Book sharing club.

devil_tear

Please post book recommendations that have improved your poker mindset. It doesn't have to be strictly poker books. Personally i've never read a poker strategy book in my life. But their have been a number of psychology, personal growth books that have impacted my rational thinking in regards to poker.

Here are a few to get started;

1. "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell - We should trust our initial gut feelings, they are usually correct. We sometimes talk ourselves out of the correct play. 

2. "The 80/20 Principle" by Richard Koch - Pareto's rule says that 80% of output often flows from 20% of input. Which basically means we should look at the 20% that gets the best results and focus on that. This can be applied for example to poker where you find the format you have your best Roi, whether thats cash, sitngos or tourneys and focus on that.

3. "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - "Work that you treat like a game, with intrinsic rewards and varied skills ceases to be work".

4. "Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb - We always find patterns, causes and explanations in past events, but they are mostly useless for predicting the future. Emotions can help us make decisions, but also overwhelm our capacity for rational reasoning. 

5. "For Richer, For Poorer, Confessions of a Poker Player" by Victoria Coren - The only poker autiobiography i've ever read. Really enjoyable read, it gives you an insight into what it takes to be the only ever 2 time EPT main event winner. 

Whats your picks?

markycash

Good post!

I will certainly put a couple of your picks on my 'to do' list.

I am not a massive reader but in terms of the psychology link you mention...

There are a series of introductory psychology lectures by a Robb Willer on Youtube which are IMO quite engaging. They are not at all directly related but there are many inferences which can be made and the lecturing style is very laid back.

Linky - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edfKMAePWfE&list=PLUSC1HoMnGTgWbMp4E8YmdFuvPGFYgJG0

clarke1789

Peak Poker Performance - How to bring your 'A' game to every session. Patricia Cardner.

HENDRIK62

Anything by Dweck regarding growth mindset is worth reading for everything not simply poker.

Like Gladwells stuff, Mathew Siyed (spelling may be off) Bounce is a terrific book.

TeddyBloat

Will Tipton's two books on HUNL are canonical for me.

Although they are focused on heads up play, the theory, maths and general way of looking at poker will be applicable to all. Its the only mainstream training material i've seen talk in depth about capture-factor and winrate maximisation. It goes deep in to game theory and also how to formulate exploitative play. Much of the books are devoted to post flop concepts and how to construct ranges. Two big beasts that tower over 99% of the books out there.

If you are looking for non-poker specific resources that will help you with your game, look to coursera.

it a platform used by universities to provide top class educational materials for free. I believe many american universities have to provide a public service in order to receive funding and / or tax relief. the result is some first rate material available for no cost and presented in recreational learning enviroment.

some courses i'd recommend to the budding poker player:

https://www.coursera.org/course/gametheory

https://www.coursera.org/learn/game-theory-introduction

https://www.coursera.org/learn/bayesian

https://www.coursera.org/learn/basic-statistics

https://www.coursera.org/learn/creative-problem-solving

https://www.coursera.org/learn/problem-solving

https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

The courses on bayes will be useful as it shows you how to interpret small samples based on what you know about the population. The learning how to learn course is also well worth revisting after completion.

devil_tear

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

Good post! I will certainly put a couple of your picks on my 'to do' list. I am not a massive reader but in terms of the psychology link you mention... There are a series of introductory psychology lectures by a Robb Willer on Youtube which are IMO quite engaging. They are not at all directly related but there are many inferences which can be made and the lecturing style is very laid back. Linky - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edfKMAePWfE&list=PLUSC1HoMnGTgWbMp4E8YmdFuvPGFYgJG0
Posted by markycash

I'm also not a massive reader. if you havent' already, I highly reccommend the app "Blinkist". It summarises non-fiction books into 15mins bite sized chunks, with the best parts to read. Perfect for busy people.

devil_tear

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

Anything by Dweck regarding growth mindset is worth reading for everything not simply poker. Like Gladwells stuff, Mathew Siyed (spelling may be off) Bounce is a terrific book.
Posted by HENDRIK62

Thanks, bounce looks great! Ive got that and Dweck mindset on on my to read blinkist list.

devil_tear

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

Peak Poker Performance - How to bring your 'A' game to every session. Patricia Cardner.
Posted by clarke1789

Thanks, looks productive!

Darkangel7

is there a book called A, B, C of Poker? Might understand it then

percival09

Most of the books mentioned so far are pseudoscientific books claiming to know something about neuroscientific research that neuroscientists themselves don't even know yet (I'm talking to you Bounce & ANY Gladwell book, whose work, by the way, has been debunked on numerous occasions). You always have to be very careful with these psychol + cog neuro books because they're aiming to do exactly that, interpret research that isn't coherent and hasn't been replicated and, in most cases, can't even be replicated due to the nature of the research & the level of bias, in order to appeal to a market that will fall for it (HOW TO CHANGE HABITS TO BECOME MULTI-MILLIONAIRE CEO; HOW TO BECOME SMART IN 4 MINUTES; HOW TO LEARN CALCULUS IN 49 SECONDS).

15 minute bite size books are always going to have the same problem - you're leaving the interpretation of the content to the person summarising it and, frankly, it misses the actual point of reading - that is to think about how the author expresses a point, and thereby encouraging the reader to actually interpret the text, i.e. THINK. 

I don't mean to be so hard to the study of psychology, I think it's a great & fascinating subject, but most of the pop science books that come from don't do it justice & are largely fallacious + full of hype.

Poker mindset books - learn probability + statistics, learn how variance works, try and be calmer, understand how things like diet/sleep/exercise can influence performance

Itsover4u

Jim Rohn 7 strategies for wealth and happiness - really good read. Not poker related but great for mindset and it changed the way I work and the salary I earn. I dropped out of school after GCSE's and now find myself in higher paid job than most senior doctors.

Mollys game and the devvil fish book are excellent poker reads (neither will help you improve as a player)

The truth is self study and videos from pros you respect will help you more than any book you read, books like Doyle Brunsons are fairly dated now.

In the words if you always sit with a set strategy you can never adjust to individual opponents

percival09

To expand on my point, I read a top seller in psychology called Predictably Irrational (some psychol / behavioural economics book, similar to the rest like Nudge et al that claim to "have power to change the way we think"). In the appendix he gave details of how he came to the points of the text (yes, that appendix full of the important info that you wouldn't get a 15 minute bite size thing) - I read it + realise that all of the information came from studies on 10-100 undergraduate students (most of psychol studies use undergraduate students) @ 1 university in the US. One of the studies actually involved 9 undergraduate students, NINE, and the author actually tried to extrapolate the poor findings of that study of 9 undergraduate students to the wider world. There are so many clangers in the book and yet he still found itself @ the top of the best sellers, and these type of books always do because they sell a false hope. 

percival09

Another book, something about will power, actually spent the entire book telling me how "hard work" is the key to getting somewhere, and to do "hard work" you have to "work hard" @ thing you want to get better at. Wow. Top seller. Buy it now folks. 

HENDRIK62

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

Most of the books mentioned so far are pseudoscientific books claiming to know something about neuroscientific research that neuroscientists themselves don't even know yet (I'm talking to you Bounce & ANY Gladwell book, whose work, by the way, has been debunked on numerous occasions). You always have to be very careful with these psychol + cog neuro books because they're aiming to do exactly that, interpret research that isn't coherent and hasn't been replicated and, in most cases, can't even be replicated due to the nature of the research & the level of bias, in order to appeal to a market that will fall for it (HOW TO CHANGE HABITS TO BECOME MULTI-MILLIONAIRE CEO; HOW TO BECOME SMART IN 4 MINUTES; HOW TO LEARN CALCULUS IN 49 SECONDS). 15 minute bite size books are always going to have the same problem - you're leaving the interpretation of the content to the person summarising it and, frankly, it misses the actual point of reading - that is to think about how the author expresses a point, and thereby encouraging the reader to actually interpret the text, i.e. THINK.  I don't mean to be so hard to the study of psychology, I think it's a great & fascinating subject, but most of the pop science books that come from don't do it justice & are largely fallacious + full of hype. Poker mindset books - learn probability + statistics, learn how variance works, try and be calmer, understand how things like diet/sleep/exercise can influence performance
Posted by percival09

I agree with you regarding these popular books, certainly many parts have indeed been debunked (speculative theory, commonality and interpretation heavily influence this area).

Any text outside of an actual paper is likely a subjective view. If we accept this at the outset I see no reason that we cannot digest and inerpret for ourselves.

Anything that interests us can be noted and further researched.

HENDRIK62

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

Another book, something about will power, actually spent the entire book telling me how "hard work" is the key to getting somewhere, and to do "hard work" you have to "work hard" @ thing you want to get better at. Wow. Top seller. Buy it now folks. 
Posted by percival09

:-)

percival09

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

In Response to Re: Book sharing club. : I agree with you regarding these popular books, certainly many parts have indeed been debunked (speculative theory, commonality and interpretation heavily influence this area). Any text outside of an actual paper is likely a subjective view. If we accept this at the outset I see no reason that we cannot digest and inerpret for ourselves. Anything that interests us can be noted and further researched.
Posted by HENDRIK62

I agree. I wish we could rely on these books to actually give an accurate review because then we could all get behind them. And then I get angry that they still get so much support, probably some jealousy too, who knows hehe. If you can read it, take it with a pinch of salt, accept the possibilites beforehand as you mentioned, then I'm all for it. Nice post. 

Edit: just to add, to be honest, I don't think the vast majority of people know this, and of course the authors know this. It's probably not even an accurate interpretation - many of the authors are probably VERY loosely interpretating the literature in a way that will yield the highest demand. Customers see the word "smarter" or "improve habits" -- /> some chemical gets excreted in the brain which ultimately leads to the purchase of a pop psychol book. rinse repeat. I guess I can't blame the authors too much, supply & demand etc, meh

devil_tear

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

To expand on my point, I read a top seller in psychology called Predictably Irrational (some psychol / behavioural economics book, similar to the rest like Nudge et al that claim to "have power to change the way we think"). In the appendix he gave details of how he came to the points of the text (yes, that appendix full of the important info that you wouldn't get a 15 minute bite size thing) - I read it + realise that all of the information came from studies on 10-100 undergraduate students (most of psychol studies use undergraduate students) @ 1 university in the US. One of the studies actually involved 9 undergraduate students, NINE, and the author actually tried to extrapolate the poor findings of that study of 9 undergraduate students to the wider world. There are so many clangers in the book and yet he still found itself @ the top of the best sellers, and these type of books always do because they sell a false hope. 
Posted by percival09

I'm sure their are many books that lack strong evidence based research. But to imply theyre all not useful is to throw the baby out with the bath water imo.

With regards to Blinkist. I have to agree to disagree. Alot of non fiction books I want to get the core concepts - not looking to complete a degree in psychology. Its also great as if i read a summary of a book I really like I'll order the full copy.

Itsover4u

alot of the self help books etc are mumbo jumbo.... but it also has a placebo effect on people if the mind thinks it can it will

Pele — 'Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do'

TeddyBloat

another really good tool for grinders i'd recommend is f:lux

it adjusts the colour tempreture of your screen. computer screens emit a lot of blue light which mimics the sort of light we are used to getting inn the day. So prolonged sessions in front of the screen can mess up your sleeping patterns. F:lux adjusts the temp of the screen according to the natural light in your timezone. after  long session in front of the screen you should find sleep and cool down easier.

im not sure if it available for tablets, but there is an android app called twilight that does something very similar

percival09

In Response to Re: Book sharing club.:

In Response to Re: Book sharing club. : I'm sure their are many books that lack strong evidence based research. But to imply theyre all not useful is to throw the baby out with the bath water imo. With regards to Blinkist. I have to agree to disagree. Alot of non fiction books I want to get the core concepts - not looking to complete a degree in psychology. Its also great as if i read a summary of a book I really like I'll order the full copy.
Posted by devil_tear

On one side I completely see your point. I've read numerous books, as mentioned above with the will power thing, where @ the finish line I'm like jeeeeez, what a waste of X period of time, or sort of a waste, close to it at least (hi psychology). But on the other side there are others that I think I gain much more from, books that I really don't think a 15 min bite size thing could convey. Books that actually require you stop, read again, think about it, try & understand it, fail etc. I suppose if you're using the bitesize as a sort of curiosity scanner, that could potentially lead to a purchase, then it's better. Each to their own I suppose. 

percival09

I suppose with all this debunking your thread I should actually suggest a mental poker book, or something along those lines. If you want to improve logically, I really would recommend learning statistics + probability. Also, learning poker strategy really helps mentally because you have a clearer idea about strategy, how to react to strategies etc. In fact, I'd probably go as far as saying improving your poker game is the best thing you can do to improve your mental game, but of course that doesn't sell books.

Staying away from that, however, I'd recommend something to do with game theory. I recently read The Joys of Game Theory & Game Theory Puzzles, both of which provide puzzles for you to work through. The mathematics isn't advanced. It just providez puzzles/games, you're supposed to try and work through them yourself, and the author then tells you the answer with description + analysis. It's quite fun + it likely helps more with logical thinking than any psych book. Well, only if you have the self-control & perseverance to try and complete the puzzles by yourself before asking for the author's help! You don't have to go for the ones I recommended obv, I'm sure there are plenty of ismilar books on the market that all do similar things.