i picked up two poker books:

Phil Gordon's Little Green Book : Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416903674/sr=8-1/qid=1141355966/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-6310944-0135928?%5Fencoding=UTF8)

Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments: Strategic Play (Vol. 1) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1880685337/ref=pd_sim_b_2/104-6310944-0135928?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155)

i really liked both of them. Phil Gordon's book is a fantastic beginner/intermediate book. it reads easy, but gives you great information. he mainly talks about his style of play and is full open to the fact that there is no "one best" style of play.

Action Dan's book is more in depth and it more like a poker textbook. it's got tons of scenarios and story problems. while it may seem mundane, going through the scenarios are a great way to get a "second nature" feel to how certain situations should be played out.

i've also got one of David Slansky's books, which i tried to get into before i started playing hold 'em, but it was really confusing. after playing for a while, it made much more sense. anyone else come across some good poker books?

Alright, if you're serious about the poker thing pick up Mike Caro's Book of Poker Tells. That's an incredible book and you will be able to read the players at your table quite well. Put them on a few starting hands at the beginning of the hand and use Caro's techniqes and you'll be able to call out hands before they are turned up. And it will teach you tells that you might give off that you can fix.

I haven't read the Harrington book because it looks like a lot of work to go through, but I have heard GREAT things about that book. The guys that have read it tell me it's the best book available.

It's important to learn all the strategy you can, but then develop your own style. It's important to play away from the books from time to time so people will have trouble reading your hand. The easiest players to play against are the ones who stick to the book pages. Their pocket cards become obvious at the end of the hand. I don't like playing against loose aggressive players because they could have any two cards in the deck.

yeah, Caro's Book of Tells was next on my shopping list.

i've been playing more online lately (mostly S&G tournaments), so my play's been fairly straightforward. playing live is much more fun, but with the cold/erratic weather, getting a game together is tough. i haven't ventured downtown to the casinos for poker yet.

for me, playing loose and aggressive is hard. firing that 3rd big bluff is difficult even when i'm fairly certain i can win the pot. however, playing against a loose/aggressive player isn't too difficult for me. i usually just tighten up and let them bet into me, when i've got a strong hand.

Yeah I haven't played in any live tournaments besides the ones with a group of friends. But those guys don't really know the game, they limp every pot and hope to hit the best hand. When the pot is raised, they all call. So the person who gets the best hands will win that game. My knowledge from these books hasn't really helped me in that game.


playing against a loose/aggressive player isn't too difficult for me. i usually just tighten up and let them bet into me, when i've got a strong hand.
Playing anybody is easy when you have a strong hand. What if you have a marginal hand, like top pair with a weak kicker with a flush possibility on board, and he's throwing heavy bets at you? Also, sometimes you will sit down at a table and never get a strong hand.

It usually works out because these players find ways to donate their chips away everytime. These really aggressive players accumulate good chip stacks at the beginning and then get careless with their chips.

Yeah I haven't played in any live tournaments besides the ones with a group of friends. But those guys don't really know the game, they limp every pot and hope to hit the best hand. When the pot is raised, they all call. So the person who gets the best hands will win that game. My knowledge from these books hasn't really helped me in that game.

true, i dislike that too. there's another home game i played in that was just like that. every raise is called and just about every pot is limped into. it sucks, because it seems like you have to overbet everything to make a stand.


Playing anybody is easy when you have a strong hand. What if you have a marginal hand, like top pair with a weak kicker with a flush possibility on board, and he's throwing heavy bets at you? Also, sometimes you will sit down at a table and never get a strong hand.

i've got no problem laying down top pair with a weak kicker. i've seen too many people go for broke online with top pair. and if top pair means a J with a 5 kicker than i shouldn't have been playing the hand in the first place :) if the flop comes out and i have a J/5 and i've paired my Jack. i'm looking to win the pot right there. if it make a pot sized bet and he's raising, i'm most likely folding. if the guy seems to do that a little too often, i'll wait until i flop two pair/trips/or a damn good draw and i'll usually go all in.


It usually works out because these players find ways to donate their chips away everytime. These really aggressive players accumulate good chip stacks at the beginning and then get careless with their chips.

yeah, guys who are usually always aggressive have huge swings. they'll either clean house or go for broke quick.

Where do you play online Matt?

on Full Tilt Poker for the past month. all those commericials about the pros playing there got me curious. it's neat seeing guys like Layne Flack and Mike Matusow playing. of course, who knows if it's really them... :P

i'm taking a break from online poker, since i'm wasting too much damn time on it, lol. i'm going to try to get my buddies together and start our home game again.

how about you?

I've been playing on FullTilt for over a year now. That's a great site. I only play the play money stuff though. I'm not into the online gambling thing. I don't trust it or something.

I did win $2 off won of those freeroll things, then lost it at the nickel/dime tables

i saw a flier for this: http://www.pioneerpokerleague.com/

it's a free poker club (no real money used). i was thinking about giving it a try if i get the itch to play soon :)

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Those loose aggressive players are great. Let em milk a few of your chips off you to encourage them, just be patient, and then eventually they'll make that big raise when you've got a good one and you'll get all your money back and then some. Works almost every time.

Those loose aggressive players are great. Let em milk a few of your chips off you to encourage them, just be patient, and then eventually they'll make that big raise when you've got a good one and you'll get all your money back and then some. Works almost every time.

yeah, that seems to be the best way to play them, for me.

i read skylanski's as well (after playing some). I liked it.

www.triplejack.com isnt a bad place to play some texas holdem.