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Jun
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Dec
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Jan
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 Total
Poker
by David Spanier
Winning at poker is not just analysis and clever tactics, not even
inspired bluff, although Total Poker examines in great depth what makes up
these various elements. Ultimately, luck works out the same for everyone, there
really is no such thing as good cards or bad cards; winning is a psychological
decision and up to each player. This is not a "how to" book. It is a work
celebrating the game of poker which places it skillfully within our cultural
milieu. It is more a cultural history than a manual for novices. However, I
believe that it should have value for all as there are a great many technical
works but precious few David Spaniers.
David Spanier book 'Total Poker'
Is a very interesting read. The book is packed with storys of former Presidents
poker games and he reviews poker movies such as 'The Sting' and many others.
This book is about poker culture and not really an instructional book on the
game but there are many things to be learnt from this book.
 Hardback 256 pages (August 1, 2002) 
£7.19  U$12.00
|
 One of a
Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, the World's Greatest Poker
Player
by Nolan Dalla, Peter Alson and Mike Sexton (Foreword)
Begun as an as-told-to by Dalla with Stuey
Ungar, this biography tells in painful detail the story of the poker and gin
superstar. Ungar is certainly a fascinating subject. He was prodigiously
dysfunctional, a manic sports bettor and cocaine addict who won an estimated
$30 million during his life, but who, after his death in 1998, needed a
collection from his friends to pay for his funeral.
Unfortunately, the
complexities of Ungar's personality aren't satisfactorily unraveled by the
authors. They offer stories from the likes of poker legend Doyle Brunson and
Mike Sexton, television's reigning poker guru, of Ungar's fabulous skills as a
card player and spectacular need for "action," but few insights into the source
of Ungar's self-destructive demons: he died prematurely at age 45 from the
ravages of drug abuse. Without any analysis, the repetitious account of years
of poker ups and downs, sports gambling losses, manic acts of generosity and
descents into drug abuse, as tragic as it is, becomes tedious. Still, without
distorting or downplaying Ungar's depredations, this is a heartfelt, respectful
and accepting biography.
Hardback 316 pages (June 30, 2005)
UK Amazon £11.29 U$16.50 from Amazon USA
|
 Doyle Brunson's Super System II
by Doyle Brunson
The original Super System, written and
edited by Doyle Brunson, the acknowledged "Babe Ruth of Poker," is hailed by
all players as the single most influential book ever written about the game of
poker. Now, Super System II, pushes the envelope further, expanding on the
original with new games, new strategies, and new experts. This is a brand new
book-not an update.
The who's who all-star studded lineup for SSII
includes Chip Reese, who Doyle recognizes as one of the top three players in
the world, if not the best; Johnny Chan, two-time WSOP champion and tied with
Doyle for the most world series bracelets with 9, Doyle Brunson himself,
two-time WSOP champion and the greatest poker player of all time, Lyle Berman,
founder of the World Poker Tour, the world's best Omaha player, and owner of
three WSOP gold bracelets; Bobby Baldwin, former WSOP champion and CEO of the
Bellagio; Mike Caro, the greatest poker theorist and best-selling author;
Jennifer Harmon, the best woman player in the history of poker and one of the
top 10 overall; Todd Brunson, winner of more than 20 tournaments and the future
successor to Doyle's throne; as well as Danny Niegro, and Barry Greenstein,.
Super System II covers the essential strategies and advanced play on the most
popular games played today-No limit Hold 'em, Limit Hold 'em, 7 Card Stud, 7
Card Stud 8 or Better, 7 Card Stud High-Low Split, No Limit Omaha, Omaha 8 or
Better, Limit Lowball Draw, High Draw Poker, Chinese Poker, Triple Draw
Lowball-as well as important sections on professional poker play and poker
psychology
Paperback 624 pages -
February 1, 2005
expected price
$23.07
U$23.07 from Amazon.com
|
 Bad Beats and Lucky Draws: Poker Strategies, Winning Hands, and
Stories from the Professional Poker Tour
by Phil Hellmuth
A nine-time World Champion of Poker
provides an entertaining and informative insider's look at the world of
high-stakes poker, with a step-by-step description of top poker matches,
practical advice on strategy and techniques, and tips on bluffing, betting, and
more. Original. 60,000 first printing.
Contributions by Doyle Brunson,
Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, Ted Forrest, Jennifer
Harman, Layne Flack, Men Nguyen, John Bonetti. The book is ultimately an
entertaining read and it should certainly be considered light
reading.
Paperback 256 pages -
November 11, 2004
expected price
£7.19 Buy
This Book U$10.17 for US residents
|
 Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em
by T. J.
Cloutier, Tom McEvoy
The book is
focused on both pot limit and no limit, and the advice is split evenly
throughout. It offers a ton of strategy, practice hands and different view
points (Cloutier and McEvoy play certain hands very differently). The writing
is such that you feel that TJ is sitting next to you, telling you how to play.
The book ends with tails from TJ, a collection of poker memories from his days
traveling from game to game throughout Texas.
This was a very Enjoyable
Book. It provides important and useful concepts about the game of Poker. It
will identify leaks in your game which can come from anywhere! Leaks can
originate from lack of aggression, overcalling raises, misreading opponents and
any other number of ways. So this book helps
Paperback 294 pages - April 1, 2004
expected price £16.06 Buy
This Book U$20.37 for US residents
|
 Read 'em
and Weep: A Bedside Poker Companion
by John Stravinsky
A lovely book that all players will enjoy,
no matter standard they are. Great extracts from a most complete list of top
authors from around the world. This book contains Anthony Holden, Jesse May,
John Updike and David Mamet all within pages of each other.
In all
there are 39 nine authors here and it reads swiftly and gets you hungry to
play. Fantastic value being a hardback at this price!! Entertaining,
enlightening, and essential, Read 'Em and Weep is a stacked deck of pure
poker-reading pleasure.
Hardcover - 1 January,
2004
expected price £9.59 Buy
This Book U$13.97 for US residents
|
 Poker on the Internet (second edition)
by Andrew Kinsman
Andrew Kinsman started his games
playing career with chess, early on reaching the position of International
Master. His has clearly moved on to better things and has done some serious
homework on this project.
This book covers all the aspects of poker on
the internet that the new or experienced player would want to find out. There
are good discussions of the worrying aspects of internet poker as well as site
reviews of the main operations world wide. He gives a good comparison of live
versus online play and talks quite a bit about how to organise your online play
so as to keep yourself in check.
Paperback - 208 pages (October 6, 2005) £9.09 U$13.57
|
 Play
Poker Like the Pros
by Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth, Jr., a seven-time World Champion of
Poker, presents his tournament-tested strategies to beat any type of player,
including: The Jackal (crazy and unpredictable) The Elephant (plays too many
hands) The Mouse (plays very conservatively) The Lion (skilled and tough to
beat)
Play Poker Like the Pros begins by laying out the rules and
set-up of each game and then moves on to easy-to-follow basic and advanced
strategies. Hellmuth teaches exactly which hands to play, when to bluff, when
to raise, and when to fold. In addition Hellmuth provides techniques for
reading other players and staying cool under pressure. There are also special
chapters on how to beat online poker games and an inside look at tournament
play.
Paperback - 1 May, 2003
expected price £7.69 Buy
This Book U$11.17 for US residents
|
 Pot-Limit & No-Limit Poker
by Stewart Reuben, Bob
Ciaffone
If you are even
considering playing big bet poker, you must read this book. If for no other
reason than almost all of your opponents will have read this book. Bob Ciaffone
has played professional level poker for many years. He has also written for
'Card Player' magazine for many years. Ciaffone and Rueben cover all the major
money games, including Holdem, Omaha, and 7stud.
OK. This is a tough
subject that these talented guys have a go at. Have it for the above reasons.
There is no end to your research on this subject.
Paperback - 1 March, 1999
expected price £12.02 Buy
This Book U$25.00 for US residents
|
 Big Deal
by Anthony Holden
To
some extent this is the seminal poker volume. Many before have tried but
relating the fluorescent light world of poker and gambling to the uninitiated
is not easy. It took Holden's classical background to weave narrative into the
green baize and create a work that could be read cover to cover. This is not to
say however that this is a true depiction of life in the poker world because it
is a special one. It is an honest vision of how a worldly wize man of words
spent his time playing poker at the top level. This is a great journal that you
can live through in a vicarious way.
If you do, you'll sometimes feel
luckier than you ought to.
Paperback - 384 pages (5 September, 2002) New Ed
UK Amazon expected price
£7.19 Buy
This Book U$$10.20 from Amazon USA
|
 Poker
Nation: A High-Stakes, Low-Life Adventure into the Heart of a Gambling Country
by Andy Bellin
Like any
other esoteric subculture, the world of poker has its own lexicon. But everyone
can read, with pleasure and even edification, his passages about matters of
broader interest: the "math-based logic" that, he persuasively argues, is at
the heart of poker; the loneliness that eats at "a lot of habitual poker
players," for whom "the game functions as a social life" and "is often the only
time when their verbal interaction is not limited to talking to their pet"; the
story of Benny Binion, a shady character "who would eventually become the
greatest influential force on poker's development into the
multibillion-dollar-a-year business that it is today"; and the pitfalls of
addiction. . There is a long and exceedingly interesting chapter about Dicky
Horvath, once an accountant and now a professional poker player, who talks
about the "total grind" of his life. Bellin himself does nothing to glamorize
the life: . "The luster of this life comes off pretty fast. The petty crooks
around the poker scene that appear so sexy at first glance are, in actuality,
nothing more than the low-level criminals they turn out to be. It's nice to
know a guy named Tips Tripoli, but once you find out that he got his moniker
because he's a pickpocket, and every time he bumps into you, you have to grab
for your wallet, it gets old very quickly. The same thing is true for all the
high rollers that hang around the poker club. From afar their lives seem
enviable, but after knowing them for about a week, you see them as nothing more
than the degenerate gamblers that they are. It usually takes about three months
for a woman to figure all that out about me, for the fascination with the
lifestyle to fade, and then the honeymoon ends and she walks out.
Paperback - 272 pages 1 Ed
(March 2002)
expected price £7.77
Buy
This Book U$16.77 for US residents
|
 The
Biggest Game in Town by A. Alvarez
Called “the best book ever written on poker” by players and
critics alike, The Biggest Game in Town is a sought-after classic that’s
finally available in print again. Acclaimed author A. Alvarez delves into the
seedy, obsessive world of high-stakes Vegas poker, where “the next best
thing to playing and winning is playing and losing.” Uncovering an exotic
underground rich in ambiance and eccentricity, The Biggest Game in Town is
“a magnificent book ” (San Francisco Chronicle), a real one of a
kind.
Paperback - 192 pages
(March 2002)
expected price £6.11
Buy
This Book U$12.76 for US residents
|
 The Psychology of Poker by Alan Schoonmaker
Once more a poker book for the American
market but type of game is not so improtant. Good basic approach to all mental
aspects of poker and how to recognise your faults. If you can learn then you
can gain from this book, if you can't then no book will help you
anyway.
Strong players will generally be too far gone for this book but
when the going gets tough a dip into these pages may help them to see what has
gone wrong.
Paperback - 329 pages 1
(May 2000) expected price
£12.00 Buy
This Book
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 Poker by Al
Alvarez
Depicts a subculture rich with
legend - from the no-limits Hold'em game to the late 20th-century World
Championships in Las Vegas. Its terminology underpins modern life: Alvarez
tells us 'passing the buck' came from the baize table, as did 'bluff', 'above
board', and 'something up your sleeve'.
This book is ideal as a present for
someone who loves the culture surrounding poker. It is not a technical book. It
does have great pictures of old and photos of modern players.
Hardcover - 125 pages (5 March, 2001)
expected price £14.00 Buy
This Book
|
 The Hand
I Played by David Spanier
This
book is an unconventional autobiography. The writing craftsman takes you
through his gambling experiences, those that developed his attitudes and
opinions on his favourite hobby. They say Art copies life and life mimics Art.
That in paraphrase was David's work, he loved to write and what better than on
something that you do Tuesday night with some friends. He never cared for the
technical advances of poker, it was the people thing with him and that is what
this book is about.
Hardcover - 224 pages ( 6 October, 2000)
expected price £13.59 Buy
This Book |
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|
 Shut Up And Deal by Jesse May
An
experienced Poker players book, May writes with a no-messin' style that
puts all people onto the same level. Anthony Holden, author of the great
Big Deal, says "Few poker players can write and
even fewer can play poker. Jesse May is a rare master of both infernal
arts."
The plot, like poker itself, is a transitory affair. "I been
playing for over six years now," says Mickey, the narrator of Shut Up and Deal,
"and I still try and start each day as a new day, pick myself off the floor and
get focused." This works fine when you're sitting at the poker table, where no
given hand means anything in the context of any other given hand, but readers
who enjoy traditional narrative, where events have a causal relationship to the
events immediately preceding, will face a stiff challenge in the unrelenting
cycle of hands won and lost with no visible grander scheme of things in which
player--and reader-- might take solace.
Hardback 256 pages
(August 1, 2002)
£5.59 $7.49
 The Education of a Poker
Player
by Herbert O. Yardley,
Al Alvarez (introduction)
What a golden oldie! Scenes from Wild West taverns, magnificently
fallible opponents, all that stuff from the Far East - and good hands always
win. Fun to read, and comforting in a way, though the poker will be instructive
for those playing home games, which is a lot of people. Top casino
players today would shred someone playing according to Yardley, if the antes
didn't do it first. But that's not really what the book's about in the modern
era.
Paperback - 154 pages
(2002) expected price
£9.99 Buy
This Book
 The Cincinnati
Kid by Richard Jessup
When
reading this book it is impossible to throw away the imagery of the most famous
poker film in history. However, the writing is still very modern and supplies
the right pace. The ending is different from the movie so you'll still have
something to look forward to in the way of surprise. All in all, Steve McQueen
is still the best for us but this isn't a bad book.
Hardcover - 160 pages ( 1 July, 1999)
expected price £13.87 Buy
This Book
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