looking for a good Texas Hold 'Em book

[QueBert]

I play a lot of Hold 'Em, I'm like the champ for getting to Heads Up but loosing. Not a title I really like having, 2nd place is just the first looser lol. 2nd place in a neighborhood game with 20 people ain't bad, but when I get to heads up I fall apart quickly. I loose confidence and get bullied way too easily. I play around once a week, somewhere between 14 and 24 people. It's a local friendly game so the stakes are low ($20/$20 rebuy) I finish top 3 most of the time, 1st is very rare for me though. I'm looking for a good book that focuses on the Heads Up aspect because that's where I fail. Figured somewhere here has a good suggestion, there are too many poker books to even know where to begin.

 

[daveymark]

Harrington on Hold em

 

[Schfifty Five]

First thing to do is learn to spell "loser" correctly.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: daveymark
Harrington on Hold em

SWEET looks like he has a couple, even my regular play could use help but the endgame book looks fantastic. I'm going to order this Monday and hope to be able to read it before the next poker night. 2nd place and 20% of the pot = teh sucks! I'm tired of 2nd place lol.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Schfifty Five
First thing to do is learn to spell "loser" correctly.

sorry about that, I'll hop back on Amazon and look for the Avoiding Grammar Nazis On Web Forums For Dummies book.

It won't happen again...

 

[axelfox]

Super System.

 

[daveymark]

yeah doyle brunson's books are good too; generally the first book most will refer to is Harrington though

 

[Viper GTS]

If you want a copy of Volume III (the workbook) drop me a PM, I have a spare.

Viper GTS

 

[QueBert]

I have a Phil Helmuth(sp?) book but it doesn't go into heads up play much at all, and that's a whole different style of Poker play to me. With a full table I play relaxed and can be aggressive as needed and don't worry much. But Heads Up it's like I almost forget how to play and end up getting blinded out. Last game heads up I was about even with other dude, maybe even had a bit more, blinds were up to 500/1000 the buy in was for 2,000 a few people re bought so it was around 40k in chips in play. I won one hand and he just smashed me every time by betting minimum and scaring me out of hands pre flop. I will look into the Doyle book too, his heads up is freaking fantastic. Of course he can read anybody.

 

[Epic Fail]

Originally posted by: axelfox
Super System.

it's only good for ring game and the advice is more high level because beginners don't fold their hands.

 

[kaZ8Teen]

harrington on hold'em...i read a few chapters out of that book and literally won the first tournament after reading that shit

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Small Stakes Hold'em is a good book I've read. Better than supersystem.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Kaz8teEN
harrington on hold'em...i read a few chapters out of that book and literally won the first tournament after reading that shit

was it a smaller or bigger tournament? the small ones I play in are mostly made up of people who at best only watch it on TV, they play for fun. Last one I was at a guy had to ask "is 2 pairs better than 3 of kind?" somebody answered "yes, I think" I laughed. It's HARD to play against total n00bs, especially when the stakes are low. They have King, 7 off suit and think "OHH KING I HAVE A GOOD HAND!" They have little concept of what's good and how to play. I'm not close to a pro but I play a decent amount and try to play smart always.

 

[alexjohnson16]

Just play batshit loose and aggressive and keep the pressure on. I'd imagine the structure for these is shallow, so you might want to google pushbotting and learn the math of pushing hands that amateurs would think are weak.

 

[TCPpacket]

ditto on harrington on hold em. it teaches the fundamentals of tournament poker from a TAG (tight aggressive) perspective. reading vol 1 alone will increase your skills dramatically for tournament play.

 

[CowZ]

out of curiosity, whats your playing style?

 

[flunky nassau]

I become really aggressive when i get to heads up. Avg hands become pretty good hands in heads up. I kinda take a "raise or fold" approach. I rarely call. Either I'll win or lose on an all in, or take blinds. I hate getting blinded out or lose small pots during heads up.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: QueBert
I play a lot of Hold 'Em, I'm like the champ for getting to Heads Up but loosing. Not a title I really like having, 2nd place is just the first looser lol. 2nd place in a neighborhood game with 20 people ain't bad, but when I get to heads up I fall apart quickly. I loose confidence and get bullied way too easily. I play around once a week, somewhere between 14 and 24 people. It's a local friendly game so the stakes are low ($20/$20 rebuy) I finish top 3 most of the time, 1st is very rare for me though. I'm looking for a good book that focuses on the Heads Up aspect because that's where I fail. Figured somewhere here has a good suggestion, there are too many poker books to even know where to begin.

Heads up:
push with top 2/3 of hands ALWAYS
(any pair, ace,k,q,j, suited 10, unsuited connectors, suited 1 off connectors)

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: CowZ
out of curiosity, whats your playing style?

thanks for everyone who made suggestions, I ended up going a little ape shit and bought all 3 of the Herrington No Limit Hold 'Em books. A lot of reading but I should learn enough to kick my game up to where I can hit the Casino for the medium tournys that have 100-200 people.

If this was directed at me, I start out slow and feel people out unless it's people I've played against. I don't bluff too much, not big bluffs any ways. If I find one person who sticks out as trying to bully me I go big against them a few hands to see how they play under pressure. I'm a loose player and try to switch it up so people can't figure me out, unless they are just good at reading people. And once in awhile I'll show my cards when everyone else folds, even a bluff. Not sure what they'd call my style, I'm definitely a bit of a maniac. in $20 games with a single $20 re buy I'm not worried about loosing cash so much. I believe I'd play MUCH differently in a even $500 buy in game. It's hard to play safe with only $20 riding you know?