PokertardThe best lessons from the poker books

In his chapter entitled “The Art of Defense“, Dan Harrington provides some rules of thumb with regard to defending against certain player types. The chapter isn’t extensive, but it really shouldn’t be; in considering defense tactics, the psychology of the moment is at least as important as the cards being held.
For conservative players, Harrington just [...]

As has been stated by many authors on poker strategy, starting hand rankings are a key concept to learn. Sklansky and Malmuth take the idea further, categorizing hands into groups then detailing which groups of hands can be played based on the situation. They use 8 groups, with the first group being exactly what you [...]

Short answer: Play tight.
Need more information?
Ok, with no raise in front of you, big Aces and big pairs can be raised. Middle pairs and painted one and two gappers can be called, but must be played very carefully after the flop. If you’re a beginner, fold them. So much of the play associated with these [...]

At every table online there is always one person that bluffs indiscriminately. Bluffing is a tactic that needs to be used in context. That is, the bet has to make sense when considered with the preceding action and the strategic considerations (when playing tournaments).
The first consideration is who to bluff. For instance, in a tournament [...]

Back in the post about Pot Odds, we discussed knowing the odds of making your hand in relation to the size of the bet you are facing and the size of the pot to be won. But, how do you know the odds of making your hand?
1. Count the number of cards that will give [...]

Another subject on which I’d like to have some recurring posts is in the area of advice from the masters and legends of poker. For this post, I thought it might be appropriate to start with Mike Caro’s general winning advice. Just a couple of nuggets:
“Here’s how to play your strongest hands on early [...]

I’ll probably make this a recurring post, because while the number of events that can occur on the flop is not infinite, there are certainly more than any one person can hope to grasp in a single sitting. So, for now, here’s a couple things to think about as you decide which hands to play [...]

David Sklansky’s Theory of Poker is considered a seminal book for the discussion of mathematics and statistics in poker. He introduces the concept of Expectation as applied to gambling, but really it can be applied to any risk-based transaction from the stock market to the lottery.
The basic example he uses of a coin-flip makes it [...]

Without a doubt, the best and easiest text to read on tournament play is Dan Harrington’s Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play. In this book, Harrington lays out how to “think” during a tournament - understanding that your strategy is constantly changing as elements around you change. [...]

Phil Hellmuth’s Play Poker Like the Pros is a controversial book because, in part, he advocates a strategy that is what most experienced players consider weak-tight; that is, he doesn’t think beginners ought to be playing many hands, and when they play they should be looking for reasons to lay down the hand.
At least, that’s [...]