Our favorite poker books

By Team Full Tilt

In the past months, many of our players have asked us suggestions for reading in order to know what are the books that offer the best advice on poker. Being ourselves curious response, we asked the question to our pros. Here are the answers they have given to us, with a few classics and a few surprises.

All of our pros have books they love, even though all do not believe that it is essential to read on poker theory to improve their game. In fact, many of our pros expressed the following sentiment:

We are not admirers of poker books. Once you have the base, is there something that you can read to radically improve your game? Probably not. If there were a magic recipe to win every hand, is that we would continue to play the way we play? The best teacher is experience. Choose a style of play and a Variant that goes with your profile and are actively studying your game, see what going and not going with you and no book can match all the profit that a self-assessment of his game just bring.

But our pros have still some reading suggestions you might want to add to your personal library.

Chris Ferguson believes that Hold ' em for the Advanced Player and Theory of Poker by David Sklansky are probably the two best books on the market. Also, Super System by Doyle Brunson and Mike Caro Book of Tells are both books that have helped his game.

Steve Brecher is agree with Jesus on the Sklansky book, Theory of Poker for his idea on the semi-bluff and its analysis on the concepts of poker odds. Sklansky Hold ' em for the Advanced Player and the rest of its advanced readings are also solid reads.

Brecher also like the chapter of Doyle Brunson on No-Limit Hold ' em in his Super System where it deals with implied odds (Word Sklansky and not Brunson)...

Erik Seidel says that he has read many books on poker, but that his favorite of all is The Biggest Game in Town of Al Alvarez.

Being a friend of Phil Gordon, Perry Friedman think that the Little Green Book is a very good book to instruct people how to think the game. It adds also two books of Dan Harrington for the advice it offers for tournament play.

When it comes to books of "non-strategie" the choice of the pros is also that varied their style on a poker table.

Howard Lederer says: I recently started reading books on Zen Buddhism. Zen has always been associated fine arts, to the floral arrangement in calligraphy as well as the art of making tea. But it is also the art of handling swords. By reading these books and in particular Zen in the Art of Archery, I managed to understand the mastery of an art form. And poker is very definitely an art form."

Others burst titles include Positively Fifth Street by James McManus, The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King by Michael Craig and Tales from the Tiltboys by Tiltboys. They also encourage you to read the biography of Stu Ungar written by Nolan Dalla, One of a Kind.

It is not risky to say that the above books will bring you a better understanding of the game making you see several strategies, game prospects and personal traits that can help you to become a winning player. So good reading and good luck at the tables.