Poker Books and Reviews

If you want to prove you are a good poker player, you don’t have to battle the best. Nobody cares who you bluffed or who made a bad call against you. You just have to get the money … not the story of how you got it … and, according to the author; you prefer fish, donkeys, and donors as your opponents. So it is that he takes off on a cross-country drive looking for players he outclasses. He hits the casinos, the underground clubs and the home games, sharing tables with the most inept gamblers America has to offer. And now he writes about the trip. But this isn’t just about hustling. He thought he could beat the very best and decided to take his hard-earned bankroll to the high-stakes games. How did he do?
Read Full Review of 'Hunting Fish'

Berman, a one-of-a-kind combination of high-stakes poker maverick and entrepreneurial tycoon, recounts the amazing tale of how he revolutionized and revived the game of poker and transformed America's culture in the process. The author tells all about the World Poker Tour, and his life. Along the way he reveals the thirteen secrets of being a successful businessman, the six ways poker players self-destruct, the seven essential principles of winning at poker, and eight steps to a more satisfying life. Filled with both wit and wisdom and including an foreword by Donald Trump, this is an interesting look at the side of poker, gambling and big business seldom seen except by those on the inside.
Read Full Review of 'I'm All In'

One of the more respected writers of this generation, Ciaffone's material, now compiled under one cover, has previously appeared in a variety of publications. Here, he helps sharpen the skills of beginners and experienced players in ten different areas, including general concepts like beating a loose game, and tight/loose play. He moves to gambling skills like the mental side, and money management; then to Reading Opponents, including tells and using your eyes. A vital section on Deception and Bluffing is followed by incisive advice on Hold'em including raising and missing.
Read Full Review of 'Improve Your Poker'

At this very moment, thousands of poker lovers are playing Cash Games, a non-tournament style version of Texas Hold 'Em, in casinos, home games, and online. In this follow-up to New York Times best seller World Poker Tour: Shuffle Up and Deal, poker professional Antonio Esfandiari provides the next level of poker strategies and insights for players of Cash Games, the most commonly played version of Texas Hold 'Em. Other stars of the World Poker Tour, the most popular show in the history of the Travel Channel, offer their tips as well. This indispensable strategy guide is a must-have for any player who wants to know how to win his or her next hand and be 'in the money.'
Read Full Review of 'In the Money'

Vince Burgio is one of poker's most popular champions, not only because he is a great competitor but also because he represents the poker community with dignity and decorum. In this book, a compilation of his many columns, he often comments on the current crop of poker pros who look and act foolish for the camera and who, in his opinion, give the game a negative feeling. While that's the focus of many chapters, others cover a wide path of poker information. He talks about the people he's met, the games he's played, the fun side of poker that makes it his favorite pastime (next to playing with his grandchildren). Each segment appears to be light reading but the true poker fan will find nuggets of great interest between the lines.
Read Full Review of 'Inside Poker: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'

Vince Burgio is one of poker's most popular champions, not only because he is a great competitor but also because he represents the poker community with dignity and decorum. In this book, a compilation of his many columns, he often comments on the current crop of poker pros who look and act foolish for the camera and who, in his opinion, give the game a negative feeling. While that's the focus of many chapters, others cover a wide path of poker information. He talks about the people he's met, the games he's played, the fun side of poker that makes it his favorite pastime (next to playing with his grandchildren). Each segment appears to be light reading but the true poker fan will find nuggets of great interest between the lines.
Read Full Review of 'Inside Poker: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'

Playing Internet poker in real time against real opponents has become a popular pasttime. Whether for play money or real money, the game offers an environment of virtual tables, player icons, specialized computer alogorighms that randomly shuffle the cards so it seems as if you are in a real poker room. It's a world where you can find a game day or night, but it's poker with a dofference. This book tackles the differences between live action and Internet action and includes a CD with poker software plus 125 interactive hands to help prepare you for plaing Internet games.
Read Full Review of 'Internet Poker'

Internet Texas Hold'em: Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro is a comprehensive overview of Texas Hold'em including general poker concepts such as probability and odds, bluffing, raising and check-raising. Various deceptive tactics are also discussed such as free cards, slowplaying, and inducing bluffs and calls. You'll learn the correct strategies for starting hand play as well as playing on the flop, turn, and river. You'll learn the intricacies of playing on the Internet and the differences in strategies between Internet and live play. Finally, you'll be able to practice all of these strategies on over 200 actual Internet hands.
Read Full Review of 'Internet Texas Hold'em'

In a follow-up to the best-selling Kill Phil this book blends real-time experience, poker math, and computational horsepower to create new concepts and advanced strategies never before seen in print for multi-table tournaments, sit-n-go’s, and satellites. Explains how to choose the right strategy for the right game, provides the proper tactics, and introduces new weapons into a tournament-poker-player’s arsenal. These include: fear and fold equity; equilibrium plays; bubble factors; endgame strategies; optimal heads-up play and more While Kill Phil, is 90% pre-flop strategy, this book goes all the way to clearly show know how to accumulate chips early, navigate through the middle stages, and perfect your play on the bubble and at the final table.
Read Full Review of 'Kill Everyone'

The Kill Phil strategy is designed to take advantage many feel is a weakness in no-limit hold'em tournaments -- the over-emphasis on the all-in move in the later stages. It's both instructive overall, by analyzing players and their styles and covers much territory often neglected or skimmed over by other books and theorists.
Read Full Review of 'Kill Phil'

In this book, a long-awaited follow-up to The Pro Poker Playbook, he explains the difference between being a good, effective poker player and being a great poker player. He follows that explanation with lessons on how to leave your inhibitions at the door, analyze and fix your own flaws honestly and gain confidence and then play some of the best poker of your life by completely changing your state of mind. High points include how to turn marginal hands into big winners, how to use other players' powerful images against them, how to read minds at the table, how to energize your game with self-awareness that winning poker requires
Read Full Review of 'Killer Poker'

This new book by an exciting new author, CalTech graduate Tony Guerrera, introduces mathematical analysis as a vital tool in winning at no-limit hold'em. Seven major sections offer understandable material on probability, permutations, and combinations. Tony shows how to conduct solid analysis of hands, hand distribution, expected value, and how to apply these findings. Another section looks at unpaired & paired flops, followed by winning with pocket pairs (including flopping a set or better, and playing a set against made known hands). One chapter discusses drawing hands includes playing draws from early and late positions. Shorthanded play is discussed. Packed with charts & explanation, Killer Poker by the Numbers is a goldmine of mathematical ideas for gaining an edge, without intimidating formulas. The 8-page index makes it easy to locate a specific topic.
Read Full Review of 'Killer Poker by the Numbers'

It's time to take your game to the next level! Texas Hold'em, the most popular form of poker in casinos and tournaments today, has been said to take five minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. Not anymore. In this revolutionary workbook, renowned poker journalist John Vorhaus shows you how to play smart, fearless hold'em, read other players' tells, exploit their flaws, and turn every hold'em session into a winning one. Vorhaus explores the specific strategies and tactics used by such hold'em archetypes as the Newbie, the Weakling, the Maniac, and the Rager, and includes an innovative diary system that reveals each type's thought processes, including his own.