The 10 books every poker player should read Part 3

There are plenty of specialized poker books a poker player could read that will improve one specific part of their game. Whether it’s a strategy book like Chris “Fox” Wallace’s No Limits, Lee Nelson et al. Kill Phil series, or Rolf Slotboom’s Secrets of PLO, or if it’s a psychology book like Jared Tendler’s Inside the Poker Mind or Paul Hoppe’s Way of the Poker Warrior (all excellent books I might add) these books are helpful to certain players or for certain leaks.

However, in terms of becoming a well-rounded poker player there are certain books a player can read that will help them regardless of what stakes, formats, or poker games they play. Some of these books I’m about to list were written for poker players, by poker players, while some of them are simply applicable to the game of poker.

So in no particular order here are the final four entries on the list:

Theory of Poker, by David Sklansky

Still one of the best introductions to the basic strategies of the game, The Theory of Poker was once considered advanced thinking, but in today’s poker world virtually every player with any experience understands these concepts and has taken them a step further.

This book is the first poker book a person should read, and it’s also a good reference book from time to time. One word of warning: Some of the theories are outdated and have been improved upon, so use Theory of Poker as more of a springboard to more specific and newer books.

Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker vol. 1 & 2, by Jonathan Little

This is the only purely strategic book on this list, but there is a reason for this. In Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker Jonathan Little not only gives out a lot of useful tournament strategy, but provides quality “in-game” examples of the decision-making process in poker. Because of this added benefit these books will show players what kind of information is important in the heat of the moment, and what information is better left to study-time.

The Mathematics of Poker, by Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman

This is THE best poker book when it comes to dealing strictly with the math of the game. With a lot of math and a heavy dose of poker specific Game Theory this book is a very tough and boring read, but your poker will game will thank you for it in the long-run.

Treat your Poker like a Business, by Dusty Schmidt

Schmidt’s book was the first of its kind, not only because it was a self-published, mass-market eBook (you can also get it in paperback form) but it was the first book of its kind to tackle the subject of real leaks. Schmidt lays out a mantra that few people will be able to follow completely, but every player will benefit from -even if they only plug one or two of the leaks discussed in the book.

So, before you degen all of your money off, or let a tremendous amount of profit go down the drain because of multiple tiny, seemingly insignificant, leaks; you definitely need to pick-up this book.

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