What do you all think are the best poker books, or the books that helped you the most when you started playing the game?

If I had to create a Top-List they would be:

Theory of Poker
The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler
Kill Phil
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker vol 1 & 2
No Limits by Chris Wallace
Treat Your Poker like a Business by Dusty Schmidt

Pro NL Holdem Volume I is a must for anyone. it blows away any other book for Cash game play


I may write a review for that one

Originally Posted by poker player 100

Pro NL Holdem Volume I is a must for anyone. it blows away any other book for Cash game play bwin bonus

I may write a review for that one

I have finished it recently. A must-read for every poker player.

Super System and Super System II

A lot of people tend to downgrade the Super System books nowadays as being out of date but I think they still contain solid advice and hold some relevance if for no other reason than the fact many new players continue to read them and play by the strategy recommended in them so it helps to know what your opponent is thinking. But, far and away, I'd say Sklansky's "Theory of Poker" is the best thing out there. Not much advice for specific games but to understand poker as a whole, you must read it if you want to be a high-level player. His books with Malmuth, "Hold-Em Poker for Advanced Players" and "Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players" are excellent in addressing those games (and for poker fiction, I'd toss in my own novel, "Pascal's Wager" LOL).

Well played Mark, you just sold a kindle edition of it to me

Theory is still a really good book, but I would caution people that it is out of date somewhat. But you are 100% right that it gives you the absolute best intro into thinking like a poker player out there.

I really don't want to get in a debate with Steve on this one again....

The hands down best poker book ever written is The Professor, The Banker and The Suicide King

AINEC

It's ok, I went strategy in this post, for poker books in general I'd also include Jasep's choice (even though he dosn't like James McManus' books), as well as the following:

Positively Fifth Street
Cowboys Full
One of a Kind
Biggest Game in Town
Education of a Poker Player
Titanic Thompson the man who bet on everythnig
Fast Company

Originally Posted by Steve Ruddock

It's ok, I went strategy in this post, for poker books in general I'd also include Jasep's choice (even though he dosn't like James McManus' books), as well as the following:

Positively Fifth Street
Cowboys Full
One of a Kind
Biggest Game in Town
Education of a Poker Player
Titanic Thompson the man who bet on everythnig
Fast Company

McManus is way to big a fan of page filler, he's an overrated hack IMO....

also add,

Check Raising the Devil, which was good, despite a horrible title. I also enjoyed the Richard Roeper book but it didn't have a ton of poker in it.

I am not a fan of strategy books! I can read 12 chapters in a strategy book and retain 1/4 of each or i can spend a few hours watching 12 blue fire poker videos and know the stuff inside and out..

Some Terrible books:

Ghosts at the Table
Hats and Sunglasses
Hellmuth/Navarro Tell Book
Caro's books (pretty much all of them)

Also, the only Sklansky book I really enjoyed was DUCY

Originally Posted by Jasep

I am not a fan of strategy books! I can read 12 chapters in a strategy book and retain 1/4 of each or i can spend a few hours watching 12 blue fire poker videos and know the stuff inside and out.

Besides when I knew nothing about poker, I've never learned a single thing from a poker strategy book. But they do help in explaiinng concepts more clearly (some do anyway) and make it easier to breakdown different concepts intelligently. But I totally agree that if I wanted to learn something BlueFire (or some other training sites) vids are far better.