Books, and the future of the blog.

Hello everyone, hope all is well this weekend for anyone reading up on my blog.

Today I thought I'd talk about some poker books as I mentioned them in my last blog. I've become quite the reader of books that don't pertain to academics in the last few months. Good and bad come from this, I'm at least reading for once, but it's not the books that I should probably be reading. However, from all this reading I've come across a wealth of knowledge that may still pertain later on in life, especially if this poker thing blows up for me (I'm an optimist, if I wasn't I wouldn't be playing poker). I'd like to share at least my thoughts on several books I've read thus far.

Currently reading: Take me to the River by Peter Alson

Take me to the River has turned out to be a pleasurable read so far (I'm about half way through it) as it tells the story of a man who is bound to get married very soon but has decided to go to the 2005 WSOP event before the marriage is to held. With a 15 thousand bankroll and a few friends, he tells his story from the eyes of a semi-professional poker player who has observed the game of poker evolve from it's underground roots to it's gold laced present. The story is enough to keep any level of poker player interested, and the more savvy of us can pick out a few very good tips, ideas and strategies from the text as well.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is actually interested in my blog.

Books I've read: One of a Kind

Again by the same author in junction with another author tells the story of one of poker's greatest players. The story is about the original "Kid Poker", Stuey Ungar. A card playing savant who had a craving for any action, whether at the poker table or at the bookies. The man had turned a self-destructive personality into a winning poker player, but not before his personality got the best of him and he ended up dyeing of a heart attack from his years of drug abuse. A great story for anyone, poker player or not, with many life tips mixed along with a few poker tips.
Highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read stories about weird but strangely interesting characters.

The Philosophy of Poker

A great mix of philosophy and poker with more of an emphasis on poker that anything else. It's a book written by mostly card playing college professors and the like. It's a book that Aristotle, Einstein, and Karl Marx would write if they were card playing aficionados. Great book for reaching down into the nitty gritty details of poker away from the statistics and basic strategies. The book delves into psychology, sociology, and intangibles of poker.

Highly recommend it to any poker player out there.

Great books on the strategy of poker:

Dan Harrington on Hold Em Volumes 1 through 3.

Quite possibly the greatest books ever written on tournament No Limit Hold Em. Tells the secrets the pros never wanted anyone to know or never knew how to articulate into words. If you want to be a serious tournament player, then you must know these books inside and out.

Super/System 1 and 2

The bibles of poker. Should be in every poker player's library.

Theory of Poker

David Sklansky letting the whole world know exactly how the math in poker works. Again, if you are a serious poker player, this book should be read or at least all the concepts contained within should be known.

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As is suggested by the title of this blog entry I have something in store for the blog in the future.

First I am going to start something that may create more traffic and more interaction with the site. I am going to start something along the lines of "How would you play it?" and "Guess that hand." I will walk through a particular hand and a particular way of playing that hand, and will leave it up to the viewers of my site to not only guess the hand, but try and point out possible mistakes they see in the play. Should be fun, I'll give it a try within the next week, keep on the lookout for that.

Secondly, I'll be throwing up a blog on some other poker variations such as Omaha H/L and such. I'm admittedly not as much of an expert on other games as I am with NL Hold Em but I know enough that I can post a primer of sorts on them.

Thirdly, I may start occasionally letting everyone out there know exactly how my own poker career is faring. I'll post my current bankroll and any occurrences, and will probably be followed up by a snippet of knowledge I may have gained from playing with that bankroll.

That about wraps it up this Sunday afternoon, have a great week everyone and please keep checking on the site for updates.