The Poker Player's Bible: Raise Your Game from Beginner to Winner

For someone who's been playing friendly home game poker (i.e., spending time with friends drinking beer, smoking cigars around a card table) for a while but doesn't really have a foundation in the details of poker, this is a very good introduction. If you're a good experienced player who's looking for a more in depth analysis, this book isn't for you. Although it's title is a bit much, Krieger's book provides the basics you need to know about the major variations of casino poker (holdem, 7 card stud, and Omaha). It provides good basic guidance regarding starting hands and the play throughout the game. The book doesn't exhaust the reader with overly complex "analysis" of variations of types of players and situations. While the better known books (Brunson, Sklansky et al) dive deeper into these areas, most people just need the fundementals that are in this book. The book doesn't go into the issues tournament play; rather it focuses on the play of individual hands. There are plenty of good books (Cloutier) about tourney play that anyone who's seriously thinking about them should read. A few minor issues. The book is organized a bit awkwardly. It discusses starting hand play for all types of poker, then middle play for all types etc. It would be much easier to read if Krieger had grouped all the discussion of Holdem in one section and done the same for Stud and Omaha. Some of the tables are a bit confusing. The table showing probabilites of making your hand on the turn or river in the holdem section is rather confusing. Last, there are several annoying typos in the book which are easy enough to deal with, but shouldn't be there. For example, in the listing playable suited connectors, it doesn't mention suited T-9 and the table showing the playable starting hands has a couple of typos as well. Overall, a good intro to casino poker for beginners and home players.