Theory of poker ebook

Most of the book is easy to read and to understand. Of course, you can tell that Sklansky loves his mathematical approach to the game. He covers pot, effective, implied and reverse implied odds, and all of the other strategies you need to have in your toolbox to become a great poker player. But, an even bigger part of the book is about deception and different types of plays, i.

The odds part might be a bit hard to read if you are not used to calculating math problems or analyzing statistics, or maybe have forgotten what you learned in school. We suggest you really put your mind into it and read it a couple of times. The studying will pay off in the long run. There are also chapters about analysing a table from different angles. How is the ante structure? If you'd like to experience the interactive hand quizzes at PokerCoaching.

He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker. Sign up to learn poker from Jonathan for free at PokerCoaching.

You can follow him on Twitter JonathanLittle. Join the PokerNews Community. With the probable bettor to your right, you should bet, and after everyone calls, you hope that bettor raises so that people will be calling a single bet twice which they are much more likely to do than to call a double bet once.

On the other hand, if the probable bettor is to your left, then you check the three kings, and after that player bets and everyone calls, you raise. Once again, you are inviting your opponents to call a single bet twice and not a double bet once. In sum, the way you bet or check raise depends on the strength of your hand in relation to what you can see of the other hands and the position of the player you expect to bet or raise behind you when you check or bet.

With a fairly good hand, like kings up or aces up in seven stud, you try to make opponents call a double bet because you d like to drive them out. With a very good hand like three kings or three aces you play to induce your opponents to call a single bet; then you confront them with having to call another single bet.

In this case, you don't mind their staying in since you're a big favorite over them. While you generally check raise because you think you have the best hand, it is frequently correct to check raise with a second-best hand if the play will drive other opponents out. The principle here is identical to the principle of raising with what you think is the second-best hand as it was explained in Chapter Nine and Chapter Thirteen.

If the probable best hand is to your immediate right, you can check, wait for that player to bet, then raise so that the rest of the table will fold rather than call a double bet. While you may not be the favorite, you have still increased your chances of winning the pot, and you have the extra equity of whatever dead money is in the pot from earlier betting rounds.

Sometimes you can check raise with a come hand like a four flush if there are many people in the pot already and you don't expect a reraise, for you are getting good enough odds, especially if you have a couple of cards to come.

This play should usually be made only when the probable bettor is to your immediate left; then the other players will call that bettor before they realize you are putting in a raise. You do not want to drive players out because you want to get the correct odds for your raise.

To check raise with a hand with which you want to thin out the field, you want the probable bettor to your right so that people will have to call a double bet to stay in. With a very strong hand and with most come hands, you want the probable bettor to your left so the other players in the hand might call that bettor's single bet and then be invited to call your raise. This material appears with the express permission of the authors and Two Plus Two Publishing. For someone just learning the ropes, this will be an excellent resource, guaranteed.

This book will help you get a whole new perspective on the game and really shift your focus from just hanging around to putting yourself in the best possible position to win. Most beginner poker players are introduced to the game through poker books.

Despite many poker books regurgitating the same basic information there are a number of books that have been breakthroughs to beginners and pros alike. Of course, your poker training regimen should include my extensive poker strategy pieces as well. The best answer to this question is, as you would expect — it depends. Are you looking to start playing more tournaments or want to give cash games a chance for a change?

All these questions come in play when trying to pick what poker books you should give your attention to. This book will provide you with all the fundamentals you need to start playing within a few hours.

It may not teach you too much about the strategy behind the game, but that comes later anyway. For your very first steps, this book is a great read. The advice contained therein is invaluable.

The most important thing for poker beginners is to correctly structure the information they receive from various sources. Along these lines, picking up the best poker books can be somewhat challenging in a sense that you want to find the one that will give you a good advice but that will not overwhelm you with too many complex concepts at the same time. For anyone looking to improve their ring game skills, these books will be a great resource.