The Theory of Poker :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Essential reading for the thinker

2008-09-13
This book helps a particular type of player and hurt others. The information is great for anyone that can use Sklansky's work as a springboard to deeper thought, but can lead many to mismanage variables while sizing up a situation. Not Sklansky's fault, but the reader. This was the first poker book I ever read and I misused the understanding at first for increased losses. However, overtime, Sklansky's thinking here has helped at the tables and off the felt as well. I recommend this title as an essential book in a serious poker players library.

This is Tentative 5 Star Review

2008-07-18
Okay, this book has wonderful information within it. Almost nothing Mr. Sklansky states within the book is bad information, and he uses relatively easy language. The problem many may have with the book is that while there are many simple learning tools that will help every reader immediately, this book is not one of them. FIRST AND FOREMOST, THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR A HOLE'EM PLAYER. If you're looking to learn Hold'em only, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK YET! Even if you are looking to learn more than games than Hold'em, I would suggest 'SuperSystem' first. My reasoning is simple, in this book, Mr Sklansky bounces from game to game to illustrate his examples. For a player who is trying to establish a winning approach to the game, this book may very well confuse you with so many examples and will not build confidence.

From my previous statements, one might wonder why I would give this book a 5 star rating, and the answer is because to those whom can follow the book, it's essentially the handbook to every basic principle in the game. I would compare 'The Theory of Poker' to a school professor(and I will note this SPECIFIC book only and not the author or his other works) who does not dumb down his lessons for the lesser committed students, but whom will give a student the most out of the class if that student is completely dedicated. The catch is, this professer is teaching a third or fourth level class that without the necessary prerequisites, the student will be lost. I would guess that only one out of about six poker players trying to figure out if this is the right book for them would be correct in deciding it is, but to that one person, this is a MUST-HAVE! To those five people out of the six, if you have to ask whether or not you are ready for the book, the one person who is ready wouldn't have to ask. That person would be asking is the book worth reading, and the answer is yes!

Poker Theory

2008-02-05
How would you play if ALL the cards were face-up? Any difference, when the cards are face down is a mistake. Ditto for your opponents. Sklansky expounds this fundamental theorem in great detail. This is a must-have book.

Good For Beginners and Intermediates

2007-10-26
This is a must read for any serious beginner to intermediate player. Most advanced players will probably have knowledge of the biggest part of the topics covered but it's never bad to refresh yourself.

Essential information covered is pot odds, implied odds,draws and the free-card concept, among other things.

Out of date - there is a new game in town

2007-10-18
I hate to give such a great book a negative title and mediocre review but the fact is that this book is just no longer relevant. Had you bought this before the poker boom you would be golden. The best piece of advice you can get from this book is the basic theory. Other than that the whole book is geared around limit cash games. We all know that NL tournaments is where it is at right now so I would check out Dan Harrington's books first.

Required poker foundation

2007-08-07
The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky 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.

Granddaddy 2007-08-05
This is the grand daddy of all poker books. if you only get one book, this should be it. teaches you to think for yourself in poker situations

Powerful information! 2007-05-30
The Theory of Poker presents ideas that have the potential to improve your game significantly. There is a reason why this book is consistently named by almost everyone as one of the best poker books out there. In fact, I would go as far as to say if you haven't read this you are probably not playing the best poker you could play. I had seen several of these concepts discussed elsewhere, but it wasn't until I read this that I fully understood the power of calculating pot odds/estimating implied odds, semi-bluffing, and raising in many different situations. These are powerful concepts, and Sklansky backs them up with mathematics.

Many of the concepts presented in this book are not intuitive, but once Sklansky takes you through some examples, you will kick yourself for not having used them before. He provides sufficient evidence to show that these strategies really do work.

It is important to understand, and I think this book does a good job of explaining, that you will get beat when you implement these strategies. That is inevitible. But if you keep at it, you will come out ahead in the long run.

This book is probably not the best book for beginners. This actually was the first poker book I read, but I wish I had more of a fundamental knowledge base before I read this. I tried to implement several of these strategies in my game, but I found that I lacked the proper context to really understand why they worked and in which situations. But once I practiced, read some more, and then came back to this, it was extremely useful.

In short, if you are serious about improving your poker game, this book is absolutely essential. Read a couple of beginner books first and practice a lot, and then check this one out. You will be very pleased that you did.

The only reason I don't give it five stars is because many of the examples concern games that I am really not interested in and don't care to learn (at least not now). I understand that Sklansky wrote this as a general poker book, and he did so back in '94, but most poker players today are interested in Hold Em. So examples that used Stud or Razz to illustrate their point weren't as useful as they could have been. I do know that Sklansky wrote a book specifically on Hold Em though, so not a big deal.

A Good Guide to Poker 2007-05-14
Despite the fact that this book is a must have for any poker player (and it is), I must say it's not a complete guide for dummies. One must have some poker background in order to enjoy the full contents of this book, since the most I got from it is consolidating the knowledges I already had. For instance, most poker players are familiar with semi-bluffing, but the book somewhat provides a more indepth approach that will really explain what it's about, how to use it and why it's so powerful against the right opponents. You'll have to read it to understand what I mean. I also thinks someone should publish a book exactly like this, but focused on NLHE, since most information in this book is about "POKER" as a general sense and the reader must learn to "filter" what is and isn't valid for what type of poker he or she plays. That's the reason why I'm only giving it 4 stars; otherwise it would be a five.

Sklansky writes good books 2007-05-10
Many people say they find Sklansky ruins their game, but I really feel these people aren't serious players and it isn't Sklanksy's advice that is the problem, rather it is their undisciplined play.
Books like this won't MAKE you a great player, but it will enlighten you as to what it takes to consistently win, and maybe one day become a great player. It's very much something you must work on and this book really shows this is true.
A very general poker book in that it doesn't cover any specific game such as Hold'em.