The recent popularity of online poker, particularly the variant known as Texas Hold'em, has stimulated the publication of numerous books aimed at players wanting to learn to play or improve their game. A few of these books are reviewed on this page.
On other pages you can read about poker in general. There are reviews of on-line poker rooms and pages on poker software, the history of poker, the rules of poker and its many variants, the betting process, the rank of poker hands and sources of poker equipment.
Lee Jones gives an excellent account of how to win at low stakes limit holdem. Ideally suited for inexperienced players this book might also transform the game of some experienced players who might not think they need it.
The book gives a detailed yet straightforward account of how to play various hands and handle basic situations; the advice is very clear and easy to follow. The first 60 pages give the reader detailed, hand by hand instructions on how to play pre-flop holdings. It's not possible to give full instructions for every hand after the flop, but he successfully breaks down the possibilities into manageable chunks. Throughout, the focus is on fundamentals such as your position, the pot size, and your cards. Simple methods, such as how to play top pair with top kicker on the flop, are given as well as advice on more difficult situations such as what to do with two overcards on the flop, or when to call with an inside straight draw. No time is spent discussing tells or on how to judge whether your opponent is bluffing. However, on the internet, tells are a minority concern and understanding these considerations is not necessary to be a winning player.
Jones sets out to give his audience the information they need to win at low stakes limit holdem, at which I think he succeeds. As the standard of poker on the internet is very poor at these tables this information will enable players to make money at many $2-4 tables and almost all $0.5-1 tables. I am told that the standard is similarly poor in American, particularly Californian, casinos; this book may well be all that is required to make money there as well. Of course, a little experience will always be required before you can properly execute any decent poker strategy, but with this book and some practice I think most players can start to win.
This book covers the early stages of a no limit Texas hold'em tournament. The book begins with 60 pages of introductory material covering hold'em tournament rules and broad strategy, then the focus shifts rapidly to a detailed analysis of play using a variety of scenarios as examples; these take up the remaining 300 pages. I found the advice in this book very convincing and enjoyable to read.
The main part of the book consists of lessons followed by example hands. The lessons describe concepts, primarily using situations from professional tournaments, while the example hands are used as problems to train the reader in thinking through the strategies proposed. These problems are excellent: each hand is well described and between them they cover a wide range of ideas and situations. Harrington makes sure to detail the tournament type, stack sizes of all players and observed playing styles in previous hands. Following each problem a recommended course of action is outlined and justified; the authors take a range of factors into account and always pinpoint the key features of the hand.
The level of the advice in this book is advanced; it will not be easy to put the advice here into practice properly without effort and experience. I think it would be a mistake to take the, often aggressive, approaches suggested here too far against the weak, generally loose passive, players often found on the internet. On small stakes internet tables, tight and straightforward play is probably the most reliable.
This book sets out a detailed set of rules for poker. It is not intended for beginners, and it does not provide instruction on how to play. Drawing on their considerable experience the authors systematically discuss every stage of a poker game, highlighting situations that can give rise to argument and recommending solutions. This is not a book that anyone is likely to read from cover to cover. It is primarily a reference book where one can find advice on particular topics, and for this purpose it has a fairly good index. Nevertheless the style is readable and far from dry, and players who browse through the book will find many useful examples and interesting anecdotes from actual poker events.
The first part of the book deals with "Responsibilities and Etiquette". This includes the general conduct of a game, how to allocate seats and tables, buying and selling chips, joining and leaving games, issues of player behaviour and the responsibilities of the dealer and floor manager. The second part "Structures of Play" covers the cards, deal, betting structures and hand ranking. The third part "Rules of the Games" goes into the specifics of the variants most often played in casinos: Texas Hold'em, Seven and Five Card Stud, Omaha, Draw Poker and Lowball. Finally the "Tournaments" section indicates how tournament rules differ from those used in cash games.
Although the title refers to "every game" the emphasis is very much on formal poker as played in casinos and public card rooms. Home poker players may well disagree with some of the rules given, and will not find any advice here on the more colourful poker variants that are popular in dealer's choice games. Such players may prefer the approach in Stewart Wolpin's book, reviewed below.
This book provides a thorough and entertaining introduction to home poker, which would be useful both for beginners and for regular players who would like to deepen their knowledge of the game and extend their repertoire of variants.
The first section of the book, on basics, explains the principles of poker and gives advice on how to organise a game. The author does not just explain the mechanics of poker, but also makes an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere and culture of a typical small stakes home poker game, in which a group of friends meet regularly and play primarily for fun rather than for profit.
The second and largest section of the book is devoted to "the games". The overall game is of course "dealer's choice", in which each dealer in turn chooses what variant will be played for that deal only. The author introduces a large number of popular variants, by my count around fifty, but considerably more if you include the options within each variant. These are organised according to type: five card stud, seven card stud, draw games, community card games and guts, and there are two subsections "poker by the numbers" and "they only call it poker" containing some non-poker card games that are often allowed as options in dealer's choice poker.
Most of the variants come with some useful advice on how to play them and what sort of hand is likely to win; also with the author's opinion of why they are interesting and what kind of player they might appeal to, and often with an example deal, going through the betting decisions of the players and the reasons for them.
Finally there is a short by useful third section consisting of a glossary of poker terms as used in home games and an index.