The best poker books to read

The growing gaming industry is allowing people to have more fun in their free time. With this, people are wanting to develop their strategic thinking skills and to keep their mind active. Whether it’s played online or offline, Poker is a fan favourite and is now enjoyed by millions of players around the world.

While anyone can pick up the cards and begin playing, without good background knowledge and dedicated practice it is easy to make mistakes when playing poker. Reading around the topic is one great way you can bolster your knowledge on the subject.

There is a huge range literature around poker gaming, books cover everything from the fundamentals of the game to hand analysis and in-depth strategy development. You can also read about professional poker players and their experiences in the pro poker tournament circuit.

If you are looking to do some reading on poker and improve your knowledge or playing style, here are five highly rated books that you should consider taking a look at:

The Psychology of Poker by Dr. Alan N. Schoonmaker (2000)

First up is a book written by the retired psychologist Alan Schoonmaker, who was able to master the game through playing low stakes tournaments at casinos and poker rooms in the city of Las Vegas.

Unsurprisingly with his professional background, the book focuses on mental strategy but also covers a wide range of topics.

The Psychology of Poker describes poker techniques for good hand selection, bluffing, semi-bluffing and developing the ability to read hands. He discusses opponents and why some may play aggressively or use defined tactics, while others do not.

This book may now be over 20 years old but remains relevant, nevertheless. This is an easy and useful read for anyone wanting to better understand their opponents and develop good poker habits.

The Mental Game of Poker: Proven Strategies for Improving Tilt Control, Confidence, Motivation, Coping with Variance, and More by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter (2011) 

This next book, The Mental Game of Poker, is in-depth and has a lot of content to cover. It is based around coach Jared Tendler's own strategy for success and breaks down specific instructions in a step-by-step format.

Jared coaches some of the most successful poker professionals around the world and here he shares the mental tools and strategies he has helped them to develop.

This book will enable you to appreciate just how important a strong mindset and emotional intelligence is in making good decisions at the poker table. As the author states, good players “...have a structure and methodology in how they approach the mental game, they don’t need to rely on a lucky rabbit’s foot.”

The Body Language of Poker (a.k.a. The Book of Tells) by Mike Caro (1994)

If understanding what your opponent’s tells are something that you would like to get better at doing, The Body Language of Poker is certainly worth a read. Author Mike Caro has decades of experience writing about poker and the science behind it, he is also a speaker at poker seminars.

His 1994 book The Body Language of Poker analyses everything from the facial movements and expressions, voice inflections and even the posturing of opponents at the table and what this can tell you about the hand they hold.

Given when it was written, this book obviously doesn’t have much relevance to online poker players but remains a great tool for those participating in low stakes games around the poker table in casinos and private events.

The Making of a Poker Player by Matt Matros (2007)

Hearing directly from someone who has had a successful career as a professional player in poker tournaments is an interesting and motivating perspective. In his book, Matt Matros talks about everything he has learnt since he began on the road to poker success as a teen.

Matros first won a big stakes competition in 2004 when he took home $700,000 from the World Poker Tour Championship. Since then, the player has continued to find fame and win games at tournaments around the world.

This book provides useful tips and tricks as well as suggestions for reading your opponent’s behaviour and applying logic and probability to the game.

Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen (2008)

Lastly, also worth a mention on this list is Gus Hansen’s Every Hand Revealed. This book is written by another poker pro, one that is well known for his particularly aggressive and fearless playing style.

He covers an in-depth analysis of 300 hands, all types of bluffs and how and when you should be calling large bets. This book will likely improve your motivation and determination for developing as a strategic player - Gus is a confident player and hopes to pass on that mindset to his reader.