It is possible to play poker for profit. But it is also a poker fact that most players lose. Perhaps 75% of players are significant losers. Most of the rest are small losers, break-even, or small winners. Only about 5% of players are significant winners. So it isn't enough to be better than average-- you have to be very good, relative to your opponents, to be a winner.
Developing that kind of skill requires hard work and study as well as play experience. If you choose to be one of the few winners, you'll need to become familiar with the resources on this page.
This is a noncommercial page and will remain so. Where links to commercial pages are provided, I try to provide a link to a free or competing commercial alternative. If you have a site that provides content that is useful for beginning or inexperienced players, feel free to link to this page.
Disclaimer: I believe the information on this page is useful and reliable but I offer no warranty of any kind. If you want to play poker well, you'll have to get used to using your own discretion.
Private coaching is not generally affordable for casual small-stakes players. A less expensive alternative is online video-based training. The number of these kinds of sites has exploded, with many well known players starting their own sites. These sites have some free information, including sample videos, but full access to videos is restricted to paying members.
StoxPoker was started by a very succesful limit Hold'em player. However, the emphasis has shifted to no limit.
CardPlayer is an online magazine
of news, strategy, and entertainment articles and video. Their
contributors are among the best known names in poker.
Pokerroad. Audio and video news,
interviews, and discussion.
Pokerlistings. Poker news,
blogs, forums, strategy articles, and other information of interest to
poker players.
There are many, many poker books now available. Unfortunately, most are mediocre or awful. A handful, like those listed below, are excellent.
The following capsule reviews represent my opinions, so I'll say this
about my qualifications: I am a recreational player who started playing a
few years ago. I have been successful at small stakes, but I am not an expert
player. However, I do take my hobby seriously, and since I like
books, I've managed to amass a fair-sized poker library. The books below are those
that have most
helped to improve my understanding of the game.
Getting Started in Hold'em, by Ed Miller. A solid foundation for beginners. Covers cash games, tournaments, and No Limit as well as
Limit Hold'em. The Limit portion of the book is presented in a unique
way, for a beginner's book. Basic concepts are illustrated through a
series of extensively analyzed hand examples. The part of the book dealing
with No Limit cash games describes a simple short-stack strategy
that can make a beginner a small winner. Even experienced players
often fail to understand the advantage of a short stack, so there
is something in this book even for players who have already gotten
started in Hold'em.
Small Stakes Hold'em, by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason
Malmuth. This was Ed Miller's first book and he is the primary author
here. This book was a revelation when it came out because it
contains advanced ideas
on how to beat loose players in Limit Hold'em cash games. The basic
approach is to accurately evaluate a hand's equity in any given situation.
Preflop value is conceptually described and specific guidelines for
preflop play are summarized in
tables. The assignment of postflop value for draws is
done by careful
counting and
discounting of outs while considering pot and implied odds. Other
important aspects of play in loose game such as
protecting your hand and relentless betting for value are also covered.
There are a large number of hand exercises.
Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players, by David
Sklansky and
Mason Malmuth. This book is written for games in which the players
play a few too many hands, but are decent postflop. As the poker boom
recedes and truly horrible players become scarce, this book may become
more relevant.
Weighing the Odds in Limit Hold'em, by King Yao. This
book doesn't begin all that well, as Yao spends much space discussing a
simplified method of calculating odds, which I didn't find helpful.
However, the key feature, and the great value, of this book is his
consistent use of expected
value calculations to analyze poker situations. This book is also
noteworthy
because it includes some good material on
short-handed play, which is a topic that isn't well covered in the
poker literature.
How Good is Your Limit Hold'em, by Byron Jacobs. Jacobs is a
chess player who has taken up poker and his graded question and answer
approach
in this book reflects that background. The book is intended for players
trying to move up from small to medium stakes games, but it should be
useful to any intermediate level player.
Theory of Poker, by David Sklansky. Sklansky is the
foremost poker theorist and a really bright guy. He tries to express
his ideas in mathematically precise language, but this turns his prose
into a forest of clauses that can be difficult to read. Nevertheless,
it is well worth the effort to read this book. It is not specific to
Hold'em or other poker form. It covers fundamental concepts common to
all poker forms: bluffing, semibluffing, stopping bluffs, applying
game theory, when and why to
raise, the free
card play, reading hands, the value of position, various forms of odds,
and so on.
No Limit Hold'em: Theory and Practice, by David Sklansky and Ed
Miller. Sklansky gives his Theory of Poker treatment to No Limit
Hold'em, with Ed Miller lending his writing skill. Sklansky's voice
comes through clearly, however, and this means you'll have to do some
work to get the most out of this book. It also means it will be worth
it if you want to understand No Limit Hold'em.
Harrington on Hold'em, by Dan Harrington and
Bill Robertie. A
3-volume series on No Limit Tournament Hold'em. The first volume covers
the early
portions of tournament play. Since in this situation the stacks are large
compared to the
blinds, the strategies are also applicable to cash games. Volume II
addresses the later portions of tournaments, when the blinds have gone
up and much more aggressive play is required. The concept of 'M' is
introduced as a way of gauging the required level of aggression. The
section on heads-up play is a revelation. Both of the first two books use
hand
examples extensively, but if that's not enough, the third book is a
workbook to
test your understanding of the strategies described in the first two books.
Nick
Christenson maintains a large set of his own gambling book reviews.
Nick is knowledgeable and his opinion is worth considering if you're
thinking of buying a book.
Basic Computer Maintenance is a pain but important, so I've listed a few basic tips and resources on the linked page.
uDevil's Bankroll Calculator is a Java applet I have written (see thumbnail below left). If you have a slow connection, you may prefer to use this alternative calculator. You can use these programs to calculate the size of the bankroll required to maintain a low risk of ruin or to see what your risk of ruin may be given your bankroll size.
uDevil's Poker Results Calculator is another Java applet (see thumbnail above right). You can use this program to see the implications of variance for your win rate and bankroll.
Am I a winner? uDevil's Poker Confidence Calculator (see thumbnail image below) is a tool that you can use to see how confident you can be that you are a winner or to see how many hands you must play to have a given level of confidence that you are a winner.
Updated 6/04/08