Poker books

General poker books

Big Deal
Anthony Holden

One of the classic poker books of all time. Tells the story of London Times deputy editor Tony Holden who takes a year's sabbatical to become a professional poker player. Great insights into the game and a huge influence on a generation of professional poker players.

The Biggest Game In Town
Al Alvarez

Since its first publication twenty years ago, The Biggest Game in Town has become a cult classic. Al Alvarez delves into the murky and compelling world of high-stakes Vegas poker, where 'the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing'. Deftly capturing the skewed psyches and peculiar rites of professional poker players who descend every year for the World Series of Poker, an exotic world is uncovered, a world that seems too eccentric, too amazing, too extravagant to be true.

The Hand I Played
David Spanier

Really interesting idea. Rather than just write a straight autobiography the author has chosen to interpret his life through one of his abiding fascinations, poker. Loads of interesting stuff about how poker is used in the wider world, in films, books and politics, (Nixon and Watergate was a poker game!). Also smaller more intimate stuff. How the author met, through poker all sorts of people from the infamous Lord Lucan to Hollywood actor Matt Damon. A couple of the chapters are quite technical about why poker is such a game of skill, not luck. Overall though this was a really interesting read. Apart from anything else it has loads of fantastic tips and skills for winning in poker games and life in general.

Strategy poker books

Super/System
Doyle Brunson

Considered by pros the BEST POKER BOOK EVER WRITTEN. This is the classic book on every major no-limit game played today and is considered by the pros to be one of the best books ever written on poker! Jam-packed with advanced strategies, theories, tactics and money-making techniques - no serious poker player can afford to be without this essential book! For the first time ever in paperback edition, Super System is packed with 608 pages of hard-hitting information and including fifty pages of the most precise poker statistics ever published, this is truly a must-buy for aspiring pros. Super System features chapters written by game's superstars, the best theorists and the best poker players in the world, such as Dave Sklansky, Mike Caro, Chip Reese, Bobby Baldwin and Doyle Brunson. Three world champions and two master theorists cover the essential strategies and advanced play in their specialties and provide no-nonsense winning advice on making money at the tables. These poker superstars cover the important money games in depth: You'll learn 7-card stud, draw poker, lowball, 7-card low stud (razz), high-low split (cards speak), high-low declare, and the most popular game today, hold'em (limit and no-limit). The important winning concepts and strategies are clearly outlined and explained so that you'll become a big money winner. Serious poker players must have this book. This is mandatory reading for aspiring poker pros, tournament players or those ready to play no-limit and is ideal for players moving to higher stakes games. This is the best poker book every written - period - acknowledged by pros and knowledgeable players alike as the classic book on every major no-limit game played today. Absolutely indispensable reading for any player.

The Book of Tells
Mike Caro

Mike Caro's classic book is now revised and back in print! This long-awaited brand new edition by the Mad Genius of Poker takes a detailed look at the art and science of tells, the physical giveaways by players on their hands. Featuring photos of poker players in action along with Caro's explanations about when players are bluffing and when they're not, these powerful eye-opening ideas can give you the decisive edge at the table! This invaluable book should be in every player's library! The powerful and groundbreaking book on the art and science of tells, the body language of poker, shows how players can use their opponents' gestures, words, and body language to win all their money!

Player autobiograhies and biographies

Amarillo Slim - In A Land Full of Fat People
Amarillo Slim Preston with Greg Deakin

Thomas Austin Preston. Six foot four, skinny as a rake. He's played poker with two US presidents - and drug lord Pablo Escobar; made a million dollars by the age of nineteen; and driven a golf ball a mile. Thomas Austin Preston - who is he? The world knows him better as the greatest gambler of all time: Amarillo Slim. Raised in Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo Slim has lived the most daring, exciting and profitable life of any man alive. Sent overseas just after World War II to give billiards exhibitions for the US army, he ended up running the biggest black-market operation in Europe. Back home, he returned to his first love, cards, and won the World Series of poker in 1972. Now a living legend and member of four Halls of Fame, he's been celebrated in songs and movies, and his picture hangs in City Hall, Las Vegas. Because, most of all, Slim's a man who loves to gamble. He'll bet on anything - if the price is right. He's ridden a camel thourgh the fanciest casino in Marrakesh and beaten Evel Knieval at golf (with a hammer), but that was just the small stuff. In his finest hour, he took on the Chinese table tennis champion at his own game. Slim, of course, got to choose the bats.