Poker Books and Reviews

Based on his experiences in the strange world of poker, May's debut novel Shut Up and Deal is the story of a nontraditional '90s slacker, a dropout with an incurable obsession and incredible stamina, who makes a career in a profession where the only goals are to stay in action and to not go broke. In Shut Up and Deal, a professional poker player takes readers along on his adventures over several years in and out of casinos and card rooms in locales such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Amsterdam.
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This revealing book uncovers for the first time the amazing world of professional poker in Britain, and tells the story of the country's top poker professional -- Dave ‘The Devilfish' Ulliott. Ulliott is a former safe cracker who spent his 21st birthday in prison, became a pawnbroker, and then conquered the poker world, winning the first Late-Night Poker final and a World Series gold bracelet. Des Wilson's book is must-read for anyone who is part of, or fascinated by, the growth of professional poker, from yesterday's illegal back-street card games to the cyberspace and television.
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Take Me to the River is a hilarious, heart-wrenching tale of Las Vegas and an exploration of what it means to be part of one of the fastest-growing and most popular sports in the United States, at the moment of its apogee, and of the lessons that poker has to teach about probability and luck, good and bad fortune, patience, perseverance, and -- most fitting for a man with marriage in his near future -- commitment.

The Tiltboys -- even casual poker fan will recognize Phil Gordon, the ringleader of this bunch of seemingly devil-may-care gamblers. Gordon is the expert commentator for TV's 'Celebrity Poker Showdown.' The rest are a bunch of buddies who went to Stanford together and began a weekly poker game that led to weekend trips to Las Vegas and, for a few of them, to a life of playing poker professionally. Phil Gordon made dot.com millions and is now living the good life in the poker world and on television. Perry Friedman won a World Series of Poker event. Dave 'Diceboy' Lambert is, according to the other Tiltboys, the luckiest human being on the planet.Kim 'Tiltmom' Scheinbert is the backagammon assassin. They are the leaders of this pack of 13 who will bet on how long it will take an old lady to cross the street, or whose luggage will come down the carousel at the airport first. They are the gang your parents warned you about but are also the gang your parents would welcome with open arms.
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Hold'em Poker is highly predisposed to probability-based decisions. The book presents the mathematics involved in card distributions in hold'em and provides a precise account of the odds associated with all gaming events. The author is a recognized authority on casino mathematics. No formal background in mathematics is necessary for reading this book, although comfort with some probability and set theory notions is helpful. In most cases, you'll need some college math to follow the formulas but this is not a requirement, because the numerical results are collected in tables at the end of each section. The work is packed with formulas, algorithms and tables. Its primary goal is to allow the reader to quickly find the odds for own hand and for opponent's hand, in order to improve his/her betting decisions.
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Even though the math behind the game of poker is fairly simple, some people still don't understand how to derive numbers and/or how to use them in action. Matthew Hilger, author of a best-selling book on playing poker on the Internet, takes the seemingly complex subject and breaks it down into usable information. He covers limit and no limit as well as tournament situations and focuses not just on how to calculate odds but also how to apply them to make better decisions. Because he uses everyday language and very few formula, his simple concepts and strategies mean you don't have to be a wiz in math. Illustrated with charts and diagrams, the book spans the math gap to cover the needs of the beginning, intermediate and the experienced player.
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An enjoyable-to-read collection of 52 interviews with the best professional poker players in the world (including Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Phil Gordon, Howard Lederer, Scott Fischman, Chris Moneymaker and Annie Duke) in which they recount the greatest hands of their storied careers. Combining heart-stopping action, dramatic storytelling, larger-than-life characters, and expert instruction, Rosenbloom, the syndicated poker columnist for the Chicago Tribune and the ESPN Poker Club, provides colorful, money-making wisdom from the sharpest minds in the game. Whether you're a newcomer in a friendly weekly game, an on-line shark, or a veteran of Vegas tournaments, this book will teach you to talk, think, and play like a pro.
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Here's the classic that's now back in print. Both an acclaimed author and poker player, A. Alvarez combined his two talents to pen this work which gives a compelling inside look at the world of Las Vegas, of professional poker, and the extremes that go along with each. With the skill of observation and the talent for writing down what he sees, Alvarez captured the psyches of the people who challenge each other in the world's biggest poker tournament, the annual World Series of Poker. For those who have never witnessed this tournament, this book will put you right in the thick of it and you'll think you're actually rubbing elbows with some of the legends of poker.
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Hold'em poker has become more strategically complex. This book teaches strategies in Hold'em that vary with the style of the game. For instance the tactics used in the tight Las Vegas games are not the same as those used in the very loose and aggressive games of southwest Louisiana.

This is a gem of a memoir on poker. Spanier describes his initiation into gambling and then turns to describing the game he loves best...poker. Full of frank and amusing personal anecdotes and observations about poker this book is an absolute pleasure to read.

Completely updated and revised, this edition contains the entire spectrum of poker terminology, from the common ('Texas hold 'em') to the obscure ('Dewey Duck'), illustrated by thousands of colorful examples actually heard in cardrooms. If you've ever wondered about the correct way to use a poker term or were bewildered by what your poker-playing cohorts were saying, here's the one book that explains it all. You will find The Official Dictionary of Poker valuable as a reference; you will return to it frequently as a fun read.