who reads poker books?

[PestoSauce 0]

What percentage of players actually read and apply strategies in poker books? I would guess that it's a very small percentage. Maybe 10%. Any guesses or speculations? Thanks.

[KKsuited 0]

I'm not sure, but the % that should read a book or 2 is pretty high.I realize there is no book that will show you how to beat everyone at poker, but reading all of them will only help you understand the game better.To read most of the books out there, you have to have a pretty good understanding of the game already.Doyle's section in SS helped my game a ton. Not how he plays AK in late position type stuff, but his overall fast play philosophy.

[PestoSauce 0]

I'm not sure, but the % that should read a book or 2 is pretty high.I realize there is no book that will show you how to beat everyone at poker, but reading all of them will only help you understand the game better.To read most of the books out there, you have to have a pretty good understanding of the game already.Doyle's section in SS helped my game a ton. Not how he plays AK in late position type stuff, but his overall fast play philosophy.

Don't you think that in some twisted way, we don't want our opponents to read these books since it may give them an edge. I mean, some people take poker seriously, and some don't. I'd rather play against weak players that "should" read some books. Cuz if everyone we played with played great poker, the less mistakes they would make. And that's not good for our expectation.

[KKsuited 0]

yeah, I'd agree with that pesto.

[Shred 0]

There are quite a few players that I know who don't read any books and have a good solid understanding of the game. However, I've also noticed that some of these players have some large leak in their game. I think books help round out areas where a player doesn't pick up naturally.I tend to read poker books just because I enjoy reading them. Sometimes different authors contradict each other but most of the time the concepts are about the same. I enjoy analyzing what the author is trying to say and sometimes I don't agree with everything. I particularly like Ciaffone's approach, but also Sklansky, Malmuth, Brier, Reuben, and others.I also think that after a lot of experience at the tables and re-reading books you get even more out of them as you start to relate to different situations where you might not have fully grasped the first time around. This also goes for moving up in limits as the conditions change.

[SuperNashwan 0]

One of the most important things Sklansky points out is that poker is hard to learn by observing patterns due to its randomness, so reading a few books can give you a massive head start rather than working through tens of thousands of hands for yourself. If someone with as much experience as say Bob Ciaffone wants to share that with you, you'd be an idiot not to give it a look. IIRC even Gus Hansen has read Sklansky's Theory of Poker. Also, something as abstract as chasing with pot odds isn't really something you'll pick up by intuition unless you're some kind of genius.

[Guest XXEddie]

I cant read a book.....my mind cant focus enough. so I watch DVD's

[Socrates 0]

I read a lot of books and I employ a lot of the strategies based on certain games. I find that sometimes I have to take a strategy from one book and then possibly modify it with another strategy from another book based on the way a hand develops. I eventually re-read all of my books a few times and they all start to mesh together. It works out well and I usually have a few different approaches that I can choose from that can all be successful.With that said, I also know a lot of people who read poker books and then totally disregard everything they read in the belief that they knew how to make a better play. So I think if you were to look at this number, you should ask "who reads poker books?" and then add, "who actually adheres to the strategies?" - I think you'd find a small number that actually read them and an even smaller portion that actually follow the proven strategies.

[KDawgCometh 2]

i read poker books and read them vigorusly. To me the more knowledge the better, and I do my best to apply the theories in them. I feel that if you wantto get good its very ignorant to dismiss them, JMO