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Staunton
Chess
The game. Sit down and play. Chessable is the reps. This is the board.
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The table
Brain Games
Chess. Catan. Monopoly. CASHFLOW. Then the books that actually made me better at the games I study — chess, limit hold 'em, and pool. Same titles as the shelf. Chessable and PokerSnowie are the apps.
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Klaus Teuber / CATAN Studio
Catan
Trade, build, block the brick. The one that taught a generation that a board game can have no dice-for-movement.
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Hasbro
Monopoly
The original rat race. Buy the property. Charge rent. Then play CASHFLOW and see the difference.
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Amazon
Robert & Kim Kiyosaki
CASHFLOW
Rich Dad as a board game. Escape the rat race by buying assets. Monopoly is the trap. This is the lesson.
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Amazon
Irving Chernev
Logical Chess: Move by Move
Every move explained. The book that teaches you why a piece went there — not just that it did.
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Amazon
Irving Chernev & Fred Reinfeld
Winning Chess
Attacking play after you know the moves. The companion to Logical Chess — not Seirawan’s series unless that is the one on the shelf.
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Amazon
Jeremy Silman
Silman's Complete Endgame Course
Endgames by rating. Only what you need at the level you are at. Then the next chapter.
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Amazon
David Sklansky
The Theory of Poker
Expected value, in English. The math behind every bet with incomplete information.
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NOT FOR NO-LIMIT!
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Ed Miller, David Sklansky & Mason Malmuth
Small Stakes Hold 'em
Limit hold 'em. This is what got me good. Less useful for no-limit — still the book.
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NOT FOR NO-LIMIT!
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David Sklansky & Mason Malmuth
Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players
Limit hold 'em at a higher level. Same caveat: it is not a no-limit manual. It is how I learned to think.
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NOT FOR NO-LIMIT!
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Nick Grudzien & Geoff Herzog
Winning in Tough Hold 'em Games
Short-handed, high-stakes limit. The third book in that sequence. Limited for NL. It still made me better.
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Amazon
Ray Martin & Rosser Reeves
The 99 Critical Shots in Pool
The shots that actually come up. Diagrams, not folklore. Pool as a thinking game.
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