I'm fairly new to hold'em, and I'm looking to improve. I'm not too
terrible; my average game is with 3-4 friends, dollar raise at most, $2 on
the last round, and I'm coming out about even, maybe a little down.

I picked up a copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players, and I'm slowly
working my way through it. However, it seems to be very targeted towards
casino/tournament style play, not more informal home games.

My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my situation? I
doubt I'm ever going to be a professional player, and somewhat doubt I'll
play serious online or casino poker. I'm good with the mathematical side,
so I'd like to at least end on the positive side. I like reading RGP,
once you sort out the readable stuff. Thanks.

- John

On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 04:10:42 GMT, Linda K Sherman <dimsbam@pwy.com>
wrote:

>John Vinyard wrote:
>> I'm fairly new to hold'em, and I'm looking to improve. I'm not too
>> terrible; my average game is with 3-4 friends, dollar raise at
most, $2 on
>> the last round, and I'm coming out about even, maybe a little down.
>>
>> I picked up a copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players, and I'm
slowly
>> working my way through it. However, it seems to be very targeted
towards
>> casino/tournament style play, not more informal home games.
>>
>> My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my
situation?
>
>Poker for Dummies.
>

That's a terrible book for home games.

That's the book that says wild card games are all luck.



Gary Carson

On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 05:49:01 GMT, Ray Trautman <ray@squidly.net>
wrote:

>On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 17:42:39 -0700, "John Vinyard"
><jvinyard@stanford.edu> wrote:
>
>>I'm fairly new to hold'em, and I'm looking to improve. I'm not too
>>terrible; my average game is with 3-4 friends, dollar raise at most,
$2 on
>>the last round, and I'm coming out about even, maybe a little down.
>>
>>I picked up a copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players, and I'm
slowly
>>working my way through it. However, it seems to be very targeted
towards
>>casino/tournament style play, not more informal home games.
>>
>>My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my
situation? I
>>doubt I'm ever going to be a professional player, and somewhat doubt
I'll
>>play serious online or casino poker. I'm good with the mathematical
side,
>>so I'd like to at least end on the positive side. I like reading
RGP,
>>once you sort out the readable stuff. Thanks.
>>
>> - John
>>
>
>John,
>
>The book you need is Winning Low Limit Hold'em by Lee Jones.
>

That's a good book, but he's playing a game that's 4-5 handed. That's
not a good choice for a short handed home game.

Any holdem book is going to work pretty much as well as any other --
but none of them really address your situation well.

He doesn't cover holdem, but the best book for short-handed home games
is at http://www.neo-tech.com/poker/ it's free online.

For holdem, I'd just go for price. Just any general book on holdem
should work just about as well as any other for you. The ones
published by mainstream publishers, and priced more reasonably than
books by the specialty publishers are the ones by Ken Warren, Andy
Nelson, or me, Gary Carson. None of them really address the short
handed game you play in.

Combine the ideas from the Frank Wallace book (the one online) and any
holdem book.

The Sklansky Theory of Poker book suggested by someone else would be a
good supplement.


Gary Carson

Gary Carson wrote:
> On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 04:10:42 GMT, Linda K Sherman <dimsbam@pwy.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>>John Vinyard wrote:
>>
>>>I'm fairly new to hold'em, and I'm looking to improve. I'm not too
>>>terrible; my average game is with 3-4 friends, dollar raise at
>>
> most, $2 on
>
>>>the last round, and I'm coming out about even, maybe a little down.
>>>
>>>I picked up a copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players, and I'm
>>
> slowly
>
>>>working my way through it. However, it seems to be very targeted
>>
> towards
>
>>>casino/tournament style play, not more informal home games.
>>>
>>>My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my
>>
> situation?
>
>>Poker for Dummies.
>>
>
>
> That's a terrible book for home games.
>
> That's the book that says wild card games are all luck.

I didn't realize Hold'em was played with wild cards.

There are errors in every poker book ever written, including yours.

Lin

On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 08:39:05 GMT, Linda K Sherman <dimsbam@pwy.com>
wrote:

>>>>My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my
>>>
>> situation?
>>
>>>Poker for Dummies.
>>>
>>
>>
>> That's a terrible book for home games.
>>
>> That's the book that says wild card games are all luck.
>
>I didn't realize Hold'em was played with wild cards.
>
>There are errors in every poker book ever written, including yours.
>

There's no reason you can't play hold'em with wild cards. In fact, in
a home game he should be lobbying for adding wild cards. They're
short-handed and he could argue that wild cards would make more good
hands. But, he's not going to learn that from anything written by
someone who's understanding of poker is so limited that he doesn't
understand wild cards.

And, I don't think my book is particularly appropriate for his
situation either, but not because it has fundemental conceptual
errors.

If Poker for Dummies was about holdem the recommendation wouldn't be
so bad. But, it's not, it's a general poker book. If he's going to
read a general poker book he'd be better off with one that aims at
home games -- and one that doesn't have a fundemental conceptual error
that's very relevant for home games.

Poker: A Guarenteed Income for Life is such a book (and it's at a very
good price). After that pretty much any holdem book will do the job.
Gary Carson

John Vinyard wrote:
> I'm fairly new to hold'em, and I'm looking to improve. I'm not too
> terrible; my average game is with 3-4 friends, dollar raise at most,
> $2 on the last round, and I'm coming out about even, maybe a little
> down.
>
> I picked up a copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players, and I'm
> slowly working my way through it. However, it seems to be very
> targeted towards casino/tournament style play, not more informal home
> games.
>
> My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my situation?
> I doubt I'm ever going to be a professional player, and somewhat
> doubt I'll play serious online or casino poker. I'm good with the
> mathematical side, so I'd like to at least end on the positive side.
> I like reading RGP, once you sort out the readable stuff. Thanks.
>
> - John

It's not specific to Holdem, but check out Thursday Night Poker by Peter
O. Steiner. It covers most of the topics covered by the
frequently-recommended authors, but is more geared toward home games.
I think poker strategy advice is sort of like golf tips... there are
thousands of ways to say the same thing, but you just have to find the
ones that click with you. I didn't care much for Sklanskys writing
style, but I found Thursday Night Poker (also Serious Poker by Daniel
Kimberg) clicked well with me. It does a great job of covering all the
fundamentals like the "advanced" books, but in a style that adapts
easily to home games.
I never see the above mentioned books recommended here, but those two
books have been the best ones for me so far, and I've read most of the
popular ones.
--
Brian the Lurker

Linda K Sherman <dimsbam@pwy.com> wrote
> I didn't realize Hold'em was played with wild cards.

About 20 years ago I played in a pot limit holdem home game where the
joker was included.I remember it well because I went broke when I made
a move at the pot with Joker-Qc and a straight flush draw on the
flop.Missed everything.

jarrett40

I'll add something else...

I just recieved Gary Carson's book "The Complete Book of Hold'em
Poker" last night and spent an hour browsing through it. I would
recommend this book also as it seems to cover a lot of poker ground
under one cover. I don't know if it's a very good book for advanced
Hold'em players as my first impression was that it was more of a
"getting started" book. I may change my mind once I get through the
whole book.

Ray Trautman

My book doesn't do a good job of addressing the short-handed situation
with the same players every time.

On 8 Aug 2003 12:08:46 -0700, trautman@lewiston.com (Ray Trautman)
wrote:

>I'll add something else...
>
>I just recieved Gary Carson's book "The Complete Book of Hold'em
>Poker" last night and spent an hour browsing through it. I would
>recommend this book also as it seems to cover a lot of poker ground
>under one cover. I don't know if it's a very good book for advanced
>Hold'em players as my first impression was that it was more of a
>"getting started" book. I may change my mind once I get through the
>whole book.
>
>Ray Trautman

Gary Carson

In article <i_PYa.65449$ib2.16796723@twister.neo.rr.com>,
"Brian" <removethispartbjeter@neo.rr.com> wrote:

> John Vinyard wrote:
> > I'm fairly new to hold'em, and I'm looking to improve. I'm not too
> > terrible; my average game is with 3-4 friends, dollar raise at most,
> > $2 on the last round, and I'm coming out about even, maybe a little
> > down.
> >
> > I picked up a copy of Hold'em Poker For Advanced Players, and I'm
> > slowly working my way through it. However, it seems to be very
> > targeted towards casino/tournament style play, not more informal home
> > games.
> >
> > My question is, could anyone reccommend a good book for my situation?
> > I doubt I'm ever going to be a professional player, and somewhat
> > doubt I'll play serious online or casino poker. I'm good with the
> > mathematical side, so I'd like to at least end on the positive side.
> > I like reading RGP, once you sort out the readable stuff. Thanks.
> >
> > - John
>
> It's not specific to Holdem, but check out Thursday Night Poker by Peter
> O. Steiner. It covers most of the topics covered by the
> frequently-recommended authors, but is more geared toward home games.
> I think poker strategy advice is sort of like golf tips... there are
> thousands of ways to say the same thing, but you just have to find the
> ones that click with you. I didn't care much for Sklanskys writing
> style, but I found Thursday Night Poker (also Serious Poker by Daniel
> Kimberg) clicked well with me. It does a great job of covering all the
> fundamentals like the "advanced" books, but in a style that adapts
> easily to home games.
> I never see the above mentioned books recommended here, but those two
> books have been the best ones for me so far, and I've read most of the
> popular ones.

These two books are dogs.