Texas Holdem Books


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The below list of books has been pre-screened by Play Great Poker and ranks these as the Best Poker Books for Texas Holdem. The list contains the best Texas Holdem books for both live poker and online poker. The primary goal of the list is to provide the site's visitors with a variety of poker strategy books, including Poker for Dummies, best cash game poker books, online poker books, satellite tournaments, the best advanced strategy poker books and the best poker strategy books for beginners. The list contains books for a variety of skill levels from Poker for Dummies to more experienced skilled poker players.


Featured Poker Book - Best Poker Book for Online Players


Play Great Poker ranks 'Fundamentals of Playing Online Texas Hold'em' as the Best Poker Book for those looking to start online for the first time or are new to online.

This Texas Hold’em poker book by Alexander Fitzgerald is targeted at live players. The book focuses on numerous situations where even very experienced players behave in predictable ways. Explore our list of Omaha & Texas Hold'em Poker Books at Barnes & Noble®. Get your order fast and stress free with free curbside pickup. Texas HoldEm Poker. Can YOU make it to Macao? Head to our in-game Tournament Center and win one of these prestigious rings NOW: 471471.

Fundamentals of Playing Online Texas Hold'em : By Mike Matteo
Fundamentals of Playing Online Texas Hold'em is a complete Guide from getting started to becoming a winning online player. This is the best poker book for those looking to start online for the first time or are new to online and need help with techniques and strategies, as well as any online poker player interested in enhancing their Poker knowledge. The book covers things like the history of online poker, differences between live and online, multi-tabling, to moving up the ranks, but the heart of the book is its Fundamental Building Blocks for strategy. The Fundamental Building Blocks are the core strategies that need to be mastered first when playing online. These Building Blocks are designed to enforce a base set of strategies that most if not all winning online players utilize as well as targeting the most common game situations. These Building Blocks include Poker Strategies such as Positional Awareness, Starting Hands, HUDs, Blind Play, Poker Math, CBetting, Profiling Players and Tilt. Read More about the Book our Poker Experts rated the Best Poker Book for Online Poker
Hear Author Mike Matteo Interviewed about the Book on the Carrot Corner Podcast
Mike Matteo was Interviewed about his book by fellow Poker Author Peter Clark, who is also known in the poker community as ‘Carroters’, on the Carrot Corner Podcast. Listen to the Poker Podcast

Featured Poker Book - Best Poker Book for Live Players


Annie Duke: Decide to Play Great Poker: A Strategy Guide to No-Limit Texas Hold'em
This Texas Hold’em poker book is by Annie Duke and John Vorhaus. Even though this book has a similar name to this website, they are not associated in any way. Decide to Play Great Poker is an Annie Duke Book that teaches you how to make the best decisions in a variety of game situations. This book is by many considered one of the best poker books on game theory and decision making in poker. You won’t find any hand charts in this book. Annie does not dictate a bunch of rules that do not work in every case because every game is different. In this poker book, Annie Duke teaches you to think and make the best decisions, as well as how to stay out of tough situations. This book is a combination of game theory and the math behind every play, whether it’s bet sizing, cbetting or bluffing. If you believe that consistently making the best decisions is the way to win at Texas Hold’em poker, then this poker book is the best poker book for you. There is also an Audio Book available, and it’s read by Annie Duke herself. Annie is very smooth in the audiobook and it’s easy to listen to. Read Full Review of the Annie Duke Book: Decide to Play Great Poker

Recommended - Best Poker Books


Top Recommended Book : Preflop Online Poker
Preflop Online Poker is one of the best Texas Hold’em poker books for those players playing online poker and looking to enhance their skill set. Sky Matsuhashi presents an easy-to-follow road map that will help you build necessary pre-flop skills, making online poker easier and more profitable. This is one of the best books for combining learning online strategies and methods on how to practice those skills. Read More about Preflop Online Poker


Molly's Game: From Hollywood’s Elite, to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker
Molly’s Game, written by Molly Bloom is a true story of the most exclusive high-stakes underground poker game. This very popular poker book is not an instructional book but is rated one of the best poker books because of the fascinating nature of the world’s most famous underground Poker Game. In this book, the readers see a behind the scenes story about how a beautiful Olympic-class skier who ran the highest stakes, most exclusive poker game Hollywood had ever seen which included celebrities, sports stars, business moguls, millionaires, and even the Russian mob. Hundreds of millions of dollars were won and lost at her tables. Molly’s game became the game for those in the know. The game went on for a decade until she was arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Watch a Video and Read More about Molly's Game


The Myth of Poker Talent: Why Anyone Can Be a Great Poker Player
The concept of this poker book is that you don’t need to be the smartest and most talented poker player in the world to win at Texas Hold’em poker. This book is by Alexander Fitzgerald, one of the top poker coaches in the world. Alex’s method focuses on understanding generic poker situations and not specific hands. As a highly experienced teacher, he expresses his ideas in simple, easy-to-understand language. This book is one of the best poker books for those who believe that you can become really good a poker through study and hard work. Read about one of the Best Poker Books on Amazon


Exploitative Play in Live Poker: How to Manipulate your Opponents into Making Mistakes
This Texas Hold’em poker book by Alexander Fitzgerald is targeted at live players. The book focuses on numerous situations where even very experienced players behave in predictable ways. These deeply-ingrained habits lead them to make mistakes. Alex is a highly successful player and one of the best poker coaches in the world. This may be the best poker book for you if you are a live player. Read about one of the Best Poker Books on Amazon


Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Cash Games
Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Cash Games is written by Jonathan Little. Jonathan Little is a professional poker player who has won over $6,000,000. This poker book is targeted at small stakes cash games. In this book, Jonathan went to the Borgata in Atlantic City and played small stakes cash games documenting techniques that worked at those stakes. The book shows how to alter the standard basic strategy, what Jonathan refers to as “getting out of line”, to adjust to different opponent types. This is one of the Best Poker Books for small stakes Cash Games. Read about Strategies for Beating Small Stakes Poker Cash Games on Amazon


Jonathan Little's Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em: Leading Poker Experts Discuss How to Study, Play and Master NLHE
Jonathan Little's Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em is written by Jonathan Little. Jonathan brings together 17 of the Greatest No Limit Texas Holdem Players to discuss a wide range of topics covering information for players of all type from beginner to advanced and the cash game as well as tournaments. These experts are some of the best poker players in the world. They include superstars such as Alexander Fitzgerald, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker, Mike Sexton, and Jared Tendler. Jonathan’s primary reason behind this book is that, unlike professionals players, most armatures don’t have access to poker experts to talk poker. By assembling a wide variety of experts covering varying subjects it can bridge some of that divide. This is one of the best poker books for getting a wide range of information from numerous professional authors across a wide variety of No Limit Texas Holdem Poker topics. Read about one of the best poker books from numerous professional authors on Amazon


Texas Hold'em For Dummies
Texas Hold'em For Dummies is written by Mark Harlan. This poker for dummies book is one in an extensive collection on the various topics of books named “For Dummies”, which is targeted to someone new to the subject. This Poker for Dummies book introduces the readers to the fundamental concepts and strategies of Texas Hold'em. It covers the rules for playing and betting, odds, etiquette, Hold'em lingo, and offers sound advice to avoid mistakes. This handy reference guide gives new and even seasoned players winning strategies and tactics not just for playing the game, but for winning. It’s a good first book for those new to the game. Even though it’s an older poker book, it may be one of the best poker books for someone brand new to Texas Hold’em. Read about Texas Holdem Poker for Dummies on Amazon


The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More
The Mental Game of Poker is written by Jared Tendler. We all suffer from tilt in poker, which is a term that is often used to describe the angry or frustrated emotional state of a player causing them to play bad or out of control. This poker book is one of the best, if not the best poker book for learning how to manage tilt, but goes beyond that covering many psychological aspects of the game like handling variance, confidence, and fear. This poker book, Jared lays out step by step instruction and techniques to handle different situations with strategies that will help each situation. This book is absolutely considered to be one of the best poker books for improving your mental game. Read about The Mental Game of Poker on Amazon


Fundamentals of Exploitative Online Poker: Learn to Exploit Your Opponents Through HUD Stats, Player Tendencies and Table Selection
This Texas Hold’em Online Poker Book by Alton Hardin is targeted at online players. The book focuses on utilizing HUDs with online poker. Alton covers the basic HUDs and how to best use them against certain opponent types. He covers the player types and how to select the best tables. This Poker Book is best for those looking to understand how to leverage HUDs with online Texas Holdem Poker. Read about one of the Best Poker Books on Amazon


The Grinder's Manual: A Complete Course in Online No Limit Holdem 6-Max Cash Games
The Grinder's Manual is written by Peter Clarke. Peter Clarke, who is also known as Carroters, is one of the top poker coaches for No Limit Online Texas Holdem. He specializes in 6-Max online Poker. The Grinder's Manual: A Complete Course in Online No Limit Holdem 6-Max Cash Games is only available in the Kindle Format. This is a complete and detailed textbook similar to a college textbook and is targeted at 6-Max online poker. This poker book is 540 pages covering everything from opening ranges to game theory based post-flop balanced strategies. This is one of the best poker books for those already playing online and want to step up their game. Best texas holdRead about one of the Best Poker Books for 6-Max Cash Games on Amazon


100 Hands: 100 Detailed Solutions to 100 6-Max Cash Problems
100 Hands is written by Peter Clarke. Peter Clarke, who is also known as Carroters, is one of the top poker coaches for No Limit Online Texas Holdem. He specializes in 6-Max online Poker. This book is best read after reading Peter’s other book the Grinders Manual. Peter even suggests reading the Grinders Manual prior to reading this book. Peter selects 100 problem hands to review. Out of the 100 hands, 50 of the hands were played by Peter primarily at 2550 cents 6-Max Cash online and 50 hands were submitted by students from all different stakes. This book is best used by reading the hand, trying to analyze it yourself, and then flipping to the next page to read Peter’s analysis. As Peter says, it's like having a poker coach looking over your shoulder. This 416-page book is available on Kindle only. Read about one of the Best Poker Books for 6-Max Cash Games on Amazon


How To Study Poker: Volume 1: Techniques For Making You A Better Player Today Than You Were Yesterday
This poker book is written by Sky Matsuhashi, the creator and owner of the 'Smart Poker Study Podcast.' This book is targeted at helping poker study and improve one skill at a time. This book is one of the best poker books for the player that focuses on many skills but never masters any of them. This book teaches a system of poker study that will help you master one skill at a time while keeping you away from poker concept overload. If you are looking for a poker book that helps with studying poker, then this is one of the best poker books for you. Read about one of the Best Poker Books for Studying on Amazon


How to Study Poker Volume 2: A Proven Playbook For Increasing Your Poker Skills Through Dedicated Daily Study
This poker book is written by Sky Matsuhashi, the creator and owner of the 'Smart Poker Study Podcast.' This book is a follow up of the 'How to Study Poker: Volume 1'. Sky builds upon the study techniques he taught in that book and shows you how to put them to use through 28 days of poker study that he actually completed. You’ll see all the content he studied, his hand reading practices, his database reviews and filters, many poker equity calculations and all the lessons he learned through this process. This poker book is best used in combination with Sky’s How to Study Poker Volume 1. Read about one of the Best Poker Books for Studying on Amazon


Poker Satellite Strategy: How to qualify for the main events of high stakes live and online poker tournaments
This poker book is written by Dara O’Kearney and Barry Carter. In this book, professional poker player Dara O’Kearney gives you a framework for how to approach every stage of a satellite tournament, from the early levels right up to the bubble. This book takes the stress and uncertainty out of satellites. This surely is one of the best poker books targeted at a satellite tournament. Read about One of the Best Poker Books for Poker Satellite Strategy on Amazon


The Theory of Poker
This poker book is written by David Sklansky. This is an older poker book, but a classic and is still one of the best poker books. It outlined strategies and theories that had never been put to paper before. A must-read for any poker player who wants to be a well-rounded player. The theories and concepts are applicable to nearly every variation of the game, including five-card draw (high), seven-card stud, hold 'em, lowball draw, and razz (seven-card lowball stud). The book contains chapters on bluffing, raising, the slow-play, the value of position, psychology, heads-up play, game theory, implied odds, the free card, and semi-bluffing. Read about The Theory of Poker on Amazon


The Mathematics of Poker
The Mathematics of Poker was written by Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman. The intent of this poker book is to provide techniques where mathematics is applicable to game theory. Beware that some players new to the game and with not much of a math background will have a difficult time understanding the text. It does dive into poker concepts such as value betting, range balancing, and optimal strategy. Even with being a difficult read, it’s one of the best books written on poker mathematics. Read about The Mathematics of Poker on Amazon

There are two types of poker book; the ones you read once and the ones that you read again and again throughout your poker career. I strongly believe that the books below are the latter.

Below is a list of what I believe to be best strategy books in each category from general strategy, no limit cash game strategy, tournament strategy and ebooks.

Texas Hold'em strategy books.

General strategy.

Theory of Poker - David Sklansky - (Intermediate)
  • Published: 1994
  • Price: $20

The Theory of Poker is the best all-round poker book you are going to read. It does not address the game of Texas Hold'em specifically, but the true value of the book is that it teaches you how to think like a winning poker player.

Starting hand charts and quick-fix rules will only take you so far, as being able to make the best plays possible based on your analysis of a situation makes the difference between an average and great player. It's a must read for every serious poker player.

I would however recommend that you have a least a basic knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the game, as the strategy may well be very hard to digest for anyone very new to poker.

Pot Limit & No Limit Poker - Ciaffone and Reuben - (Beginner)
  • Published: 1999
  • Price: $17

This is another great all-round strategy book that covers all of the most popular variants of poker. It is an enjoyable read and contains informative strategy for helping you develop a solid all-round game.

I would personally choose Theory of Poker over this if I could only choose one 'general' strategy book to read, but that's not to say this doesn't have value. I'd would however choose this book over ToP if I was very new to the game due to the fact that it is easier to follow and understand.

Cash game strategy.

No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice - David Sklansky - (Advanced)
  • Published: 2006
  • Price: $20

This book is definitely not an easy read for beginner players, so you should only pick up this book if you already have a sound knowledge of good Hold'em strategy.

No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice can be hard to follow at times, but it does contain a lot of very valuable information. The material is a little complicated, but it is well worth reading if you want to be able to absorb some of the most advanced strategy that you can get from a Hold'em strategy book.

Professional No-Limit Hold'em: Volume I - Ed Miller - (Intermediate)
  • Published: 2007
  • Price: $20

Professional No-Limit Hold'em is an easier read than Theory and Practice, and does a very good job of covering the fundamental strategy for a profitable game. One of the most useful topics of the book is the REM process, which explains the importance of Range, Equity... Maximize - one of the most important concepts to learn about as an intermediate player.

A number of other unique topics are covered in later sections that have no been covered so well in other books. This is not an easy read for beginner players, and it may act as more of a re-cap for advanced players. I would recommend this book to players working on moving from a break-even to winning game.

It's a close call between Theory and Practice and this, but I prefer reading Professional No Limit Hold'em.

Tournament strategy (MTTs and SnGs).

Phil Gordon's Little Green Book - Phil Gordon - (Beginner)
  • Published: 2005
  • Price: $18

This book is a like a collection of gems of information for the game of NL Texas Hold'em. Every time I read it, I pick up something new that I had never fully considered before. It is not the most advanced book out there, but it definitely has a lot to offer to the beginner players and a little something for intermediate players.

The book is split up into digestible segments and is very easy pick out useful information without being overloaded with too much strategy and thought processes at once. I will go ahead and say that this is my favorite Texas Hold'em strategy book to read.

I would recommend that all no limit Hold'em players read this book at some point, regardless of what level you might currently be playing at.

Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 1 - Dan Harrington - (Beginner/Intermediate)
  • Published: 2005
  • Price: $20

The Harrington on Hold'em series is widely regarded as the Bible (Bibles?) for Texas Hold'em tournament strategy. If anyone ever asks for a recommendation on a good tournament strategy book, you can be sure that the question is quickly followed by the acronym HoH.

This first book covers the main bulk of strategic play of tournament poker. The book contains a lot of useful hand examples with each individual being explained very clearly and succinctly. HoH is comfortably one of (if not the) best series of books for tournament poker strategy.

Texas Holdem Books Free Pdf

Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 2 - Dan Harrington - (Beginner/Intermediate)
  • Published: 2005
  • Price: $20

This is the second installment of the HoH series. This book is equally as good as the first and focuses on endgame strategy as opposed to early strategic play.

The majority of tournament players will buy both volume 1 + 2, as they go hand in hand. Think of them as one big book split up in to two. The third installment is more of a optional extra, although it does contain some great stuff.

The Poker Tournament Formula - Arnold Snyder - (Intermediate)
  • Published: 2006
  • Price: $16

This book is the perfect compliment to the HoH series (above). I wouldn't recommend this book over the tournament books by Harrington, but I will say that it should be on the list of essential reading for anyone looking to play solid tournament poker.

The Poker Tournament Formula takes a slightly more aggressive approach to playing poker tournaments, which is why it works to your advantage to read both the HoH series and this. If you are looking to expand your tournament strategy after HoH 1, 2 and 3, look no further.

Best Texas Hold'em Tournament Books

Kill Everyone - Lee Nelson - (Intermediate)

Texas Hold'em Books Written By Pro Player

  • Published: 2007
  • Price: $20

This is the sequel to the widely acclaimed Kill Phil book (not actually written by Phil Helmuth), which had outlined basic strategy for a good preflop game in Hold'em tournaments. This book takes it up a level, and contains more advanced information on how to play later streets. This book covers both MTT and SnG strategy.

Best No Limit Poker Books

Kill Everyone is quite like a Sklansky book in that it contains a lot of great strategy, but it is not an easy read. I wouldn't recommend this book to a novice, but I think that any intermediate player will find this very valuable indeed.

Sit 'n Go Strategy - Colin Moshman - (Beginner/Intermediate)
  • Published: 2007
  • Price: $17

As you would expect, this book focuses on the Sit 'n Go tournament structure as opposed to the larger MTT games. I believe that this is the best NL SNG specific strategy book out there, with the book being packed with quality strategy and very informative hand examples.

This isn't a book for complete novices, as it does require that you have some basic knowledge of SnG games and how to play poker. However, I think that a beginner player should be able to digest the majority of information in this book.

Overall, you're not going to find a better strategy book for Sit 'n Go poker games.

For a big list of very useful and informative reviews on the majority of these books, check out the LV Revealed gambling book reviews. The user reviews on the Amazon site itself also do a very honest job of helping you find the better books.

If books are not really your thing, there is a handful of genuinely useful poker DVDs out there to buy.

Strategy ebooks.

There are a load of really bad Texas Hold'em strategy ebooks out there, so be careful. Anybody can write an 'ebook', claim it is the best strategy in the world and then sell it to the unsuspecting visitor. When it comes to poker ebooks, you are far better off going on recommendations as opposed to how good the sales page sounds.

Below are the top ebook-only strategy books for the intermediate/advanced player. These are genuinely valuable ebooks with great strategic advice.

Ryan Fee's 6max NL Strategy Guide - Ryan Fee - (Intermediate/Advanced)
  • Price: Free (yeah, seriously).
  • www.gamblingsystem.biz/books/2p2NL6max.pdf (used to be www.ryanfee.com, but looks like it's no longer around)

This is a widely acclaimed strategy guide for playing small stakes 6max NL Texas Hold'em. You are not going to find a more informative ebook with such great strategy anywhere else, and I highly recommend that every 6max player reads this book - it's a gem.

Here is a 2+2 thread discussing the ebook.

As I say, you should be very skeptical about any ebook with a big long sales page. Anyone can write a book and tell you it's the best strategy ever, but a lot of the time they do not deliver. If you ever have any concerns about the quality of an ebook or normal book, search for online reviews. The 2+2 forums usually give very critical and honest advice, so try searching those.