It's been several years since I've played poker online. I was never all that good -- pretty much breakeven at micro & low limits. But I've gotten interested again and wanted to do some reading to get back into it and re-learn some strategy.

So I re-read my old & tattered copy of Sklansky's The Theory of Poker, which kinda seems like mandatory reading. I was going to dust off Harrington on Cash Games (something I read when they came out in 2008), but a lot has changed since then obviously, especially since Black Friday and especially for a US resident like me who has a limited number of sites to play on.

I decided to hold of the old Harrington book because I figured there must be others that have come out since then that are more appropriate for today's online game. I know he wrote a follow up in 2010 for 6max, but still that might be a little dated.

So the question is.... Do do you guys have any suggestions for somewhat new books about general strategy (particularly cash games) that reflect the current environment we're playing in these days?

Fyi, I was looking at the popular poker books on Amazon (here), but lots of these are either old or seem like they might be fluffy. Thanks!

Personally i think books are a terrible way to learn unless combined with videos. If i where you i would subscribe to a training site like run it once and then after picking through their library and getting a lot of hands in i would look at books.

I think most books are pretty bad for online poker, most are aimed at live and too noobs/beginners. The only book i can think of worth reading is applications of no limit holdem.

This, mostly. I agree that most online cash game books are garbage. However, there's other material than just Matthew Janda's book. That's a pretty tough starting point for a micro stakes player, IMO. Only part of your post I disagree with.

I'd start with either "Building A Bankroll" and/or Blackrain's "Crushing The Microstakes", read his follow up to that book, then after mastering those, move on to Janda's Applications book. I will also recommend Will Tipton's Expert Heads Up books, since they have received near unanimous acclaim. I also agree about getting a subscription to a training site. This will help you more than the majority of poker books out there.

Lastly, I always recommend Mental Game of Poker to everyone who hasn't read it. Mental game material is relevant to both live and online, and this is the best one out there IMO. Have not read Volume 2 though, so you'll have to look for reviews regarding that.

Live cash game books have a much larger library in terms of relevance and quality compared to online. Doesn't seem to me that is what you're looking for though, OP.

Yeah i forgot about those to be fair :P they aren't the best but then can introduce people to ranges and stuff. Also i think easy game by baluga whale is a good book because its quite a bit different than all the other books.

You just see so many noobs in the beginner forum though who have read books and think they are really great but play like 15 10 with a 2% 3 bet and can't even tell you a somewhat accurate estimation of villains range in a given situation. In videos you can see in real time how a great player plays and what they are thinking, and then you can back that up with theory and simple math learned from a couple of books. Mental game of poker is another you mentioned that is a must have (i really need to get my ass in gear and work through it a few times properly myself).

Easy Game is definitely a good one, people seem to think its outdated already and I tend to disagree with that. Especially with the 3rd edition that came out only a couple of years ago.

Totally agree with you btw, which I think is why online is still beatable for a decent hourly for the most part. Not nearly as my as live, but definitely solid. Like you said, it's just about working your ass off at this point. Would you agree that RunItOnce is probably the best site for OP to go to? Float The Turn is fine too, IMO.

I gotta say, I'm a little surprised y'all are so any-books. I mean, no doubt that with the literally hundreds of titles on Amazon alone (not to mention the others by smaller presses not on Amazon), a lot are going to be bad -- maybe even the vast majority are. But really? Books are pretty much pointless? I'm not taking away from the value of learning by video, or training sites, or posting hands in the forum. Just thinking there must be a few gems out there that lay things well for a so-so player like me.

Anyway, thanks for the input so far. I'll look into all of these.

Dynamic Full Ring Poker and Easy Game for sure. Ed Millers hand reading book.... hmm. Those are the top three that come to mind.

There definitely are gems out there, maybe a couple that we didn't list in our previous posts. They will definitely be able to help you get started, like you said. That being said, it's tougher more so today than any other time to be a winning poker player. Especially online when the traffic isn't nearly as high as it used to be, and players are better than they used to be.

I personally really enjoy reading books. There just happens to be many both outdated and just quite frankly sub par material out there today, especially for online games. That's all we're saying. I think the reason we're both so high on training sites, at least the reason I am, is because they are always constantly updating with new material. That way, it's much easier to stay relevant for longer periods of time.

Just my two cents.

Dynamic Full Ring is also a good choice. For live, def Ed Miller's book. For online, I'd lean more towards Owen Gaines's hand reading book though. (Can't remember the title..)

Cool. Thanks guys. I'll definitely look into all of these. And I hear what you're saying about books being out of date. I guess I was hoping there was a sort of modern classic that addressed the stuff going on these days (since I last played several years ago).

Cheers!

Hey strongrad50 and Eu.Era,

Slightly off-topic: I did a little research on some training sites. Seems like the there are a few obvious big ones out there that have tons of content on a lot of advanced strate. (DeucedCracked, CardRunners, among others.) But the two that struck me -- mostly because they were about half as expensive as the others and didn't have a sign up fee up front -- are Grinder School and Red Chip. I'm guessing it's bc they're smaller and have as many high stakes videos maybe.

Do either/any have experience with or recommendations for either?

I only have recent experiance with run it once which i think is rated as the best site still? Its basic membership (all you will need for a while seriously) is only $9.99 a month.

https://www.runitonce.com/register/plans-and-pricing/

Thanks. Saw that one, and it's definitely in the running.

Back to my previous topic....

Does anyone have thoughts on The Poker Blueprint (by Tri Nguyen)? It's an ebook (as is Dynamic Full Ring Poker which was mentioned before too). Both seemed pretty geared towards modern-era online poker.

rowhousepd - do you have any updates in the couple months since your last post? What book(s) have you read? Did they help? How is your playing going? Etc.

I am in a similar situation. I have been away from poker for a few years and have finally been able to get back to playing. I also reread a few chapters from my old poker books and have added some new ones to my reading list. Haven't subscribed to a training site yet. Pretty much just been viewing free content as I am in that "brushing up on a few things" stage.

RedChip & SplitSuit have a lot of free content, if money is an issue up front. They both have fairly inexpensive options, when cash starts to flow.

Hey Two Coats, sorry for the delay. Well since I posted this I've actually played a good deal less poker than I wanted to -- ya know, real life kinda gets in the way sometimes -- but what I've done is re-read a few of the books I head, which I have to say was like reading them for the first time.

Sklansky's Theory of Poker was still as valuable as its reputation suggests it is. Brunson's Super System was pretty useless as it's 90% not about NLHE and seems pretty dated.

I found rereading Harrington on Cash Games to be VERY helpful. There are some moves that don't seem entirely in step with what the games are like now (i.e. he recommends limping and check-calling too often, imo), but I love the way he breaks down the basics, and the many many examples throughout are excellent. I purchased Harrington on Online Cash Games which was actually less helpful, mostly because it rehashes a lot of what he said in the original series.

Somewhat on a whim I bought Alton Hardin's Essential Poker Math, mainly because it had been on Amazon's top selling poker book list for a while (and it's a mere $1 for the kindle version). It wasn't terribly deep, but it was a very good, albeit simple, refresher of the numbers behind NLHE -- something that definitely slipped out of my brain during the years of not playing.

The book I found the most helpful for today's online play was James Sweeny's (aka SplitSuit's) Dynamic Full Ring Poker. I'd definitely recommend it, even though technically it was published waaay back in 2010, which almost makes it ancient. Lol.

I also re-joined Grinder School, and I really like them a lot. I've heard more advanced players say it's not as good as other sites and they're probably right, but it's a great bang for your buck and they've got some excellent series in their library.

Besides trying to study up on poker, I've been playing somewhat regularly over last 2 months (sadly just at the Winning and Merge networks which are basically the only sites available US residents ... well, the two that don't totally suck), and I've definitely noticed a difference. Players are a lot more aggressive and seem to actually be paying attention and reading me more than they used to. The games are, in fact, a lot tougher than they were several years ago. I'm just a recreational player though, so I'm not totally heartbroken about that. As long as I can make a little profit and buy a shiny new toy once in a while with my earnings, I'm ok with it being a bigger challenge than the good 'ol days.

+1 to this. Red Chip seems great, and SplitSuit puts out a lot of good content for free on youtube.

Hey, thanks for the update. Hopefully you will have more time to increase your poker playing. Real life, work obligations, and eventually black Friday is what killed my poker playing.

I have Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 1 and have considered getting his newer Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker as I always respected Dan Harrington. I was rooting for him in 2003. However, I would like to focus on cash game skills. I actually mostly played limit online and used my winnings to buy into some $1-$5 tournaments or SNGs. I was never great nor terrible at NL cash games, but could win more at limit. However, given the current options available to US players, NL cash is primarily where it's at.

Essentials of Poker Math is still $0.99 so I picked that up. That would be a good refresher for me as well. I've downloaded the Kindle sample of the following:

Beating the Micro Stakes - Thomas Mitchell
Small Stakes No Limit Hold'em - Ed Miller
Beat the Donks - Steve Selbrede
Easy Game - Andrew Seidman
Dynamic Full Ring Poker - James Sweeney

In case anyone is interested, a couple of these (Dynamic and Small Stakes) are heavily discounted in Kindle format as I write this.

For now, I've mostly played in some freerolls. Cashed in a couple and have a little over $2 now. Maybe I'll go play some ultra micro-stakes (0.01/0.02 NL) to get back in the groove. Keep us posted.

Uuugh. I know. So depressing. I haven't gotten up to the stakes I used to play, but I'm sure it only gets much harder as any decent grinder is just waiting for mediocre/developing players like me to move up. Still can't believe 4 & 1/2 years later nothing has changed here in the states. But I digress....

From the other things I've read in other threads/forums, H on Modern Tourn Poker isn't nearly as good as the original series was for it's time, and that there have been a lot of other excellent tourney books since then. But since I'm a cash player (for now) it's not something I can weigh in on. I think his two volumes on cash games are still super relevant though.

I've heard/read nothing but great things about these two, here & elsewhere. Easy Game - 3rd ed is a bit pricey for any format (+$50 I believe), but apparently it's worth it.

Best of luck, and keep us posted. Lemme know what you think of the other books you mentioned if you wind up buying the full versions.

Regarding good recent books, I might be sounding like a broken record with this but I really do not recommend reading Blackrain's second book, which is trash, and CtM is good if you're wanting to stop losing at 2NL but past that it's not good. The best modern books are Janda's, and Tipton's Expert HUNL (which transfers to 6max/full-ring quite easily beyond the specific examples), as well as the timeless classic The Mathematics of Poker - though the latter two are very tough-going, realistically you're going to need to be familiar with a lot of the maths that's going on to beat small stakes on Stars (so midstakes on Bovada) in 2015.

Regarding training sites, I should first say that I'm a GrinderSchool coach but I believe my view is reasonably informed, and I receive no incentive for offering opinions. I think that GrinderSchool is excellent for microstakes players (up to and including about 25NL on Stars/100NL on Bovada ish) because it's pretty much the only site which offers strategy and live play at microstakes games. Once you're at 50NL Stars/200NL Bovada I'd recommend moving to Run It Once, ideally Elite, but the Essential package is quite good too, especially for low-volume grinders. I don't rate many of the other sites (i.e. I think they're outshone in the market, though one can definitely learn for them) - I can't express an opinion on sites other than GS, RIO, CardRunners, IveyLeague, Deuces Cracked, Drag The Bar, and Poker Strategy though.

Yeah, TheDefiniteArticle isn't being biased here. I'm just a micro/low stakes player and I think it's a great bang for your buck. Totally worth it, imo. Learned a lot there.

Jonathan Little on Live No-Limit Cash Games: The Theory - Volume 1 is a book I'd recommend, especially if you play Live. He has some good concepts and provides more detail and up-to-date content compared to Harrington.

Plus he usually makes himself available to answer any of your questions via Twitter, Email, etc...