The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky was published in 1994 but it’s still considered a must-have for any serious poker player. You won’t get a detailed hand analysis or advice as to how to play pocket jacks from early position, but you will learn how to understand the game of poker on a basic level. Instead of giving you a big pot, The Theory of Poker teaches you how to win big pots, so that you can do it time and time again in the future.

The Theory of Poker is more about the larger concepts that drive decisions as opposed to giving you exact instructions on how to play to win at your home game or when you’re playing online poker. Sklansky starts the book off with a seemingly simple theory: every time you make a decision at the poker table that you’d do differently if you could see your opponent’s hidden cards, you’ve made a mistake.  

His goal in the pages that follow is to help you avoid those mistakes by giving you a logical, step-by-step approach, chapter by chapter, to analyzing the common decisions you’re faced with. The 25 chapters of The Theory of Poker each tackle a fundamental building block that you need to be a complete poker player, including chapters on choosing good start hands, the importance of calculating pot odds, the value of position at the table, how to read hands, and when (and when not) to bluff. 

Sklansky mixes in real hands from poker tournaments and cash games to illustrate his points, so it’s not all theoretical, mathematical talk. While some of the concepts he discusses may be difficult to grasp at first (especially for beginners), they all touch upon important areas that players need to master if they want to win at the poker table. It’s not a book that you’ll immediately absorb and grasp upon the first reading, but instead one that you find yourself digesting in small chunks and returning to again in the future.

Sklansky’s writing style is pretty dry and it’s not the most well-written or clear prose in the world at times, but you’ll be rewarded if you can get past those difficulties, as the lessons in the book are very valuable ones for poker players. The Theory of Poker has stood the test of time to emerge as a top poker book for both beginning and intermediate poker players.