Books on Poker Tournaments

The book teaches players how to win their way into high-stakes tournaments offering millions in prize money by participating in small-entry fee tournaments known as satellites. The authors draw inspiration from the success stories of Chris Moneymaker, who turned a $39 satellite win into a world championship title and $2.5 million, and Greg Raymer, who transformed $150 into $5 million in 2004. Having made millions through these mini-tournaments themselves, the authors now share their secrets with readers. The book provides step-by-step guidance on proven insider strategies for beating limit and no-limit hold’em satellites, as well as one-table, multi-table, online, and supersatellites. With eleven comprehensive sections, numerous examples, and wise advice, this book serves as an indispensable resource for aspiring champions looking to make their mark in the world of tournament poker.

Discover the secrets to dominating small stakes poker tournaments in this comprehensive guide by professional poker player Jonathan Little. Learn how to identify and exploit the three primary player types you will encounter, and adjust your strategy to crush passive and aggressive opponents playing too many or too few hands. By keenly observing your opponents and diligently taking notes on their tendencies and mistakes, you can develop specific exploitative tactics to maximize your edge. Increase your aggression in intelligent spots, make well-timed bluffs, and value bet relentlessly against calling stations. Avoid mindlessly adhering to a fixed hand range, and instead adapt to play the most profitable counter-strategy against each opponent. Master these approaches, as well as other key ideas like hand ranges, implied odds, and betting sizing, and you will quickly move up from the small stakes to higher levels where serious money awaits.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the longest-standing poker tournament in the world and has become the undisputed preeminent event that every professional seeks for their success. When the best come to knock each other out, amazing stories result, and this book chronicles 52 of the game’s finer moments. The collection serves as a reminder of how the WSOP has evolved to its current state and the impact history has played in defining each moment. The stories vary from Main Event championships to preliminary event bracelet records to unique cultural moments that took place between poker’s most recognizable characters.

Poker Tournament Tips from the Pros serves as the ultimate guide for players seeking to enhance their competitive play. Written by Shane Smith, this essential reference compiles strategies and advice from leading professionals and theorists in poker, aimed at securing significant winnings in low-limit tournaments. It is considered by millions of players as an indispensable resource for tournament achievement. The book covers critical tips for the four stages of play, strategies to evade pitfalls, aggressive tactics, the principles of fortune, and crucial advice on time management, among other insights.

This is the first instructional book dedicated entirely to teaching players how to win no-limit hold’em tournaments, which have gained immense popularity through national television coverage on ESPN and the Travel Channel, watched by millions each week. With the 2004 World Series of Poker awarding over $30 million in prize money, including a $5 million first-place prize for a $10,000 investment, this book provides readers with the essential concepts of tournament strategy. It covers topics such as winning big in small buy-in events, adjusting to medium and large buy-in tournaments, adapting to various field sizes and time periods, succeeding in online no-limit tournaments, managing a tournament bankroll, and mastering basic and advanced betting and positional strategies. The authors also offer tips on table demeanor for televised tournaments and analyze actual hands played by finalists at the WSOP and WPT championship tables, complete with card pictures and valuable lessons from the play.

The Powerful Profits series expands with Royer’s guide, offering insider tips on earning big from tournament poker. Royer, a seasoned tournament player with unmatched expertise in game analysis and theory, instructs both average and novice players on mastering the most played tournament poker games. Unlike other manuals that concentrate solely on game theory, Royer’s dual perspective as a theorist and experienced player provides this book with advantages that other guides lack.

Are you ready to learn winning ways from today’s true tournament experts? Reading this book is like attending a master class in tournament poker. The authors are not only consistent winners but powerful teachers as well. Step-by-step, they reveal their decision-making processes using hands drawn from actual play, not examples contrived to fit a particular poker theory. You’ll see how cutting-edge pros use their wisdom and incredibly extensive experience to analyze almost every poker situation imaginable. Whether deep-stacked or short-stacked, against single or multiple opponents, you’ll learn the skills that will make you a winner, including when and how to play aggressively or tightly, when to make moves, when to make continuation bets and when to hold back, how to induce and pick off bluffs, and how to accumulate chips without constantly risking your tournament life. Poker is a fun game, but it’s even more fun when you win.

In “Play Poker Like the Pros”, Phil Hellmuth Jr., a poker expert and seven-time World Champion, provides a comprehensive guide on how to play and win at modern poker games such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, and Razz. Even if you’re a novice who’s never handled a deck of cards, Hellmuth’s book will guide you through the rules and setup of each game, followed by basic and advanced strategies. He instructs on when to play certain hands, bluff, raise, or fold, and offers techniques for reading opponents and maintaining composure under stress. The book also includes special sections on winning online poker games and a behind-the-scenes look at tournament play. Hellmuth’s strategies are designed to help you outsmart any player type, from the unpredictable Jackal and the overplaying Elephant, to the conservative Mouse and the skilled Lion.

Play Poker Like the Pros is a comprehensive guide on how to play and win at modern poker games such as Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven-Card Stud, and Razz. Even if you’re a novice who has never handled a deck of cards, Hellmuth’s book will guide you through the rules and setup of each game, followed by basic and advanced strategies. He instructs on when to play certain hands, bluff, raise, or fold, and offers techniques for reading opponents and maintaining composure under stress. The book also includes special sections on conquering online poker games and a behind-the-scenes look at tournament play. Hellmuth’s strategies are designed to help you triumph over any type of player, from the unpredictable Jackal and the overzealous Elephant, to the conservative Mouse and the skilled Lion.

Hansen breaks down the hands he played during tournaments, sharing his secrets to winning. Learn his radical yet logical methods, how to call large bets with unplayable hands, when to raise out of position with poor holdings, and how the prize structure should influence your play. Every Hand Revealed offers unparalleled access to one of poker’s most successful players, helping you improve your game, whether you’re a beginner or a pro. With Hansen’s guidance, you can supercharge your poker skills.

This book, featuring contributions from other World Poker Tour stars, provides advanced poker strategies and insights for modern players. The World Poker Tour’s popularity has led to a surge in amateur players entering No-Limit Hold’em Tournaments, making old conservative slow play strategies ineffective. Only aggressive players like Lindgren make it to the final tables, and in this book, he reveals what it takes to be the last one standing. This book is ideal for World Poker Tour fans and those inspired by Australian poker champion Joe Hachem’s recent $10 million win. Lindgren himself has won nearly $2 million on the World Poker Tour, including two first-place finishes. The World Poker Tour television series has transformed televised poker with expert analysis, varied camera angles, and close-ups of the players’ hole cards, creating a new form of high-stakes entertainment.

In this unique poker book, two-time World Poker Tour champion Jonathan Little presents 50 hand examples from small stake, fast-structured No Limit Hold’Em tournaments – the most common game played by his students. Many poker players start their journey in low buy-in events at local casinos or online poker rooms, often losing significant amounts of money due to a lack of optimal strategy. Little, who has over $5,000,000 in live tournament winnings, aims to help players transform their game and quickly move up to high-stakes games, even with a limited bankroll. By studying the 700+ individual situations presented across Volumes 1-14, readers will learn how to make optimal decisions effortlessly during the heat of battle at the poker table. This book is an invaluable resource for players looking to improve their skills and increase their profits in small stake tournaments.

Every decision at the final poker table can significantly impact your earnings. This workbook is designed to enhance your tournament poker skills, enabling you to maximize your gains at each final table, regardless of your chip status. Unlike conventional poker books, this workbook is a practical tool that aims to enhance your range building, ICM, and line creation skills in tournaments. It includes 40 exercises that will help you assign better ranges on every street and for various hands. Please note, there’s no direct answer key as hand reading and range building are linear. However, each exercise will enhance your technical skills and help you identify weaknesses in your and your opponent’s strategies. This workbook provides a study plan for the coming months, keeping you focused on the right aspects, asking the right questions, and making better decisions.

The book is a follow-up to his previous works, the Little Green Book and Little Blue Book, and focuses on providing advanced strategies and lessons for mastering the game of poker. It covers various aspects of the game, including hand analysis, betting strategies, bluffing, and reading opponents. The book is designed for experienced poker players who want to take their game to the next level and gain an edge over their competition. It incorporates modern poker concepts and strategies, reflecting the evolution of the game in the era of online poker and televised tournaments.

The world’s top poker players share their expert advice on mastering various poker styles such as tournaments, cash games, no-limit, limit and pot-limit hold’em, Omaha (high-low and PLO), 7-card stud (razz, high-low), and triple draw in the book Superstars of Poker. The book features strategies and secrets from poker legends like Doyle Brunson, known as the greatest poker player and the Godfather of Poker, and Phil Helmuth, who holds the record for the most WSOP championships. Other contributors include Daniel Negreanu, a 6-time bracelet winner and author, Lyle Berman, founder of the World Poker Tour, Bobby Baldwin, Johnny Chan, Mike Caro, Jennifer Harman, Todd Brunson, and Crandell Addington.

The Crushing Low Stakes Poker series is specifically designed for low stakes play, providing strategies to consistently win low stakes Sit ‘n Gos. Volume 2 of the series focuses on heads-up play, covering fundamentals, theory, and strategy. It helps players identify opponents’ weaknesses and develop effective counter strategies. Mastering heads-up play can significantly improve tournament results due to the substantial pay jump from second to first prize. The book includes push/fold charts for heads-up play and multiple example hands with detailed analysis, providing practical tools to navigate challenging one-on-one poker battles.

The popularity of poker remains high, fueled by the World Poker Tour, ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker, the Celebrity Poker Tour, and more upcoming coverage. Warren’s book includes a special section on tournaments and Internet play, providing a comprehensive approach for readers. Warren focuses on strategies and plays needed to win money in current games. He addresses the most relevant questions from his readers, teaching them how to maximize their earnings, use their position to their advantage, adjust to opponents’ playing styles, and make smart percentage plays. The book includes numerous charts, real hand examples, and illustrations.

Kill Phil revolutionized tournament poker, the world’s richest sport, popularized by TV, the Internet, and the World Series of Poker. It introduced a strategy enabling novices to compete against top professionals in no-limit hold ’em, a game previously dominated by a few skilled players. The strategy remains effective against the world’s best players, but tournament play is evolving. Kill Phil remains the best method for entering the profitable poker-tournament arena. Read Kill Phil to master a simple yet powerful system, learn advanced strategies, and adjust your play for online tournaments, Sit-n-Gos, and single-table satellites.

In this workbook, you’ll find a series of problems designed by Dan Harrington to evaluate your understanding of the principles outlined in the first two volumes. A significant portion of these problems zeroes in on a crucial aspect that often challenges aspiring players: strategies for post-flop play.

Snyder’s book adapts his innovative fast tournament strategies to high-stakes games, teaching players new concepts and secrets about tournament dynamics. It instructs on adjusting strategies for different tournament structures and opponents, the difference between tournament and cash games, and why observing winners isn’t enough to understand their tactics. The book also covers satellite strategy, sit’n’go strategy, and methods for estimating win rates and edges. It explains why skilled players often fail in tournaments, the benefits of unconventional play, and how to build and utilize a large stack.

In Crushing Low Stakes Poker Volume 3, you’ll discover top strategies, tips, and tools to consistently win at low stakes hyper turbos. It covers the winning formula for hyper turbos, the five key mistakes to avoid and exploit, how to make opponents fold with two levels of aggression, and a single technique that can outplay your competition. The book primarily focuses on 6-max, a popular hyper turbo format, but also includes general hyper turbo strategy, making it useful for heads-up and 9-man players.

Contrary to some beliefs, hyper turbos are not just about luck. Sharkscope’s leaderboards reveal many players earning consistent profits from hyper turbos. Some poker pros even play hyper turbos exclusively. The games are quick, allowing more games per hour. Rakeback and volume are two main reasons why hyper turbos are profitable. Particularly at low stakes, the competition is weak, making hypers one of the best games for earning money in poker.

This book offers concise, actionable information that you can immediately apply at the poker tables. It’s easy to read and includes helpful example hands that demonstrate various strategy concepts. An exclusive video course detailing how to play each stage of a low stakes hyper turbo is also included. Ready to discover the profitability of hyper turbos? Purchase the book and start winning today!

Poker Satellite Strategy, a book by professional poker player Dara O’Kearney, provides a comprehensive guide to winning satellite tournaments, a less-explored path to significant winnings for small stakes players. The book offers a step-by-step approach to every stage of a satellite tournament, eliminating the stress and uncertainty often associated with them. Readers will learn how to adjust their play, when to fold, call or shove, and how to adapt to different players and situations. O’Kearney, an Irish professional poker player, is known as a satellite specialist, with over $1 million in winnings from satellite tournaments alone. His book is endorsed by Daiva Byrne, a professional poker player and advocate for women in poker, who believes it will revolutionize how satellites are played.

In the highly anticipated sequel, Harrington on Hold ’em: Volume II: The Endgame, Dan Harrington delves into the critical later stages of no-limit hold ’em tournaments. As the field narrows, the blinds and antes escalate, and the substantial prize money looms just ahead, Harrington guides readers through the intricacies of navigating this high-pressure phase. With his signature clarity and wisdom, Harrington teaches readers how to make bold moves, tackle the tricky inflection point plays that can make or break a tournament run, and adjust strategies when only a few opponents remain. Notably, this volume features an entire chapter dedicated to heads-up play—an area of the game that, until now, has been zealously guarded by poker’s elite. Whether you’re a seasoned poker veteran or a budding enthusiast, Harrington’s expert insights will help you approach the endgame with confidence and poise. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the game’s most respected strategists as he pulls back the curtain on tournament poker’s most critical and demanding stages.

This captivating tribute to 30 years of World Series of Poker victors showcases the most captivating moments from each tournament, along with an insider’s view of the tactics used to secure poker’s most prestigious title. Discover how the winners and their final competitors played their cards and executed their victorious strategies, and apply these remarkable insights to enhance your own poker skills! From 1970, when the winner received a silver cup, to today, where the victor takes home over $2 million, The Championship Table records every player who reached the championship table. It reveals the final hand’s pocket and board cards, and the thrilling outcomes: their prize money! The book features photos of iconic poker stars, and detailed interviews with many champions. A must-read for all poker enthusiasts!

Ever pondered the thought process of a poker champion when a massive bet threatens his tournament survival? Jonathan Little, a two-time World Poker Tour Champion with over $6,000,000 in career winnings, shares his strategies. He not only reveals how he won $22,678 in the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event, but also explains the reasoning behind each critical move in 54 specific hands. This book, structured as a quiz, challenges you to reassess your standard poker strategy and modify it significantly based on your opponents’ habits. By scrutinizing your choices, you can enhance your poker skills and boost your table earnings. The book also provides details on how to access Jonathan’s Tournament Cheat Sheet.

The Game Plan distills the most crucial strategic concepts of poker into an accessible guide that any player can follow. Designed for home game enthusiasts and amateurs, it promises significant improvements in tournament play within weeks or even days. Alongside essential rules, the book features 14 hands from Matt’s World Series of Poker Main Event history, demonstrating how The Game Plan would have approached each scenario. This book provides readers with the fastest path to mastering poker.

The Mammoth Book of Poker is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow guide that enables even beginners to start winning at home, in casinos, in tournaments, and online. Written by leading card games author Paul Mendelson, this invaluable new guide is packed with top tips to help you understand your chances, appreciate the percentages, and master the odds that your hand improves.

This in-depth analysis of heads-up championship play against top players reveals winning strategies for this competitive poker format. Over 600 hands are analyzed as tournament players showcase their skills across twelve matches, offering insights into their decision-making process and card play. The book combines practical theory with tailored strategies for heads-up tournaments, equipping readers with the tools to navigate this challenging landscape. From developing game plans for different opponents to making crucial adjustments mid-match, the authors share their knowledge on playing effectively against both professionals and amateurs. The guide examines successful bluffs, identifies flawed tactics, and presents a clear path for adapting strategies based on chip counts and match dynamics, making it the ultimate resource for mastering heads-up poker.

In Volume 2, Pearljammer, Apestyles, and Rizen—players whose collective stats include more than 1,800 final tables made, over 300 major wins, and more than $10,000,000 in cashes—return to show you how to crush the final table. When deep in a tournament, the ability to analyze opponents’ play is more than an advantage; it’s a necessity. In this exciting follow-up, you get to sweat the best as they walk you through the key hands of actual tournaments: what they did right, what they did wrong, and what you need to do to win. Learn how to use the changing dynamic of stack size to your advantage as the field narrows, the unique strategies and tactics of final table play, how to dominate weak players and outthink strong players, and how to take maximum advantage of your table image to confound your competition. Discover how hand selection changes in short-handed and heads-up play. Poker is a fun game, but it’s even more fun when you win. Whether playing online or live, you need to keep your cool and make the right moves to enjoy big-money finishes.

The Raiser’s Edge  explores a variety of strategies employed by the world’s top players. It covers techniques such as 3- and 4-betting, floating and squeezing, smooth-calling and min-raising, thin value betting, and the development of the metagame. The book also looks into equilibrium strategies that focus on starting hands and heads-up play, taking into account even the ages and nationalities of opponents. Additionally, it includes a comprehensive bonus chapter on reading tells by body-language expert Steve Van Aperen.

This updated starter guide is ideal for beginners aiming to win at poker tournaments and cash games. It covers all popular poker games, online poker, 21 key poker concepts, 15 bluffing concepts, and using psychology and body language. Handy charts included.

In the past, poker and poker tournaments have seen a surge in popularity, leading to a renewed focus on tournament poker theory. This has resulted in a reevaluation of traditional concepts and the emergence of new ones. While the basics of no-limit hold ’em remain the same, the game has proven to be more complex than previously thought. Consequently, no-limit hold ’em tournament play has evolved into a more challenging and faster-paced game. In his book, Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker, Dan Harrington provides an updated perspective on no-limit hold ’em tournaments, offering strategies for success in the current game. Topics covered include preflop hand play, 3-bet and 4-bet strategies, flop, turn, and river analysis, bet sizing, and adapting to changing stack sizes and aggressive players. Harrington, a World Series of Poker champion, is renowned for his back-to-back final table appearances in 2003 and 2004.

This concise and accessible primer focuses on America’s hottest poker game, providing players with the fundamentals of playing and winning in both cash games and high-stakes no-limit tournaments held nationwide. The book is filled with tips, winning strategies, and expert advice for aspiring players looking to join the action and, with a bit of luck, potentially find themselves on TV clutching a million-dollar cash prize.

Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War, a book on warfare, has inspired leaders and warriors for over two millennia. Today, it’s wisdom is applied in business and sports to outsmart competitors. David Apostolico, an author and poker enthusiast, uncovers the book’s relevance to poker, especially tournaments. He highlights key principles that can help you play like a strategic general, exploiting opponents’ weaknesses, concealing your strengths, and knowing when to strike. Winning poker tournaments demands more than basic strategy; it requires a balance of chip accumulation and survival. Apostolico guides you on how to refine these skills and apply Sun-Tzu’s philosophy to your game. This book is a crucial guide for both novice and experienced players aiming to improve their game. David Apostolico, a regular participant in poker tournaments, has won both online and in Atlantic City. His upcoming book is Machiavellian Poker Strategy.

Texas Hold’em, a popular game on TV and major tournaments, has become the gold standard of poker. Players are now favoring a specific version – No Limit Hold’em, which allows unlimited betting, creating larger pots and more excitement. While the dynamics are similar to low-limit games, the strategy differs significantly. This book focuses on teaching the basics of Texas Hold’em, with an emphasis on no-limit strategy for cash games, online games, and no-limit tournaments.

Daniel Negreanu, a poker superstar, offers 50 straightforward and easily digestible hold’em strategy tips that will instantly enhance your performance in both cash games and tournaments. His clever insights not only make for an engaging read but also provide invaluable winning advice. The book, written in a conversational and easy-to-understand style, covers a wide range of topics from the top 10 beginner blunders to handling bullies and leveraging your table image.

This book is essential reading for novice and intermediate players. It teaches readers to adopt the mindset of a successful poker player, use effective strategies, assess games for profitability, and leverage psychology and body language for an added advantage. The book is filled with tips and strategies that uncover the most lucrative secrets of hold’em, 7 stud, and tournament poker. Caro instructs on how to level the playing field with stronger players, exploit weak players, out-bluff a bluffer, win large pots, and much more. Doyle Brunson, a two-time world champion, has praised Caro’s work, stating that his research and seminars have completely transformed the game of poker.

Playing tournament poker can be challenging, but the potential rewards are immense. Regular online tournaments alone can offer prizes amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This book is a must-have if you aim to secure significant wins at the poker tables. It will teach you: the reasons why tournaments are the most lucrative type of poker, the appropriate times to play small ball and long ball, understanding the concept of effective stack size, and how to adjust your gameplay to focus on winning rather than just cashing, among other valuable insights.

The essays section includes chapters that explore various concepts such as strategic planning, game selection, bankroll management, expert poker levels, mid-round tactics, opponent perception, protected pot, saving the final bet, extra outs, tournament play, and more. The razz section offers insights into how professionals play this poker variant. It not only outlines the game’s rules and structure but also provides guidance on playing the first three cards and subsequent streets. Additionally, it features a chapter on razz problems, complete with questions and answers to hone your skills.

This book offers over 15 comprehensive practice hands, focusing particularly on tournament play and updated tournament formats. It features over 25 new card illustrations and provides clear strategies and expert advice on the optimal starting hands, maneuvering through the flop, turn, and river, identifying risky draws, and strategies for both low-limit and high-stakes games. It also covers how to adjust strategies against different types of opponents and the nuances of rebuy versus freeze-out tournaments. Additionally, readers will understand the risks of slowplaying strong hands, the pitfalls of playing danglers, and the unique scenarios in Pot-limit Omaha where folding the nuts on the flop is the right move. This edition also introduces advanced strategies for exploiting Omaha high-low in multi-game tournaments, drawing from Cloutier’s experience at the World Series of Poker’s $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament.

Secrets of Sit’n go stands as the ultimate handbook for mastering one of poker’s most popular formats. These tournaments, typically starting with nine or ten players on a single table and awarding the top three finishers with prizes, are a staple in both online poker sites and casinos. They present a low-risk, enjoyable entry point into poker, demanding less financial investment and simpler strategic decisions. Phil Shaw’s book is designed to elevate players of all levels, from beginners to seasoned enthusiasts, by covering essential strategies. It includes transitioning from a novice to a proficient player through basic strategies, mastering advanced concepts like ICM for expert gameplay, leveraging computer software for decision-making, perfecting heads-up play with high blinds, and a guide to growing a $200 bankroll into $100,000 within a year exclusively through Sit n go events. Shaw offers detailed strategies for navigating the early, middle, and late stages of these tournaments, ensuring readers are well-equipped for success.

Texas Hold’em For Dummies, 2nd Edition, is the ideal guide for beginners wanting to play poker online or in-person. It equips you with the necessary skills to succeed in poker rooms, from understanding the ranking of poker hands to implementing betting strategies. The book also offers tips to enhance your odds in casinos and online poker rooms, participate confidently in poker tournaments, and bluff, bet, raise, and fold appropriately. Even for seasoned players, it serves as a valuable resource to revisit the basics and hone their skills. However, mastering the game’s slang, rules, and complexities can be a daunting task.

This book is a must-have for the 95% of poker players sticking to low-limit games, offering them a chance to win big in the $1-$2, $2-$4, $4-$8, $6-$12 games commonly found in casinos, card rooms, and home poker games. Smith shares essential tips and strategies for winning at various poker games including hold’em (limit and no-limit), Omaha high-low, seven-card stud, as well as online and low-limit poker tournaments. The advice is straightforward, making it perfect for beginners and those new to the game. With poker’s increasing popularity, this book is the key to learning how to play and win.