Is it a nescessity to read a book? If so, which one?

[reidy125]

Well, you know then question already. I've never actually read a book but I am still up overall and consider myself quite a good player, there is a lot of stuff to read online, so is it a necessity to read a book? What are everyones feelings on this matter? Should we copy our heroes? Or should we develop our own strategy? I will post my opinion when some other people have got it started.

[Nighttrain]

I say read as many books as possible.You may or may not NEED to,but it never hurts,and the more you learn the better you are.Plus since poker is something I love these books are very interesting to me.

[ScanX]

Read several books.

Of course some of them repeat the same concepts, but there is a reason for that : they are the ones that actually work in the long run, it's mathematical.

In my opinion this is the most important skill (on internet at least) :
knowing what hands make you win in the long term and how to play them.

The 2nd most important skill being the experience :)

[j0sh]

I've read
Winning Low Limit Holem ,Internet Texas Holdem , Theory of Poker

all were pretty good and helpful

i plan on reading super system and a bunch of other books i just havent had time yet.

[sergestorms]

if you play in alot of tourneys or sngs try cloutier's and mcevoy's 'championship no-limit + pot-limit holdem'. has really improved my performance in sngs recently.... usually made the money (before reading) about 3 in every 5 sngs, recently though i've been in the money every finish... 4 1sts and 2 2nds this week in $10sngs on pokerstars.

also has some great stories from T.J. and 15 or so practice hands that are pretty helpful.

[wEbMaStEr]

It is NOT essential to read any books
but it helps.
experience is the key!
you can either buy/borrow/steal a book or use internet resources to glean from others' experience or you can pay your way by losing a LOT at first until you have learned by your mistakes.
think of it as ..... if you were trying re-wire a plug...... you can see the wires you can see the terminals....... but unless you read the instructions you are gonna make a few mistakes before you get it right.
As to forming your own opinions/strategy of course this is important, but to develop your own strategy it is best to know what the alternatives are?
If everyone used..... say for example brunsons super system then it would be worthless, cos everyone would play exactly the same way. we could let our computers sit and battle it out if that were the case.
But the beauty in poker is that we are dealing with real people, and they all have their own opinions and ideas and tells and weaknesses and strengths etc.

[Always_Bored]

Its just like in school. If you dont read the assigned books then usually your going to fail or not do as well as you would like. Reading the books just helps.

[General Sal]

Reading the books helps... it's a good way to save money on what you "might" learn through experience. Of course, no book is as good as experience.

[PuckJunkieNY]

Books..yes I have read a few and plan on reading more. That is if I can stay off of UB long enough to read a damn book.

Oh, there's this old fashion thing called a "Library", that's where I get my poker books. I have Phils on hold there right now waiting to be picked up.

[joejccva]

I was averaging about $3/hr, and once I read hellmuth's "Learn to play poker like a pro" I have been averaging close to $30/hr. I never liked Hellmuth because he was a whiner and tilted alot. But the man knows his stuff. His book helped extremely well. I plan on reading other books just not sure which ones yet.

Joe

[Absolution]

Even if you grasp the game naturally and have your own style, you still need to read the books. Poker is war, and in war you need to know your enemy. You need to know what they think and why they are making certain moves. Unless they are just mindless gamblers chasing rivers, chances are they have had some lessons or read a book like super system. If you can catch someone playing a certain system you can use that against them. For example, a Brunson fan will probably bet post-flop very often after they bet pre-flop. Give them a check-raise note.

Oh, and I hear Hellmuth's book can be summarized by "Play 77-AA and AK so people will respect you". Genius! I haven't gotten around to that one yet, but I don't trust that guy so I'll read cautiously. In fact, why would you trust any poker pro? They aren't going to give away their secrets.

[HalfSugar]

I've never read a poker book in my life. I have a pretty good head for numbers/odds/sense and a lot of experience in home games. I'd like to read some but in the UK it's hard to acquire them

I've also watched every episode of Late Night Poker and lot of the WPT on the Travel Channel which can help a lot if u analyse wot is going on rather than just watching it if u know wot I mean. I personally am not sure a book will tell me much that I don't already know - that's not to sound arrogant but other than telling me how to act in a casino, I'm pretty sure I know everything I need to know, I just don't apply it all well enuff yet

[reidy125]

Anyway, I have never read a book, been playing about a month, started on the play tables, which wasn't any help really. Invested $20 at pacific poker on the 5 cent tables, lost $10 nealry straight away. Read a lot of online stuff as I havent got great access to poker books like Geno, as I am in England too, doubt the librarys will stock any. After reading a lot of online stuff, a couple of times, I started to make money again, about two weeks ago I had the $10, and now I have $50, playing mainly at the 10 and 25 cent tavles, without reinvesting, so clearly I know a bit about poker without reading any books, surely the best stuff is online? I doubt that from $10 to $50 over about 2 weeks, or around 25 hours is lucky, or could it be? I just find the best strategy is to play about 30-40% of hands in the passive games, and if you have nothing callable post flop, then don't call, simple!

[wEbMaStEr]

It's about sustainability tho.
If you can now turn that $50 into $500 over the next month then you are doing well and wont need to read a book to teach you how to play.
BUT......
It would still be useful to read anything you can, learn other peoples theories etc.

I myself have never read a poker book, I do plan to, i just haven't got around to it yet
like you i have read a lot online etc, i read a lot on here (this forum is excellent and rather than getting 1 persons opinion you usually get 3 or 4 counter-opinions)
i learned the hard way, yes i watched a lot of LNP and analysed and yes i read a lot online, but I still paid a lot of cash to gain the experience i now have. Like i said, i do plan to read a buncha books in the future but like you i am also in UK and they aren't as readily avaliable here, but i will make the effort.
After all, the worlds top golfers still pay some dude to coach them on their swing etc? and these guys are at the TOP of their profession, not just starting out.

[cayouche]

I read two books. One to show me how to play, basic strategies and a few advanced ones. The other one is called "Zen and the Art of Poker". I really like that one. It won't show you how to play, there's absolutely no hands, but it's all about Zen in your game, patience, how to deal with bad beats, etc... It really helped me in my game.

I still want to read those bibles though. When I go home, I'll probably buy another book or two, like Super System.