What books are currently applicable to todays poker games?

UnderDawg5501

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I've been looking around, watching more than my share of youtube videos and reading as much as I can online. Learning is always going to be an ongoing enterprise.

There are tons of books available out in the world, some reasonably priced, some not so reasonable. The question I have is what books are still relevant to games today? Is something written 5, 10, 20 years ago of any value other than to restate the same mantra Of "Position, Position, Position" Or "Learn your opponents"? Have charts changed significantly in the last while? Are solvers having some sort of impact that can be or is shown in a logical book format or does everyone have to purchase a solver and spend countless hours "solving" hands?

So, the question is "What books out there are relevant to todays game, cash or MTT?" Specifically, those you have studied and they have improved your game significantly.
 
rhoudini

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I believe that pre-flop theory was the most affected by the modern theory and solvers. In the "old days" we used to play much tighter than it's needed. Therefore, any preflop chart made 8 years ago or more will be so much different than GTO-based charts made nowadays. But of course, not everything changed. Taking your example mentioned, the importance of position and learning your opponents are so valid! The key principles quite stay the same. There were some changes in post-flop theory, of course (like understanding blockers, randomizing, etc.), but I think they were not as big as pre-flop.

No, you don't necessarily need a solver to study millions of hands, but having access to one can bring you many benefits. If you want to be a professional and compete in high stakes, you need to have one, because they show the correct way to play, you can't scape this reality. But a solver will have no benefit if you don't know the theory and principles behind, because you won't understand why it recommended some decision.

There are two authors today that you can't go wrong if you choose to read them:
1. Jonathan Little;
2. Dara O'Kearney and all the books of Poker Solved Series, but specially the book about satellites.

I don't know much about other authors.
 
nabmom

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@UnderDawg5501, I think this is a great question and suggest you pose it in our "Ask the Expert" threads in our Cash and our Tournament game sections of this forum. Then your question is going to be answered by certified pros in their fields of expertise.
 
AKQ

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@UnderDawg5501, I think this is a great question and suggest you pose it in our "Ask the Expert" threads in our Cash and our Tournament game sections of this forum. Then your question is going to be answered by certified pros in their fields of expertise.
Experts are awesome and I love them all


Here I am though on your thread , so no need to have to hear a book sell pitch
Poker has been an ever evolving game for the last 40+ years

The play to the player type
Is completely correct and still stands stronger than any strategy

But to do that properly you must understand that opponent type.

Learning what a player types exploits are on paper mean little without understanding it deeper

By learning and practicing to play like each player type via gears or other methods

You can gain a level of the understanding of the game you just cannot get otherwise

Same with the variety of game variations
Each will have something to teach you in truly understanding poker as a whole

Abc beats nits
Exploits beat abc
Gto beats exploit and abc
Solvers made GTO evolve
Nueral Network Pluribus beat the Pros
limpin is pimpin is to destroy everything

Where to start and what to learn depends on you
But id love to help u in any way I can anytime
 
AKQ

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Phill hellmuths guide to limit holdem
 
AKQ

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Johnathan Little is your best new age media option
Follow him on Twitter and YouTube
He does daily content
Mention Me in stream and he will hate or love you xD.
Poker coaching.com is by far the best for a serious player that wants to go pro
If you want to beat the Pros then keep visiting this site
Welcome to Cardschat
 
UnderDawg5501

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There are two authors today that you can't go wrong if you choose to read them:
1. Jonathan Little;
2. Dara O'Kearney and all the books of Poker Solved Series, but specially the book about satellites.
Johnathan Little is your best new age media option
Follow him on Twitter and YouTube
I have seen some of Littles media, I'll have another look at him, see if I can grab a book of his.

@UnderDawg5501, I think this is a great question and suggest you pose it in our "Ask the Expert" threads
I have posted before in other areas and they tend to get moved here because of the "Learning" aspect of the question. Besides, I want real people to give me their experiences with books, not have an expert try to sell their own book.. LOL

By learning and practicing to play like each player type via gears or other methods
What is the "Gears" method if I may ask?
 
AKQ

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I have seen some of Littles media, I'll have another look at him, see if I can grab a book of his.


I have posted before in other areas and they tend to get moved here because of the "Learning" aspect of the question. Besides, I want real people to give me their experiences with books, not have an expert try to sell their own book.. LOL


What is the "Gears" method if I may ask?
Gears could be thought of in a few different ways.
Tight aggro
Loose aggro
Tight Passive
Loose passive

You could start tight aggressive in a game
When the opportunity arises ie
You spot the Villains sb bb are easily stolen
Then switching gears to loose aggro would become +EV
If the villain sb bb is sticky and fights back
Then a tight passive or loose passive is gonna find a new EV edge+ in position with smaller pots that can make calldowns and keep the pot small against these tricky players that will play BB GTO
 
AKQ

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I started a debate club but it got removed completely. Geez thanks CC
I was even getting phil galfond to be a guest judge

In GTO we become looser towards the button

Similar to gears but very different
 
nabmom

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I have posted before in other areas and they tend to get moved here because of the "Learning" aspect of the question. Besides, I want real people to give me their experiences with books, not have an expert try to sell their own book.. LOL
I can appreciate what you're saying. I'd still consider posting within the existing Ask Me threads because posting in someone else's thread will not get moved. I honestly don't know if our pros have written books--but I can't believe they all have. And while we definitely are "real people" most of us are not long-term winning poker players. The pros likely are. Just something to think about.
 
MishkaZL

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Jared Tendler - The Mental Game of Poker.
This is a great book in which you will find a lot of valuable information for yourself. At least this book helped me a lot.
 
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