Have poker books helped you?

I've been playing poker for a while, I play in tournaments everyweek and have done pretty well (usually finish in top 3 out of 100 players). When I started playing I developed my own style and some of my plays were not typical of a pro poker player, but I did very well. Then I figured I should read some books and learn to play the game from a pro's point of view. That was the biggest mistake I ever made, my style is to slow play most of the time and the books tell you to bet in certain situations, (you know be more aggressive), when I started following the information I got from the book I got destroid, since then I have gone back to my style of play and am playing at a high level again. The infromation you get from books may help some people but it won't help everyone. My advice is find a style that works for you and stick with it.

[dbdbarry]

I think poker books are good for beginners to learn the game and the theories of play. But I agree you need your own style. You've got to learn to develop your "feel" for the game. You can't do this if you play mechanically with a book guiding you.

I have posted before and books have helped me to at least break even and at times win and most importantly, walk away a winner. First book I read was T.J 's book and then a book on Low Limit Hold'em , that helped me to understand some differences between Limit and No Limit. I learned from Super System that I am going to take a shot at the pot if I raised before the flop. It has earned me more little pots than before. As for as books helping me the most, I bought Killer Poker and have found it to be a great little gem of a book that deals more with you being a poker player than how to play hands and such. I needed that. It is worth buying. Still, I think any book is worth at least one or two gems. Just don't determine your style based upon a book. You will become advanced by trying different things towards different players. Books can't teach you how to play your style. I don't think they are meant to teach you the Psychology of reading people. You have to learn that and then apply. Good luck.

[BlackHawk]

HARRINGTON ON HOLD EM IS THE GREATEST POKER BOOK EVER WRITTEN!!!!! I like to describe it as the only real book on poker. Every other book tells you what to do when you have pocket kings or when you flop a straight. But seriously, how many times does that happen in a tournament?? Harrington takes real situations and shows you how to win with the cards you really get like J7o or K10. It has helped my game tremendously and introduced advanced concepts like controlling pot odds and showed a couple neat little plays like the sandwich play he did at the final table in the 2004 WSOP when he raised like 1.3 million with 62o. I cannot wait till the 2nd edition comes out!