SYWTSPP 3 - What Books Should I Read To Start Limit HE?

[shipitfish]

[ This is the third part in a continuing series called So, You Want To Start Playing Poker?. The series is designed to help new players learn some basics about starting poker from the ground up.]

In a post about what game structure to select, I recommended two possible games: limit HE and NL HE. In this article

Comments

[roryk]

The Krieger book is not just poorly organized, it contains advice that is just wrong. People should just stay away from it entirely. Also people should be careful to buy the updated version of the Lee Jones book because the old book has the same mistakes that are in the Krieger book.

The Small Stakes Hold 'em book is not really that advanced. It lays out all the fundamentals you need. Really, if you are not thinking about pot odds and odds and all of that when you play poker then what are you thinking about? Those are the things new players need to know. Those are the things that beat low limit games, just sitting there, playing a bunch of multiway friendly hands and then making a bunch of +EV, pure math-based decisions. That's how you beat low limit limit hold'em. That and having patience to follow that formula. That's all there is to it. Only when you get to the middle limits do any of the other poker skills that everyone thinks is what poker is, like bluffing and all of that stuff come into play.

When 6+ people are seeing every flop, it's all odds, all based on the size of the pot and your odds to continue and your chance of winning. And the Small Stakes Hold'em book stresses that. I think no other book is really worth reading when you are starting out. It teaches the right way to think about the game from the beginning.

But not all low stakes games are so loose

[roryk]

Many of the low stakes limit games aren't as loose as they were when we were rookies. I remember playing hands back in the day where I'd cap off the turn with AA unimproved in a 5-way pot (still 5-way on the turn) and take down a monster. From my observations, those days are essentially over. (And I'm not saying many books would recommend playing a turn like that -- I'm just saying those games were *that* loose -- as I'm sure you recall.)

I'm not refuting anything you said. I'm just saying that even the advice in Small Stakes Hold'em will provide a nice foundation, but not make a new player an immediately winning player. Back in the day I believe new player could follow the cookbook and make money.