excellence by Lou Krieger, $19.95, ConJelCo. (This book is published by a company in which I have a financial interest.) Lou Krieger is a regular columnist for Card Player and an excellent writer. The book is subtitled: "from Beginner to Winner". Lou's clear writing and good advice will help you achieve that goal.

Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth, $29.95, 2+2 Publishing. David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth are two of the top thinkers and writers on gambling and this book (the 21st Century Edition) is rightly referred to as the Hold'em player's bible. This book covers virtually everything you'd need to know about how to play Hold'em. It's one problem is that it is so full of information that some readers find it difficult to locate all of the delectable morsels. I also recommend David Sklansky's Hold'em Poker ($19.95, 2+2), the first important book published on Hold'em.

Seven Card Stud: the Complete Course in 42 Lessons by Roy West, $24.95, Poker Plus. This is a great stud book for the the begining or intermeditate player. The 42 lessons cover most of what you need to play at the lower to middle limits and do so in a well written, and easy to digest manner.

Seven Card Stud Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, and Ray Zee, $29.95, 2+2 Publishing. Ray Zee joins with the aforementioned Sklansky and Malmuth to produce the seven-card stud equivalent of the duo's Hold'em opus. The 21st Century Editon of this work has just been published and it contains most everything anyone would need to know to play this game at essentially all limits.

Super System by Doyle Brunson, $50.00, B&G Publishing. Doyle is a member of the Hall of Fame of Poker and has won multiple World Series of Poker championships. This big book is quite dated, and mostly focuses on no-limit poker. Never-the-less it belongs in your library as there is lots to learn from it. (To make this book more relevant, Mike Caro has published a Guide to Super System which is highly recommended as a companion.)

The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky, $29.95, 2+2 Publishing. Sklansky is probably the most original thinker on poker writing today. This book has been called (by its publisher and others) the best book ever written on poker. It doesn't tell you how to play any particular game of poker, but it is full of concepts that will make you a much better player if you take the time to study them.

Winning Low-Limit Hold'em by Lee Jones, $19.95, ConJelCo. (This book is published by a company in which I have a financial interest.) If you ask for any recommendations on Hold'em books on the Internet newsgroup >rec.gambling.poker Lee's book will invariably be near the top of most every list. This is one of the best written books on low-limit (no fold'em) hold'em and it likely will improve your game.

There are other books I often recommend that I have elected to not include in the basic list above. Again, in alphabetical order, they include:

Improve Your Poker by Bob Ciaffone, $20.00, Bob Ciaffone.

More Hold'em Excellence by Lou Krieger, $19.95, ConJelCo.

Real Poker: the Cooke Collection by Roy Cooke, $19.95, MCU.

You may also want to consider adding software to your poker library. I will someday do a software column, but in the meantime I most highly recommend the Turbo series (Turbo Texas Hold'em and Turbo Seven-Card Stud among others) by Wilson Software for serious practice.

Stud & Hold'em Poker for Windows is published by my company, ConJelCo, and it is a good practice tool as well, but not as good (in my opinion) as the Turbo software. For pure fun, I cannot recommend the World Series of Poker Deluxe Casino Pak (Windows, Macintosh) highly enough.

Best wishes to all of my readers for a happy holiday season!