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Poker books for ADD scatterbrains

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05-22-2019 , 03:10 PM

Ponnie

enthusiast

Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 93

Hey guys,

I've been wanting to brush op on some poker fundamentals, but I'm finding it hard to study the game in a regular schoolbook like fashion.
A ton of books and also online content go off on tangents right from the start and that's not good for someone that has a hard time keeping attention on study material.

Can anyone recommend books that are written in an A-B-C-D format instead of the Usual all over the place information overload?

Like starting at pf ranges, how and why, building up to later street play and more complex concepts?

Thanks in advance!

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05-23-2019 , 02:50 PM

jkak

centurion

Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 140

gus hansens book. winning tournaments 1 hand at a time. harrington on holdem.

just look in the forums at hands and repeat that to save you some money.

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05-26-2019 , 10:07 AM

YouBetcha

centurion

Join Date: Mar 2019 Posts: 124

I noticed Ken Warren's writing style is more clear than the standard garbage in most beginner poker books.

Also the online poker sites' free poker school sections are usually pretty well written.

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05-26-2019 , 02:02 PM

antialias

grinder

Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 590

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkak

gus hansens book. winning tournaments 1 hand at a time. harrington on holdem.

just look in the forums at hands and repeat that to save you some money.

While Gus' book easily takes the number one spot on my list when it comes to "fun" poker books to read - it certainly doesn't teach much in the way of fundamentals which are relevant in current tournament play. Some of the things in there will get you downright in trouble today.

Similarly the older books by Harrington should be taken with a grain of salt.

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05-26-2019 , 02:14 PM

sixfour

should be called sevenfour

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 74,938

Quote:

Originally Posted by antialias

Some of the things in there will get you downright in trouble today.

They did at the time, it wasn't really meant to be a strategy book as far as I'm concerned

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Similarly the older books by Harrington should be taken with a grain of salt.

LOL

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05-26-2019 , 02:24 PM

jkak

centurion

Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 140

off topic. Sorry

Last edited by King Spew; 05-26-2019 at 02:42 PM.

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05-26-2019 , 07:54 PM

donkey22

centurion

Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 145

Quote:

Originally Posted by antialias

Why did you emphasize “older” in your statement? Does that mean you recommend his more recent book on tournament play?

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05-26-2019 , 09:37 PM

Ponnie

enthusiast

Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 93

I have a decent number of books including the harrington series, but that's one of the ones I'm referencing when I mean going off on tangents and trying to teach you in an A F E A O P weird path instead of A B C D.

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05-27-2019 , 01:51 PM

antialias

grinder

Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 590

Quote:

Does that mean you recommend his more recent book on tournament play?

Not the best that's out there, but (I feel) decent enough on the fundamentals.
He does use an approach with many hand examples (i.e. bite-sized chunks of content) which should be good for someone who has issues with keeping focussed.

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05-27-2019 , 10:27 PM

#10

donkey22

centurion

Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 145

Quote:

Originally Posted by antialias

So for a relative beginner to tournament play, between his original series and his more recent tournament book, you would recommend his more recent book and forget about the older series?

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05-28-2019 , 10:53 AM

#11

King Spew

Just average

Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 15,332

relative beginner..... I cut my teeth on the two earlier books right after Moneymaker's win. Those books have value in laying down a foundation imo.

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05-28-2019 , 11:35 AM

#12

antialias

grinder

Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 590

Quote:

So for a relative beginner to tournament play, between his original series and his more recent tournament book, you would recommend his more recent book and forget about the older series?

Recommend is probably too strong a word (I was just responding to the two books mentioned in jkak's post). There must be better tournament books out there I haven't read. But I have some of his older books and some of the recommendations/examples in there are just no longer applicable.
Tournament play has gotten a lot more aggressive and many of the hands described in these books would not play out that way today.

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05-29-2019 , 01:41 PM

#13

donkey22

centurion

Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 145

@sixfour....you “LOL” at the statement “Harrington’s older books should be taken with a grain of salt.”

You don’t agree?

Last edited by donkey22; 05-29-2019 at 01:46 PM. Reason: Re worded

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05-29-2019 , 01:43 PM

#14

King Spew

Just average

Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 15,332

Quote:

Originally Posted by donkey22

sixfour.....You don’t agree with this? Please explain

Are you asking for an explanation of the Hansen book or the older Harrington tournament series?

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05-29-2019 , 02:41 PM

#15

sixfour

should be called sevenfour

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 74,938

Quote:

Originally Posted by donkey22

@sixfour....you “LOL” at the statement “Harrington’s older books should be taken with a grain of salt.”

You don’t agree?

I LOL at the concept that people think that unless something has been written for the exact same game that they are playing within the last fifteen minutes it's worthless. Game's the same, just got more fierce

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05-29-2019 , 02:55 PM

#16

Tuma

Worships Amon-Ra

Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 16,468

barry’s book has pictures

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05-29-2019 , 02:59 PM

#17

donkey22

centurion

Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 145

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Spew

Are you asking for an explanation of the Hansen book or the older Harrington tournament series?

The original Harrington tournament series!

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05-29-2019 , 03:50 PM

#18

donkey22

centurion

Join Date: Feb 2018 Posts: 145

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixfour

The reason I asked if you agree with that statement is because I am a big Harrington fan and I think a lot of what he says still holds up today.

I know I’m in the minority on that, but unless you’re playing in the really big buy-in tournaments, I think his original books still hold up very well.

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05-29-2019 , 04:05 PM

#19

antialias

grinder

Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 590

I didn't say that Harringtons older books are worthless. The fundamentals are still there. But look though the examples and tell me that there aren't things in there that just wouldn't happen today that way.

There's a reason why he wrote an updated version. He even states it himself in the foreword of the updated version (Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker ) that

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"the fundamentals are still the same but the tactics have changed"

(sorry if the quote is not exact. Had to retranslate from the german translation)

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