No-Limit Hold'm; Theory and Practice - David Sklansky, Ed Miller

This is a very focused treatise. The authors go out of there way to tell you over and over again that this is not a book about how to play poker, it is a book about how to think about how to play poker. The distinction can easily be lost if you are not careful.

The authors identify several traits that all successful no limit players exhibit. Then they focus on two. There is no shortage of books on no limit hold'em. And the vast majority will address the same things over and over. Position, reading hands, bluffing and so on. This book focuses on manipulation. Manipulation of your opponents decisions and manipulation of the size of the pot.

What is unique about this focus is that all of the ideas they present are presented logically. Once you understand what they are trying to say, they then show you how to prove it is correct. The do this with math. Of course, because every piece of advise is situational, they then show you an example of when the advise you just digested is absolutely wrong. And, of course, they prove it with math.

The math used is fairly basic. The constants in the equations, however, are not easily or quickly arrived at in the heat of a hand. The math is there to prove the thought process is sound, not to provide you with a "system" for beating the game.

This is a very good book for the advanced player. They spend no time explaining the rankings of hands or describing how the game is played. If you haven't played a fair amount of Texas hold'em, this book will only confuse you.