"Poker Nation" and "Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book"

Andy Bellin's "Poker Nation" won't teach you how to play AK from the blinds, but it will give you a sense of what the poker world feels like.

From a brief history of cards to tales of Las Vegas degeneracy, Bellin tells stories describing how the poker world got its identity. He dwells a bit too long on the rules of the game, which are well-known by most of his readers. But he picks up the pace in the second half of the book.

The value of "Poker Nation" comes in its insights into the culture and psychology of poker players. Bellin tells of a virtuous priest who turns into a cheat at the tables. He records the self-analysis of a psychiatrist who can't figure out why he subconsciously wants to lose. He gets poker advice from a Vegas woman who gives massages with happy endings

From greed to compulsive behavior, from underground New York games to the World Series of Poker, "Poker Nation" is the kind of book that reads like it's about poker but turns out to be about people.

Sure, people (and gamblers especially) tend to make stupid decisions. But that doesn't mean they don't have complex motives behind their actions.

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By comparison, "Phil Gordon's Little Blue Book" will improve your game play.

The sequel to his "Little Green Book," this effort skips the basic lessons and jumps straight into hand examples and clutch situations you might encounter at the tables.

This is exactly what I wanted. With table illustrations similar to those found in Dan Harrington's books, Gordon guides the reader through his thought process as he tries to decide his action in each hand. More importantly, he challenges the reader to stop and come up with his own solution before digesting Gordon's decision.

"What would you do?" Gordon asks in most every chapter.

The book is split up into sections: cash games, early tournament play, middle tournament play, late tournament play, the final table, sit and gos, and satellites. He chooses tricky yet common hands to illustrate his points, and his reasoning is presented in a clear and informative manner. Really, my only complaint about this book was that he invented a hand example and presented it as truth, but I've already bitched about that.

The "Little Blue Book" is one of the best poker books I've read in a while. When I finished it, I felt smarter and knew it made me a better player.