I had mentioned in my previous blog post that I was going to do a book review, but this is going to be more like a book recommendation guide. I'm not going to go into detail but I'll tell you if I liked it and who I think would benefit from reading it.
Since the start of the year, I have read the following 3 books:
1) The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler with Barry Carter
I really can't imagine any poker player who wouldn't benefit from reading this book. The mental game is something I know I overlooked for so long, as have most of my other poker player friends, which really doesn't make sense. As I learned from the beginning of the book- I was/am a huge mental game fish, and if you haven't read this book, you probably are too.
Jared is fantastic. In the middle of reading the book, I took a look at his website and noticed that he was available for personal coaching sessions. I did some research, and after reading and hearing only good things about him, I decided to go ahead and get working with Jared personally. I've had two sessions with him so far and I am beyond impressed. Get this book!
2) Treat Your Poker Like a Buisness by Dusty Schmidt
I've been reading this for the past week or so. I'm about 85% done, and from what I've read there is a lot of good content. I think this book would be especially helpful for poker players with a lackadaisical approach to playing poker. As someone with a strong work ethic, I felt like a good chunk of this book was reiterating my own approach to the game; an approach that I feel has been one of the main reasons for the success that I've had. It certainly isn't my Phil Ivey like poker skills! There is a decent amount on strategy, but I was hoping for more (though obviously that wasn't his goal with this book). If your looking to step up your 'business like' approach to the game, and get some real inspiration and tools to doing so, this is the book.
3) Building a Bankroll, Full Ring Edition by Pawel "Verneer" Nazarewicz
Last but certainly not least. I read this book by accident. My friend Galen "Gakn29" is friends with Pawel and had brought the book to my house one night. He left it here, and one day eating breakfast in the kitchen with nothing to read and no one to talk to, I thought I'd open it up and take a look. Considering the book was recommended for micro and small stakes players, I thought it would be pretty basic and that I would just look through it for fun. Well, I ended up reading the whole thing front to back. Not only is it extremely organized and well written, it's full of great information and he covers all aspects of the game. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to get into cash games, playing micro/low stakes, or just lacking solid cash game fundamentals.
Not sure what my next read will be, but I'm looking for something focusing on advanced strategy. Any suggestions?
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