Tournament Poker for Advanced Players
Tournament Poker' is one of the best reference books that a tournament player can own. While it does not go into as much detail as books like The Theory of Poker, it contains tons of information on a broad range of tournament topics. It also provides a very good "jumping off" place for every tournament player to begin or continue their thought process about the game.
Tournament Poker For Advanced Players by David Sklansky is geared towards good ring-game players, who are looking to add tournaments to their repertoire. Advanced tournament players can glean enough information from this book to warrant buying it, but the book is of invaluable importance to the poker player who simply haven't given tournament poker much thought before.
The biggest and most important concept in Sklansky's book is the "gap concept". Basically, he says that you need a better hand to call a bet than you need to make a bet. This rings so true, as it plays into an aggressive player's style. Many aggressive players just take for granted that their style of play works, and don't think about the rationalization behind their aggressive style. It is always important to understand why something works, and not just be content to do what you perceive works for you. By gaining a deeper understanding of poker in general, you will become a much more efficient tournament poker player.
Another solid section of the book is one that addresses game theory, especially as it relates to bluffing. Basically, Sklansky shows the mathematical formula behind maximizing your EV with bluffs. By putting your opponent on a hand, and by finding the odds that the pot is laying your opponent to call a bet, and then by only bluffing that exact percentage of the time, you are maximizing the EV of making that bet. Sklansky shows a very easy way to do this, by picking a range of cards (equal to the odds that the pot is laying the opponent) and then bluffing only when one of those pre-determined cards falls. This is a great tool for all tournament players, and works especially well in all limit tournaments.
This book, along with a multitude of others (Theory of Poker, Tao of Poker, etc.) are must haves. This brings up a very interesting point-one of the major things that separates the winning tournament poker players from the dominating tournament poker players. You must use poker books as a stepping off point, NOT as a final destination. If you only read these books, and then repeat the knowledge in route memorization, you aren't increasing your knowledge of tournament poker, and any advanced player will be able to crush you.
You must play tournaments consistently with an open mind, thinking proactively about the game and about your opponents. The concepts in this book are very important, but you shouldn't simply take them as fact and move on. You should learn them and try to apply them to your own game! Each individual has a different playing style that suits him/her. Some are more aggressive, some are tight. Use the tips, and adapt them to your personal game winning style.
Review by Aaron Bartley
Caro's Book of Tells
Mike Caro, the 'Mad Genius' of poker, is probably most well known for his Book Of Tells he put out more than 20 years ago. This 300-plus page book covers most of the common physical 'tells' players give off at the table. For the serious player, I feel this is another must-read.
The book covers the following sections of tells as broken down by Caro: tells from those who are unaware, tells from actors, some general tells, as well as a few other sections about this difficult-to-grasp art. The book is full of black-and-white images, all of which are telling of the age of the book. I wouldn't be surprised if someone wearing a 'Member's Only' jacket would have been considered fashionable at this time. While it's stood the test of time very well, I would sort of like to see an update to this classic (although it has nothing to do with the style of clothing-I feel that it's a little dated because so many people know this book so well).
That aside, there's much to be learned from this book. While a lot of these gestures and odd tells people give off will almost never be seen, the logic he has behind each tell is what you must acquire. You won't hardly ever see someone give off tells as obvious as the actors in these pictures, but again, all Caro is doing is getting you on the right track looking for oddities and strange things at the table.
If you can successfully decipher what each of these tells really means and remember it, then you will be much better off than those who haven't read it. Some people will intentionally give off false tells to those they believe have read this, so the counter-tells will have to be learned as well.
If you get one thing from this book, it should be the poker phrase that will never, ever be untrue: generally speaking, weak means strong, and strong means weak. If you can figure that much out, you're on your way to reading players like you can read this book.
Review by Jon Eaton