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David Sklansky

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The Theory of Poker: A Professional Poker Player Teaches You How To Think Like One Paperback – Illustrated, July 1, 1999

by David Sklansky (Author)

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Discusses theories and concepts 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). This book introduces you to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker, its implications, and how it should affect your play. Other chapters discuss the value of deception, bluffing, raising, the slow-play, the value of position, psychology, heads-up play, game theory, implied odds, the free card, and semibluffing. Many of today's top poker players will tell you that this is the book that really made a difference in their play. That is, these are the ideas that separate the experts from the typical players. Those who read and study this book will literally leave behind those who don't, and most serious players wear the covers off their copies. This is the best book ever written on poker.

Print length

316 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Two Plus Two Publishing
Publication date

July 1, 1999
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches
ISBN-10

1880685000
ISBN-13

978-1880685006
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Sklansky is generally considered the number one authority on gambling in the world today. Besides his ten books on the subject, David also has produced two videos and numerous writings for various gaming publications. His occasional poker seminars always receive an enthusiastic reception, including those given at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

More recently, David has been doing consulting work for casinos, Internet gaming sites, and gaming device companies. He has recently invented several games, soon to appear in casinos.

David attributes his standing in the gambling community to three things:

1. The fact that he presents his ideas as simply as possible (sometimes with Mason Malmuth) even though these ideas frequently involve concepts that are deep, subtle, and not to be found elsewhere.

2. The fact that the things he says and writes can be counted on to be accurate.

3. The fact that to this day a large portion of his income is still derived from gambling (usually poker, but occasionally blackjack, sports betting, horses, video games, casino promotions, or casino tournaments).

Thus, those who depend on Davids advice know that he still depends on it himself.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Two Plus Two Publishing; 4th edition (July 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 316 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1880685000
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1880685006
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #25,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12 in Poker (Books)
- #33 in Card Games (Books)

Customer Reviews:
668 ratings

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David Sklansky

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David Sklansky is generally considered the number one authority on gambling in the world today. Besides his twelve books on the subject, David also has produced two videos and numerous writings for various gaming publications. His occasional poker seminars always receive an enthusiastic reception, including those given at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

More recently, David has been doing consulting work for casinos, Internet gaming sites, and gaming device companies. He has recently invented several games, soon to appear in casinos.

David attributes his standing in the gambling community to three facts:

1. The fact that he presents his ideas as simply as possible (sometimes with Mason Malmuth) even though these ideas frequently involve concepts that are deep, subtle, and not to be found elsewhere.

2. The fact that David s teachings have proven to be accurate.

Thus, those who depend on David s advice know that he still depends on it himself.

Photo by flipchip / LasVegasVegas.com [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		19%
3 star		7%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Novel Reader

The grandfather of poker theory.

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

This is the book that has stood time. Have you ever wondered what the heck are people talking abou when they discuss strategy, tactics, and use a foreign lingo? Well, if you've watched poker on TV or tried to get into the community through forums, you'll hear a lot of things you won't understand. All those concepts, ideas, and lingo were stablished in this book. This is the book everyone who says they take poker seriously eventually buys, The Real Grandpa of modern poker thinking, not Super System or Harrington's (by the way, I own both and they're good for certain reasons! Keep reading). While players are still buying Super System, I believe they're doing it for the historical value and not really to learn "how to play" from it.

Super Systems, while revolutionary at its time, feels like it was written when poker was played very differently. Do you play online video games competitively? You've probably noticed that some videos teach you certain strategies, but then eventually, they update the video game and the strategies chage. That's exactly what happened in Super System. Note, if you play poker in a small city that doesn't have an obsessed card players' or casino scene: Las Vegas, Macau, etc, Playing as described in Super System will still make you a winner since the reality is that most poker players are losing in the long run, and the majority don't actually bother to read a book, watch strategy videos, or be part of the scene. You can still get Super System 1 or 2 for its historical value and for the info on the other games since it covers more than just Hold'em.

The Theory of poker, does withstand time since, as it mentions in its tittle, it talks theory. As funny as it sounds, a lot of old strategy books are outdated--since they tell you to play specific ways which were correct when they were written. People adapt and play differently, thus we call them outdated-- but the poker books that cover: theory, math, and mental game topics, are still relevant.
If you want to jump into the game and understand what is going on at a deeper level, buy The Theory of Poker. You will be able to follow move by move, talk about poker, and it will be the fundamentals you need to move further.

Out of the 3 most popular poker books on print of all time--as of 2020: Super System, The Theory of Poker, and Harrington on Hold'em (The tournament book), The Theory of Poker is THE BOOK I believe everyone that every competitive (not recreational) poker player HAS in his or her bookshelf

Note, Harrington on Hold'em is a great book with tons of examples where you'll want to take notes. I recommend it for tournament players, but I can imagine some people won't have it in their book shelves since it was meant for tournaments, and cash game and other format players play way differently in cash games than in tournaments. Buy it as well if you plan to try tournaments, it has many problems and solutions, but be aware, some strategies are outdated, but the thought process and rationale he used in making decisions is solid and you can always add notes to the book on how some strategies have evolved from what Harrington used to do.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rusty NaylerTop Contributor: Poker

Start Here

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

There seems to be, once again, a flurry of books purporting to teach you how to play poker, but you have to wonder about the quality of many of them. Don't wonder about the quality of this book as it is the gold standard of poker books. It does something better than teaching you how to play poker. It teaches you how to think about poker.

Mrs. Nayler, like me, is a poker player but she hadn't taken the game as seriously as I had. Until now. I recently asked her if she would be willing to read a few poker books and she agreed. This is the first book I am having her read.

18 people found this helpful

Helpful

Chuck Clayton

A Great Book with Timeless Informatiuon from One of the Early Poker Greats

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2019

Verified Purchase

This book is about the Fundamental Theory of Poker. Although not a recent book, much of the information is timeless. These are the ideas that separate the experts from the average players. In addition to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker and how it should affect your play, the book discusses deception, bluffing, the slow-play, the value of position, psychology, game theory, implied odds, semi bluffing, and more. A great read and one that should be in any serious poker player’s library.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

just like any other casino game

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2015

Verified Purchase

As a novice poker player, I was hoping for something to give me an edge during my friends' Texas Hold'em games. Let me first say this book is not written for a novice. He throws around advanced poker terms left and right. Thankfully he has provided a glossary in the back so you aren't completely lost when he talks about being heads up on a come hand on 4th street, but I realized early on that I was perhaps in over my head.

That said, I persevered and now I think about poker in a completely different way. I always thought it was a game of chance and reading people, but boy was I wrong. He taught me to see it as a game of odds, just like any other casino game. When you are deciding if you should call, fold, or raise, he shows you that the decision should be made based on numbers: what are the odds you will make your hand (based on what else is showing and how many cards are left); what is the ratio of the call/bet to the money in the pot; what are the odds your opponents will bluff; and so on. This may be obvious to the advanced player, but I'm pretty confident beginners gloss over this most important fact. You have to look at poker as a long game of odds, and not a short game of hands.

So he starts with describing how the odds work and how to play according to those odds, and then he starts getting into the variations - the times when "playing by the rules" isn't actually the correct play to maximize long term gain. This includes bluffing, semi-bluffing, your position in the play order, how your opponents play, and so on. Much of it is logical once you think about it, but may not occur to you otherwise (if you're like me, anyway).

I have two criticisms, however. There is an amazing amount of knowledge in this book - each chapter is filled with "what to do in this situation" tips. So much so that it's easy to get lost ("But in the last chapter you said this..."). I wish that there was a compendium of tips, sort of like the magic card for blackjack. Distill the text down into bullet points that can be easy to refer back to after understanding the text.

Second, he often glazes over the logic and strings together multiple tactics at once in his examples. For example, he'll say something like "You think your opponent has the best hand and the pot odds are 3:4, so obviously you should do X" (not quoted verbatim). Well, it's not obvious every time really. I have to stop reading at that point, try to remember what I just read two pages ago, and combine that with what I read two days and 40 pages ago. You can get there for sure, but it would be nice if he gave a little more of the "why" during the examples.

Otherwise the book is easy to read in tone and is a great wealth of information for people looking to take their game to the next level.

37 people found this helpful

Helpful

Curt

Classic for serious

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2016

Verified Purchase

Sklansky's Theory of Poker is a poker classic, for a serious player. Add SuperSystem, and then of course Cowboy's Full for a historical perspective, and you have a good brew to chew on. If you just need a crash-course in hold'em, then take a look at Hellmuth's (yes, indeed) basic book on Texas Hold'em. And, if you want a good look at mixed-games overview, try Steiner's Thursday Night Poker.

14 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Who's there?

Detailed overview to poker for beginners

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

Firstly, this book is not specifically focused on Texas No-limit Hold'em; it speaks to a number of poker games including stud and draw poker variations, so if you are unfamiliar with those games (as I am) then you might find yourself getting lost in unfamiliar terminology and rules.
But the lessons and theories detailed in this book are applicable across the board. It is a detailed overview in fundamentals, hand reading, bluffing, position etc. and brings an awareness to the level of thinking and attention to detail that is required to do well.

Worth a read for novice players but I doubt it would provide any useful insight to more experienced players.

2 people found this helpful

Acchilles22

Must Have In Your Poker Library

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2016

Verified Purchase

This was (I think) the first poker book that I read. In short, it's one of the best poker books that I own. There's plenty in here for all types of players, but it really helps get beginners on the right track when you're starting out in the micros. Everything is clearly explained with easy to understand examples - the beauty is that even though this was written well over a decade ago the theory is still very much applicable to modern day poker. This should be one of the first poker books that you buy!

3 people found this helpful

Joanne C

Good book for begginers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book contains a lot of good tips and strategies, however, most of it you will know already if you play poker. Suitable for the amateur but anyone playing online forget it, the rules dont apply at all you better to take your own rules and play as you have been. Not sure the razz and other bits are really still current and relevant.

3 people found this helpful

JBaker

GOOD READ!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

While not focused solely on hold em, this book provides a great insight into the fundamental considerations and how to apply them practically. Covering the main types of poker games has also introduced me to trying other formats of poker.

Mr. T. J. Hunjan

Confusing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

A waste of paper. All man wanted was a simple guide to play poker, but this is an overload, badly written and seeking to impress by being verbose and repetitive.

Even I, who have never played poker, could have done a better job than this.

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