Hello everyone,

I’ve been studying and playing live MTT’s, and now I’m very interested in learning live small stakes cash games. Hoping to find out which I want to play long term.

Could you please give me some good book recommendations for the modern game?

I play small stakes no limit holdem cash games and these are the books that taught me how to beat these games and I frequently reference them.

1. Professional no-limit holdem
2. No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice
3. Harrington on cash games.
4. Theory of poker.

I agree with 1,2,and 3. I am not as fan of Theory of Poker. I’m gonna give “The Course” a read. I also like Janda’s second book.

Interesting. I thought Theory off poker was the best of the bunch. I read the course a while back buti didn't think it was as good as the above mentioned books. Very expensive too. Maybe one day I'll revisit it. The 3 Zach Elwood books are great and very relevant for low limits.

Get the Selbrede's series on Beating the Donks. Outstanding works.

Agree and am actually surprised it doesn't get as much attention on these boards. Great books.

This subject is right up my alley; I've read many of the classics but looking for something more modern. I worry a bit about Harrington's book; written in 2008, maybe a bit dated? I'm looking for a book that is maybe incorporating more modern Game Theory Optimal concepts. I've been eyeballing a couple of the books that Little has on beating cash games, both written more recently and likely with bit more of a modern perspective.

There arent any, at least that I have read IMO. I think most poker books you gotta glean certain info out and apply it to 1/2 and 1/3 but other aspects simply dont apply at all. I actually wrote about 150 pages of a draft for a lowstakes crusher book back when I was destroying 1/2 and 1/3, but I moved up to 2/5 and 5/10 before making anything of it.

I just read "The Course" and give it a thumbs up. I think Ed's books are a bit overpriced at $50, but the advice in it is solid to beat $1-2, $2-5. I can't speak for the $5-10 part. I don't play above $2-5 live.

Yeah, I balked at the price a bit too, very pricey for a book especially in this day and age. But then I figure...if even one tidbit keeps me from making one bad call...pays for itself, lol.

I'm reading "The Course" also. I have implemented Miller's strategy in my $1-$3 live game and it's been really helpful. I found that book on Amazon for $34.00

At the beginning of the chapter on "Skill #8. Exploiting Aggression" Miller writes: "To some extent, beating 5-10 no-limit is beyond the scope of this
book."

So the premise of the book which says it will take you all the way to beating 5-10 is overstated. That being said it is still an excellent book for 1-2/1-3 and 2-5.

If you are playing live small stakes cash games, you are usually better off focusing on learning optimal exploitative strategy rather than GTO. It's good to understand GTO, but it's more important to understand the difference between GTO and exploitative strategy.

A good book aimed at live small stakes players probably shouldn't be pushing GTO concepts too hard. One reason is that GTO may not exist for games with a lot of multi-way pots, as small stakes games tend to be. If you want to incorporate GTO into your game, you might be better off looking for a book focused on GTO and figuring out for yourself when those concepts are applicable to the games you play in.

Good tip, the more I read up on the topic and book options I was coming to a similar conclusion, that many of the GTO books and concepts focused heavily on heads-up play at the expense of multi-way. I ended up purchasing The Course; will start it later this week.

GTO is kind of a buzzword which people spout but don't understand. Before, people asked a lot about books that would let them play a "smart LAG" style. Now, they want to know how to play GTO, which can be less aggressive than some people believe it to be. They don't understand that when GTO involves balanced play, part of the balance involves having strong hands when you take a passive line. They just perceive GTO as bet-bet-bet with an enticing percentage of bluffs on the end. They want to justify being able to make a big bluff on the river.