Going By The Book

I have lost count of the number of people who have been asking me what poker books they should be reading and feel that this would make for an interesting blog today. Bad session in the 25-50 last night but I will leave that as I am still looking to ease the pain.

 I have some strong opinions on most poker books and I suppose that I had better be careful here what books I slander because I do not want to upset anyone or get into a war so I will choose my words very carefully.

Books by sheer definition become less affective the more circulated they become and the strategies become too widely known. What you cannot do is assume that just because you have read a few poker books that this somehow entitles you to win at the tables.

The greatest skill I feel to utilising the information that you derive from books is to identify where the information in them can be used, against who, when and for how long and how much money. That is an awful lot of “ifs” but the bottom line is that books are a constant in what is an ever changing poker world.

The wording of a book cannot be changed once it is written and yet the environment that it describes is like a forever changing sand dune. This makes many of the older books much less effective in todays poker world.

There is really no substitute for hard work unless you happen to know a decent coach. This is why I am not going to recommend any specific books even though I have read hundreds. I think that you need to read as much as what you can get your hands on because sometimes you need to unlearn before you can learn.

To get a rounded poker education then books should only be one facet of your learning. Go on forums, read magazines, watch poker on TV, go on websites, get coaching etc etc. It is a long road but the journey is worth it.

catch you later

The Dean