What are the top 5 books that I should read as a beginner looking to move up and become solid through the microstakes? Particularly nl2- nl25. I've been advised to read "Poker Math That Matters" by a friend. Is that a good one? I'm one of the idiots seriously contemplating getting into poker in 2017+ and I need to beat those Slavs.

Start by watching the video series (yes, videos not books, sorry) "Crushing the Microstakes" by Blackrain79. The whole thing is on YouTube. If you're new-ish to poker, this will start explaining a lot of basic principles and how to immediately start beating very soft games.

Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. It's old school and outdated, and you'll think it's stupid because he talks about 5 card stud and razz. But then you'll realize later that a lot of the concepts are important to your fundamental understanding of poker--like why do we even play hands in the first place?

Then I would recommend Easy Game Vol. I and possibly Vol II. They can both be found online and will teach you how to "play the game" better so to speak.

I would also recommend Harrington on Hold'em Vols. I & II for tournament strategy.

The most advanced book I have read, after all of these, is Applications of NLHE by Matthew Janda. I don't recommend that you read this book, but I wanted to give you the name of it for future reference because it is your key into the world of theoretically sound poker. I am still trying to grasp a lot of concepts from it (the whole book is about balancing ranges mathematically), and will probably have to read it again.

Good luck!

Carriers grinders manual is probably the best book for these limits and 2017.

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Up to NL25 easy, The Grinders Manual, no need for anything else.

Then have a pop at Janda's book. Don't read anything by Harrington on Cash (his tourney stuff might still have some value) unless you own a time machine.

however, you MUST get your head into a mindset book and Tendler's are the nuts.

This is exactly what I will do, thank you. I'll read Tendler's book, the mental game of poker first then the Grinder's Manual

I haven't read any of the psychology books, but I have been meaning to. Any advice on where to start with Tendler? I've never heard of him either.

On a side note, like I said Harrington's tournament books are not fantastic, but they're definitely a good start to understanding mechanics. I didn't touch Harrington's books on cash.

It's so fascinating how much poker evolves. I've heard people say that the "pros" from the 80s, 90s and earlier would have trouble beating the micros today. I've also heard people say that if one can beat nl25 in 2017, that could have beat nl200 in 2007. It's too bad I was only 15 then, and by the time I turned 18, black friday happened.

I don't know how much good books will do at 2nl. I think a lot of it will go way above and beyond what you need to know to beat that level.

That being said, blackrains stuff has helped me the most. I didn't actually know that he had a video series though, I'll definitely have to check that out!

It's very basic and a little outdated (his opponents are mainly pre-black Friday-esque), but it's what got me started with poker

He has a lot of videos from 10 months and 1 year ago!

I think maybe they are from his card history over the last decade, and thus the hands are not the most recent necessarily.

If you're beating 2NL today, look at the videos of 'High Stakes Poker' from 2007 and count the mistakes, because they are made in every single hand. It makes me cringe to see Ivey doing things like calling with A3o in the SB, while Barry's UTG open with aces getting 6 calls is just hilarious. By today's standards, nosebleed players in the mid-2000s are all clueless.

Isn't it just a totally different game than 2nl? I've always thought that they're doing stuff I just can't comprehend at all.

Also they know each other's games so they might be doing crazy stuff to try to throw everyone off? Idk I just don't think you can compare it to 2nl or abc poker at all.

I always just interpreted it as showmanship... like they were all trying to show off for the camera and win with bizarre hands. It's almost like an unwritten rule. That's why Dwan was so good in those games.

Question: Would get grinders manual but want paperback which is steep at £40. Is this worth it, bearing in mind I already have read applications of no-limit holdem (which I understood broadly but could definitely do with going over and studying more thoroughly).
If not, any other recommendations? playing around nl10, don't really need a lot of help for these stakes but hoping to build a bankroll so want to continue to improve game now.

That's probably true to some extent. Everyone on 'HSP' was getting paid to sit there all day and they were also prop-betting, so some of the plays probably just came out of boredom or trying to show off on TV.
This hand always did my head in though. (The biggest pot in televised poker history). Why is Ivey flatting A2o in the SB vs Tom Dwan when they are half a million dollars deep, and why is he donking the flop? It's the kind of thing a 2NL fish would do.
Oh! My! Gosh!

just read the stickies and watch youtube videos. reviewing other people's hands is a good idea too.

"Oh my gosh!"

I'm 30k hands deep in 2NL and read about 3/4s of Grinder's Manual, but stopped because I was having trouble taking in so much info at one and applying it all and correctly. I was reading about half a chapter before a session and was reviewing chapters and still struggled to take it all in. Any tips for this?

Have you tried taking notes while you read through? Like you would have in school (maybe lol). Just the most important things that you really want to stick in your head, jot them down and then afterwords read over your notes.

Hope this helps!

Just play super tight and don't fight for pots. In microstakes, you should focus on betting for value. Don't start worrying that your opponent is putting you in a bluff v bluff scenario, and you have to somehow outplay him. They'll do the same exact thing when you have the nuts or even TPTK. You don't know how many fish you can stack just by betting 3 streets w/ AK. If your opponent (passive) does something stupid like x/r the turn, usually they're nutted and you can fold. The micros are really good for learning patience.