Best Poker Books: Top 10 Reads to Improve Your Game
Learning about the best poker books is a crucial part of any player’s development. From old classics to modern teachings,
Best Poker Books: Top 10 Reads to Improve Your Game
Learning about the best poker books is a crucial part of any player’s development. From old classics to modern teachings, developing strong fundamentals, creating your style, and perfecting your poker strategy are all things you can do by reading the best poker books out there. Putting new knowledge into practice at the poker felt feels great and wins you money, and it is best to take on board the words of wisdom from across the poker ages.
We’ve sourced 10 highly regarded poker books that span various levels of play and aspects of the game, from Game Theory Optimal (GTO) practices to live reading techniques, mental strength training to psychological tricks that will put your opponents to the sword.
1. The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
David Sklansky still commands a huge amount of respect in poker for penning arguably one of the best poker books on strategy, The Theory of Poker. Promising to turn any poker newbie into someone who thinks like a professional (even if they don’t play like one), The Theory of Poker focuses on all the areas of poker that you need to know before attempting to make money playing the game. It quite literally wrote the book on poker theory.
From exploiting key areas of weakness in players, such as pot odds, implied odds, and pot value, to building your own arsenal of skills like reading your opponents’ actions and optimizing your starting hand strategy, The Theory of Poker has influenced almost every other poker book published since.
- Overview: The Theory of Poker is a must-read for anyone who is serious about improving at poker. Published in 1999, the book dives into the fundamental concepts that apply to all poker variants, covering essential topics like pot odds, implied odds, expected value, and game theory.
- Why You Should Read It: It’s a comprehensive guide to poker strategy, providing a solid foundation for understanding poker as a whole.
2. Super/System: A Course in Power Poker by Doyle Brunson
Two decades before Sklansky’s essential poker foundation book was released, the two-time 1976 and 1977 WSOP Main Event winner Doyle Brunson – who once dodged winning a WSOP Main Event due to coverage potentially revealing how he played – wrote his own poker strategy bible, Super/System, subtitled ‘A Course in Power Poker’.
Built around the idea that exploiting other players is the biggest edge you can have, Brunson used his recent stardom from winning two WSOP Main Events to inspire poker’s first generation of players to improve and succeed. To a huge extent, Texas Dolly’s book is the most important poker book ever written because it became a blueprint for many poker authors: become successful at poker and sell books to explain how you did it.
Brunson continued to crush despite revealing many of his biggest secrets in the book, adapting and winning over and over until his passing in 2023 aged 89 years old.
- Overview: Written by one of the most legendary poker players of all time, Doyle Brunson, this book is packed with strategies for various poker games. It’s particularly famous for its insights into Texas Hold’em.
- Why Read It: An essential book for players who want to improve their skills and gain insights from a poker legend.
3. Harrington on Hold’em Series by Dan Harrington
At one time the definitive collection of poker books on No Limit Hold’em ever written, Dan Harrington, nicknamed ‘Action’, not only won the 1995 World Series of Poker Main Event but also reached many final tables around that time. Check out his monumental victory 30 years ago here:
Harrington’s series of three top poker books on the subject of playing tournament Hold’em were hugely popular at the time and still lay down the building blocks for anyone serious about making a profit at the most commonly played poker game.
- Overview: This three-book series focuses on tournament poker and is especially valuable for those who play Texas Hold’em in tournaments. Harrington offers both theoretical and practical advice on how to succeed in tournament play.
- Why Read It: Highly regarded by tournament players, the three-book series provides detailed strategy on everything from early-stage play to late-stage play and heads-up situations.
4. The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter
In recent years, the mental side of poker has become more pressing than ever before. To help players with this particular aspect of the game, Jared Tendler and Barry Carter address cognitive challenges by offering a variety of methods to strengthen your poker brain. Focusing on ways to protect yourself from mental burnout, this book is one of the best ever written on tilt control, confidence, motivation, and coping with variance, among other subjects.
- Overview: This book focuses on the psychological aspects of poker. It offers techniques for managing tilt, improving focus, and boosting mental toughness.
- Why Read It: Poker is as much about psychology as it is about cards, and this book helps you handle the mental challenges of the game.
5. Elements of Poker by Tommy Angelo
Tommy Angelo has a unique way of looking at the game of poker, decoding its many intricacies into bite-sized pieces of advice. Encouraging strong gameplay and a resolute poker mind, Angelo’s blend of mental advice and game strategy is top-notch. Refining your decision-making at the felt is a gradual process, and Angelo’s patient, well-considered approach really pays dividends in the long run.
With psychological tips, practical ways you can use the strategy to good effect in real-time, Elements of Poker focuses on improving you and that means the tournament results or cash game scores will take care of themselves.
- Overview: Focuses on the mental and emotional aspects of poker, providing strategies for staying calm, improving focus, and making better decisions.
- Why Read It: Offers a unique perspective on the psychology of poker, with practical tips to improve your mindset at the table.
6. The Psychology of Poker by Alan N. Schoonmaker
Taking a psychological deep dive, The Psychology of Poker examines the mind of a poker player for those willing to scratch beneath the surface. Alan N. Schoonmaker’s book has been hailed as “the only poker book exclusively dealing with how to play against different types of opponents.” One reader even claimed: “Reading this book has improved my game dramatically.”
Schoonmaker’s six previous poker books sold over 100,000 copies in English and have been translated into French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Russian and while he uses limit games to provide the examples – meaning you’ll need a basic grasp of that format to get the best out of it – The Psychology of Poker provides you with a superb blueprint for getting the better of your opponents no matter what the cards are.
- Overview: This book provides a deeper understanding of the psychological factors involved in poker, including how to read your opponents and how to manage your own behavior at the table.
- Why Read It: It’s great for anyone looking to understand how psychology plays a huge role in poker and how to use it to your advantage.
7. GTO Poker Simplified by Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter
GTO Poker Simplified offers a practical guide to understanding Game Theory Optimal (GTO) poker, breaking down complex concepts into easy-to-grasp strategies. It focuses on essential GTO principles like balancing your range, bet sizing, and adapting to opponent tendencies. Dara O’Kearney’s tournament expertise and Barry Carter’s clear explanations make this book ideal for intermediate players seeking actionable advice without heavy mathematical theory.
Dara O’Kearney, an experienced Irish poker professional with years and years of tournament know-how, uses clear examples and practical advice to teach these concepts alongside Barry Carter’s innate ability to make cutting edge poker knowledge accessible for intermediate players who are new to GTO poker.
- Overview: Explains GTO fundamentals, how to adjust strategies based on opponents, and provides real-world examples of GTO decision-making.
- Why Read It? A concise, approachable introduction to GTO, perfect for players looking to elevate their game with practical, hands-on strategies.
8. The Book of Poker Tells by Mike Caro
Mike Caro’s The Book of Poker Tells is a comprehensive guide to interpreting opponents’ non-verbal cues, such as body language, facial expressions, and betting patterns. Caro categorizes and analyzes these “tells,” offering practical advice on how to read opponents and control your own behavior to avoid revealing information.
- Overview: This book helps players spot tells in others and hide their own, using real-life examples, illustrations, and expert insights to refine strategy and decision-making.
- Why Read It: Mastering tells is a valuable skill that can give you an edge in any poker setting. Caro’s book provides tools to read opponents effectively while teaching techniques to conceal your own signals and maintain a competitive advantage.
9. The Math of Poker by Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman (2022)
Math has never been more important in poker and this book provides a superb baseline for many of the game’s decisions. A strong grounding in math is something that not every poker player has when they enter the game and this, one of poker’s best advanced strategy books, can help you cut out the math learning you might do in further education to use what needs to be applied at the poker table.
- Overview: A continuation of the mathematical approach to poker introduced in their earlier work. This book delves deeper into mathematical analysis, covering topics like expected value, variance, and optimal play.
- Why Read It: It’s for players who want to develop a deeper mathematical understanding of poker, particularly for serious cash game and tournament players.
10. The Endgame Poker Strategy by Jonathan Little
This recent book, only published in 2022, already has thousands of poker fans and is crucial in improving your end game play. If you don’t know what the end game in poker represents, then in Jonathan Little’s book, it means the final table stage, the top three, playing heads-up and winning poker events.
Little’s big book is full of poker tips to master those pivotal big-money stages of poker tournaments and after years of poker coaching, the American poker professional really provides great knowledge that is easy to soak up.
- Overview: This book focuses on the crucial final stages of tournament play. Little covers specific strategies for playing well when the blinds are high and stack sizes are more critical.
- Why Read It: Essential for tournament players who struggle in the late stages and want to learn how to navigate the endgame effectively.
In Conclusion
All 10 of these best poker books will give you a solid foundation for understanding the game, utilizing math and exploiting the psychological aspects of poker. From mastering tournament to some incredible cash game strategies, reading these poker books will make you better at the game, both in theory and practice. Happy reading and good luck at the tables!
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