Learning
The best poker books for beginners, and what to practice after each
Solved Hand5 min read
You can read about an idea in an afternoon and spend hundreds of hands learning to use it. The books below form a study sequence, but beginners do not need to read all six. Start with the book that fits your problem: basic decisions, tournaments or tilt. The last two are advanced follow-up reading. After each one comes the drill or tool on this site that practices what it teaches.
01The six books at a glance
| Book | Author | Year | Practice after it |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Theory of Poker | David Sklansky | 1987 | Pot odds and implied odds |
| Harrington on Hold'em, Volume 1 | Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie | 2004 | Push/fold charts |
| Thinking in Bets | Annie Duke | 2018 | The variance simulator |
| The Mental Game of Poker | Jared Tendler and Barry Carter | 2011 | The mental game page |
| The Mathematics of Poker | Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman | 2006 | Bluff break-even math |
| Modern Poker Theory | Michael Acevedo | 2019 | Solved preflop charts |
02The Theory of Poker, David Sklansky
Sklansky's book first came out in 1978 under another title, and the final version appeared in 1987. It suits a reader who already knows the rules and wants to understand the reasoning behind decisions. It covers , semi-bluffing, , bluffing frequency and position, and it states the fundamental theorem of poker: each time you play a hand differently from how you would if you could see your opponent's cards, they gain, and each time you play it the same way, they lose.
The examples come from many forms of poker, some rarely dealt today, but many of the ideas transfer to hold'em, though modern ranges, bet sizes and multiway play need more specific treatment. After reading it, practice the calculations until they are quick: the poker math page has every formula with a worked example, and the pot odds calculator checks your answers.
03Harrington on Hold'em, Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie
Volume 1, Strategic Play, came out in 2004, followed by The Endgame in 2005 and a workbook in 2006. The series is about no-limit hold'em tournaments and goes through each stage of one, from the early levels to the late game. If you play cash games only, skip it for now.
For a tournament reader, use the series to practise reasoning through a hand rather than copying every old sizing recommendation. Short-stack push/fold is one restricted model to study alongside small raises and limps. The push/fold charts show its answer for each configured seat and stack, and the post on reading a push/fold chart explains how they are built.
04Thinking in Bets, Annie Duke
Duke's 2018 book is about decisions under uncertainty, poker among them. Its main point is separating the quality of a decision from the result it happened to produce; judging a decision by its outcome alone is the habit she calls resulting.
That matters most in a downswing, when good play loses money for weeks. The variance simulator shows how far a winning player's results can spread over the same number of games, which makes the book's point with your own win rate.
05The Mental Game of Poker, Jared Tendler and Barry Carter
Published in 2011, it treats tilt, confidence, motivation and coping with variance as problems with causes you can find and fix, rather than as luck or character. Try it if your play gets worse after a bad beat.
The mental game page has short lessons on tilt, variance, results against decisions and a session routine, each with graded questions.
06The Mathematics of Poker, Bill Chen and Jerrod Ankenman
This 2006 book uses game theory and simplified games to work out questions such as how often to bluff and how to mix your play so an opponent cannot exploit it. It is dense and assumes comfort with algebra, so leave it until you are comfortable with the earlier calculations. It assumes you already know the rules.
Start with the simplest result it builds on: how often a bluff has to work to break even. How often a bluff has to work does the math for common bet sizes.
07Modern Poker Theory, Michael Acevedo
Acevedo's 2019 book builds a no-limit hold'em strategy from game theory optimal principles, the approach solvers compute. It is an advanced follow-up once you understand ranges and what a solver is trying to do. A complete beginner can leave it until later.
The trainer's preflop charts are solver output, so they show the kind of strategy the book describes. This is the button's opening range at 100 big blinds:
| AA: raise 100% | AKs: raise 100% | AQs: raise 100% | AJs: raise 100% | ATs: raise 100% | A9s: raise 100% | A8s: raise 100% | A7s: raise 100% | A6s: raise 100% | A5s: raise 100% | A4s: raise 100% | A3s: raise 100% | A2s: raise 100% |
| AKo: raise 100% | KK: raise 100% | KQs: raise 100% | KJs: raise 100% | KTs: raise 100% | K9s: raise 100% | K8s: raise 100% | K7s: raise 100% | K6s: raise 100% | K5s: raise 100% | K4s: raise 100% | K3s: raise 100% | K2s: raise 100% |
| AQo: raise 100% | KQo: raise 100% | QQ: raise 100% | QJs: raise 100% | QTs: raise 100% | Q9s: raise 100% | Q8s: raise 100% | Q7s: raise 100% | Q6s: raise 100% | Q5s: raise 100% | Q4s: raise 100% | Q3s: raise 95%, fold 5% | Q2s: raise 45%, fold 55% |
| AJo: raise 100% | KJo: raise 100% | QJo: raise 100% | JJ: raise 100% | JTs: raise 100% | J9s: raise 100% | J8s: raise 100% | J7s: raise 100% | J6s: raise 80%, fold 20% | J5s: raise 30%, fold 70% | J4s | J3s | J2s |
| ATo: raise 100% | KTo: raise 100% | QTo: raise 100% | JTo: raise 100% | TT: raise 100% | T9s: raise 100% | T8s: raise 100% | T7s: raise 100% | T6s: raise 60%, fold 40% | T5s | T4s | T3s | T2s |
| A9o: raise 100% | K9o: raise 100% | Q9o: raise 100% | J9o: raise 100% | T9o: raise 100% | 99: raise 100% | 98s: raise 100% | 97s: raise 100% | 96s: raise 85%, fold 15% | 95s | 94s | 93s | 92s |
| A8o: raise 100% | K8o: raise 100% | Q8o: raise 100% | J8o: raise 5%, fold 95% | T8o | 98o | 88: raise 100% | 87s: raise 100% | 86s: raise 100% | 85s | 84s | 83s | 82s |
| A7o: raise 100% | K7o: raise 100% | Q7o | J7o | T7o | 97o | 87o | 77: raise 100% | 76s: raise 100% | 75s: raise 90%, fold 10% | 74s | 73s | 72s |
| A6o: raise 100% | K6o: raise 100% | Q6o | J6o | T6o | 96o | 86o | 76o | 66: raise 100% | 65s: raise 100% | 64s | 63s | 62s |
| A5o: raise 100% | K5o: raise 60%, fold 40% | Q5o | J5o | T5o | 95o | 85o | 75o | 65o | 55: raise 100% | 54s: raise 100% | 53s | 52s |
| A4o: raise 100% | K4o | Q4o | J4o | T4o | 94o | 84o | 74o | 64o | 54o | 44: raise 100% | 43s | 42s |
| A3o: raise 100% | K3o | Q3o | J3o | T3o | 93o | 83o | 73o | 63o | 53o | 43o | 33: raise 100% | 32s |
| A2o: raise 100% | K2o | Q2o | J2o | T2o | 92o | 82o | 72o | 62o | 52o | 42o | 32o | 22: raise 100% |
RaiseCallFold
Every chart is on the preflop charts page, and the chart drill tests you on them until the ranges stick.
Try itThe learning pathShort lessons and drills that practice these ideas in order, from your first preflop decision to a full hand.Sources
- The Theory of Poker, Wikipedia
- Harrington on Hold 'em, Wikipedia
- Thinking in Bets, Penguin Random House
- The Mental Game of Poker, Jared Tendler
- The mathematics of poker, library record, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University Library
- Modern poker theory, library record, Vaski libraries
Solved Hand is a study tool with no real money. Nothing here is gambling or financial advice; see the disclaimer and how the charts and grades are made. If gambling is causing you harm, here is where to get help.