Nonetheless, for those of us who like to play poker, these choices represent an opportunity.
I don't care if you play for matchsticks, beer money, paychecks, or sums great enough to purchase large businesses, you can play a lot better than you play right now, if you decide you want to. Here's the magic formula:
1) Decide your motivation to improve is strong enough for you to devote some time and/or resources towards improving. You can't hit a target if you're not aiming at it, and you don't improve (much) in poker without an actual focus on improving. Ever since I started playing poker in casinos at a baby-faced 21, I've had grizzled veterans try to intimidate me with statements like "Son, I've been playin' poker since afore you were born, and you played that hand like a fool." Before my poker ego was stronger, I used to reply, "I'd be more impressed if I thought you'd been playing well all those years. Looks to me like you've spent a lot of time practicing your mistakes." These days, having learned that "lessons cost extra," fights are foolish, and that people who run their mouths are usually giving away information I can use, I let them talk, and I take their chips. Merely playing isn't enough. You have to play with a view towards constant improvement.
2) Read GOOD poker books. I used to think that for a raw beginner, any poker book was better than nothing, but I've changed my mind. Many books teach you those mistakes those grizzled veterans have been practicing for years, and you have to unlearn those mistakes before you can get any better. Most of the best poker books are written by advanced player for other advanced players, and so a beginner may find them rough sledding. Nonetheless, if you want to become a good player, sooner or later you will need most of the books written by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, T.J. Cloutier, Doyle Brunson, Tom McEvoy, Bob Ciaffone, and Mike Caro. If you're totally raw, Lou Krieger's Poker for Dummies is a reasonable place to start, as are the free online information section at Poker.Net "Poker School". Once you understand some hold'em fundamentals, Lee Jones' Winning Low Limit Hold'em is a must read.
As you progress, you'll begin to understand that poker is more of a people game played with cards, rather than a card game played by people, and books like The Zen of Poker (Phillips), The Psychology of Poker (Schoonmaker), John Feeney's Inside the Poker Mind and Mike Caro's Book of Tells will become more and more important. If you play in a regular home game, studying your opponents closely becomes even more important, because you get to use the information so frequently.
Probably the single most important poker book of all is Sklansky's The Theory of Poker, but if you've never played, you'll find it tough going.
The cost of this poker library might seem daunting, but you don't have to buy them all at once (in fact, probably should not), and it's very common for me to win or lose more in one single poker session than the cost of all of these books put together. Unless your poker ambitions end at nickel-dime-quarter action, you are providing an absolutely perfect example of the phrase "Penny-wise and pound-foolish" by refusing to spend $29.95 on a book that might earn (or save) you thousands of dollars over the cost of a poker lifetime.
You should NOT assume that if I haven't listed an author here, his work isn't any good. I've just listed some of the best. By the time you've read these authors, you'll understand enough about poker to be able to discern whom else amongst the rest are worth reading, and who are not. One note about older poker books: most of what the pre-1980 books teach is about five card draw, and while some of the lessons translate well into more popular current games, much of it isn't helpful in the modern era. Save these to read last.
3) Put what you read into practice, one piece at a time. Any good scientist will tell you an experiment isn't much good without a "control group" that allows a baseline comparison of experimental results. If you read six books simultaneously and try to apply everything at once, you'll have very little idea what's working, what isn't, and more importantly, why what's working is working and why what isn't, isn't. If you alternate reading with playing and practicing, you'll achieve a better balance of practice and theory. You'll need both.
4) Consider practicing with computer software. Wilson offers the best, followed by AceSpade. Software can't simulate every aspect of live play, but it will allow you to get a feel for how certain hands play out, and allow you to gain experience without paying your opponents for your education. I believe computer software is a better way to practice than the "free" games found online where you can play against live opponents, because the software simulations will go more quickly, and your "free game" opponents won't be very good or play very well. You might develop bad habits there. Not every poker writer agrees with me on this point.
5) Re-read your poker books periodically. Very few great poker players are great teachers or writers. Often, the true gems of advice in their books are hidden amongst relatively unimportant points, and as you are first learning, it's very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. I've been doing this for a long time, and rarely fail to be surprised at some subtle point I pick up the fourth time I read a book. Some of this is the author's fault, and some is my own: the first three times I read the book, I might not have been good enough to appreciate the importance of what I was reading.
Eventually you will even reach a point where you disagree with some of what these authors say, and you may be right to disagree. Even the best books contain some errors, or at least claim certain things to be absolutely true when they are true only under certain circumstances. Although as a beginner you should tend to accept what you read without too many challenges, as you progress, you will begin to realize that poker authors have feet of clay.
6) To thine own self be true. Yes, everyone has nights where the cards are so bad, or the opponents' cards so good, that winning is impossible, but these nights are considerably fewer and farther between than most players are willing to admit. Although it's certainly easier on the ego to blame the cards instead of your own play, if you approach each session as a learning experience, and perform a post-mortem analysis of how you played, you'll improve a lot faster than opponents who blame everyone and everything but themselves. If you continue to believe there is always more to learn, keep an open mind about mistakes you might have made, and continue to mix theory with practice, sooner or later you'll become one of those players who, no matter how charming your personality, I'd rather see sit down at someone else's table when I'm playing.