book recommendation: REAL POKER 2 by Cooke

If you played poker and don't read poker books, you're probably costing yourself a lot of money.

There are tons of great books out there -- and there are some bad ones, too. There are also some terrific books that have bad advice within.

Theory of Poker by Sklansky is a must-read. Super/System by Brunson is a must-read. I'm reading Super/System 2 right now, so will let you know thoughts on that, soon.

But a great book on Texas Hold 'Em that I don't think gets enough press is REAL POKER 2: The Play of the Hands by Roy Cooke.

He writes about specific hands in which he was involved in bricks-and-mortar limit poker games. He discusses position, hand categories, table image and table make-up, and the thinking that goes into the decisions on every street. Because each chapter is the story of one hand, you get the whole story from start to finish, but each chapter is only about 3 pages, perfect to digesting in small bites.

It's not a dry strategy book, and as you're going through the thought process with the author, you're learning important concepts, all of which are devoted to making the right money choices. A lot of the book is about building big pots, though he also talks about getting the right price on your hands.

If you've got some poker books on your self, but don't have REAL POKER 2, you should definitely check it out.