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Best Selling Poker Books of 2014How did the new books compare to the old classics? Well, we will let the data speak for itself. Take a look at the list of the best selling poker books of 2014.Deal Me In and Eat Professional Poker Players Alive ReviewedThere isn't a clear path by which people become professional poker players. There aren't any good courses at the local vo-tech for a person to study. The road to becoming a poker pro is inevitably difficult, circuitous, and filled with setbacks. Deal Me In is a book describing the course by which twenty top poker players became professionals. Poker Winners Are DifferentThere is a big difference between what's typical human behavior and what is called for to play poker at a high level. There aren't a lot of people for whom maximizing their expectation in poker games comes naturally. Poker Winners Are Different by Alan Schoonmaker examines this conundrum.

Positively Fifth Street

by James McManus

The two book canon of great poker literature that had previously included The Biggest Game in Town and Big Deal must now be expanded to include Positively Fifth Street. James McManus is articulate and engaging in his narration of the events that he experienced during the 2000 World Series of Poker. As poker literature goes, this is first rate.

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Positively Fifth Street is Spellbinding Stuff

by Howard Schwartz

McManus is one diverse individual. He's written four novels, two books on poetry, writer for magazines and newspapers and happens to be a sports journalist as well. He teaches a course on the literature

Howard Schwartz, the "librarian for gamblers," is the marketing director for Gambler's Book Club in Las Vegas, a position he has held since 1979. Author of hundreds of articles on gambling, his weekly book reviews appear in numerous publications throughout the gaming industry. Howard's website is www.gamblersbook.com and science of poker at the Art Institute of Chicago. He made it to the finals of the prestigious World Series of Poker and took home a hefty bundle. Along the way, he captured the flavor, excitement and colorful backdrop of Las Vegas, with its characters, high rollers, hustlers, survivors and table warriors.

McManus was able to penetrate the wild, wacky, talented, in-for-the-kill world of gamblers—with a keen eye and a sensitive ear to those who have the ability to handle a $100,000 raise at the poker table. “Lying in wait is what good poker players do best. More than any other character flaw, overeagerness is what does in the rest of us,” McManus observed—not only the weakness of too many amateur poker players, but of Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish, two individuals tried and convicted of the murder of Ted Binion.

McManus, a great admirer of game theorist John von Neumann, writes about the science of poker; bluffing; how poker imitates life; how the new generation of players hone their game, with advanced books; computer software. He details the way class players view life, money, the power to destroy opponents with a subtle move here, a hidden pair there. What's it like fighting your way to the final table of a poker tournament where the buy-in is $10,000? McManus weaves together his World Series adventure, the murder, the trial, the outcome, the life surrounding high-stakes poker and the underbelly of the Las Vegas gambling scene.