Best Poker Books for Beginners

New to Texas Hold’em? This page features essential reads for starting out, from rule books and etiquette guides to online strategy and foundational thinking. These poker books help you build winning habits from day one.

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 Fundamentals of Playing Online Texas Hold'em

🎧 Fundamentals Of Playing Online Texas Hold'em Poker - Charts and Visuals

Fundamentals of Playing Online Texas Holdem Poker is available as an Audio Book. If you bought the Audio Book or plan to buy the audio book, all the charts and visuals to follow along and reinforce key concepts as you listen are available here at PlayGreatPoker. Learn more about Audio Book

Companion Application to the Book - The Poker Coach

The Poker Coach is a Companion Application to the Book -- Fundamentals of Playing Online Texas Holdem Poker. The strategies and techniques used by The Poker Coach were developed with the help of Mike Matteo and based on his Book. The Poker Coach and Mike's Book are a perfect combination for learning the Fundamentals of Online Poker. Learn more about The Poker Coach

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

Texas Hold'em Poker 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

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

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

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

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