Poker Mathematics

 Poker Mathematics

Poker is a game where skill is required. This requires the ability to read situations, and to be able and to use that information to your advantage when you are playing.

You should also be able to calculate your odds of winning in mathematics.

The most common poker uses of mathematics are shown in the table below:

Are you a successful poker player because of your use of mathematics in poker?

It's a common question. Is it possible to beat the poker game without using poker mathematics in your plays?

It's not possible to assume that math-challenged players will not win. But a good understanding of odds can help you improve your game and give yourself an edge over those who don’t.

Nearly all players use mathematics in their games without realizing it.

Use mathematics to draw hands.

There are many ways mathematics can be applied, but most commonly they are used when a player is in a draw, such as a flush draw or straight draw.

If you win a bet against an opponent and your hand is drawn, you must decide whether to call to try and complete the draw with the next card or fold to let your opponent take the money.

A player with a good understanding of poker mathematics will always know if he or she should call. However, a player without any mathematical knowledge will not be able to tell the difference.

Untrained players will be able make an educated decision on whether to call or not. Players who are not familiar with poker odds may think it's too costly to try to get the right card. But if the bet amount is low, they will likely call.

However, a player who is able to use poker mathematics correctly can work out the pot odds for a hand and take the appropriate action. Pot odds consider the amount of money your opponent has placed in relation to the pot. They also take into consideration the likelihood that you will complete your draw. These factors can be used to help you decide if you should call or fold.

Expected Value

You may find other situations where mathematics is used in looser ways, but it still applies. Here's an example of "Expected Value":

Let's say you hold the river holding the bottom pair, and your opponent places a $4 bet on a $10 pot. What should you do? If you don't have any concrete evidence from how the hand played out that your opponent has better hands than you, math can help you determine whether you should call.

Example of mathematics being used in poker

First, estimate how likely it is that your opponent will bluff and hold a worse hand than yourself. Let's assume that:

Our opponent is a bit tricky, and he bluffs one time for every three hands he has on the river.

This means that our chances of winning a hand are 1 in 4.

So, there's a 3 out 4 chance that we don't have the best hands.

We will win one time for every three losses (3-to-1).

So if we call with the best hand, $14 will be won once. But if you call with the worst hand, $4 will be lost three times. We would lose $12 (3 x 4), and win $14 after 4 hands if we called each time. We would make a net loss of $2 if every call was made on the river. This is why we should always make the call.

While you might not find the above paragraph to be very intuitive, we are confident that it isn’t as complicated as we made it sound. You should have higher odds of winning than what the pot is giving. This is a simpler way to read what we just stated. For example, to win $14 worth of pots, we had to call $4. This is $3.5-to-1. Our odds are three to one that we will win, which is better than the odds in the pot.

SPOC is an easy tool to help you get to grips drawing odds and hands.

A few quick pointers.

When using mathematics in poker, it is important to remember that the decisions you make won't have any effect on your short-term wins.

You don't have to know the odds of winning a hand just because you calculated them correctly. If you lose the hand it doesn't mean that you didn't make the right decision. Keep making good decisions based on the odds and you'll make more long-term. So don't let short-term results affect your ability to make good plays.

While it may seem difficult at first to master mathematics in poker, we recommend you persevere and learn more. This will allow you to be a successful long-term poker player. It will take a while before things start to 'click' and you will understand the pot odds and expected value much more easily.

More information about poker mathematics.

The Mathematics of Poker, by Bill Chen, is an excellent book that covers poker mathematics. While it is not an easy read, you will not find any more information on poker math anywhere else (not even on ThePokerBank!) The Best Online Poker Tools Are Seedy