Thousands of books have been written on how to play poker, including some that are over a hundred years old. Unfortunately, the large majority of these books are deeply flawed in terms of strategic advice. The principles of correct poker strategy are both highly complex and subtle, and most authors simply do not fully understand these concepts, or are not capable of expressing them with the written word.
Moreover, the level of human play is generally so low that it is quite possible for a player to be highly successful despite having some serious misconceptions, simply because those weaknesses are never exploited, or because the opponents are making more frequent or more serious mistakes.
Typically, a poker book will offer a collection of playing tips, some of which are valid, and others which are dubious, or highly dependent on the specific conditions of the actual game. The authors of such books should not be judged too harshly, however, since the information may be quite valuable to the intended audience - the average human poker player. But for the purposes of productive academic research, a much more systematic and mathematically rigorous analysis is required. Once that strong theoretical foundation has been established, a completely sound approach to playing strategy can be constructed.
Fortunately, there are a few books which are excellent resources. These have been written by world-class professional poker players who have not hidden any ``trade secrets'', and who are also excellent writers and teachers. The most prominent authors on poker theory and praxis are David Sklansky (a former actuary), and Mason Malmuth (a professional mathematician) [ 87 , 90 , 86 , 58 , 88 , 89 , 59 , 60 , 107 , 91 ].
The treatise by twice world champion Doyle Brunson is also highly valuable [ 27 ].
The books reviewed in this section will prove to be indispensable as a source of knowledge about poker in general, and about Texas Hold'em in particular. Nevertheless, it must be noted that these works are intended for the development of human players, and must be interpreted and refined considerably to be applicable to the task of computer programming.
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