Harrington on Hold’em I, II, III
Briefly: The bible for tournament play, including Sit and Goes. Not for the beginner, though it covers starting hand charts and basic concepts, but it does so only quickly to make sure the reader has all the basics covered. Some situations specific to tournament play, but most of the general concepts also apply to cash games; the only aspects not here are situations specific to cash games that apply less to tournament play. These are expected to be covered in the new books due to be published March of 2008.
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Start with the first book, add the second, then start working on volume III which is practice hands in various situations, including Harrington’s analysis. Throughout the series examples are presented from a variety of situations including online tournaments to hands as played by some of the top pros. M, Q, ICM, detailed mathematical calculations of EV with sensitivity analysis, it’s all here. The three volumes together are worth more than the value of the books individually.
- Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 1: Strategic Play
- Harrington on Hold ‘em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. 2: Endgame
- Harrington on Hold ‘em: Expert Strategies for No Limit Tournaments, Vol. III–The Workbook
Most poker books I read from the library. I own very few, and this series is most of them.
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Edit July 8, 2008:
In May of 2008 Dan came out a two book series on cash games. For a beginner, don’t try to jump straight into these books just because you play more cash games than tournaments. The basics are covered briefly, but the first 3 book series above build much more gradually than the cash game books, so I’d still advise reading the first two of the tournament series before going to the cash game books.
