Ryan Schmelzer

I just got done reading a theory by Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken and wondered if some people are thinking too much. Mathematics is starting to become a big part of the game and people are going real deep into how to make the best mathematical play. However, isn’t poker really just poker and not some giant math problem?

At the final table of the 2006 HORSE event at the WSOP, Doyle Brunson made a collect lay down preflop with Q-Q. As he threw his hand into the muck, he accidently exposed one of his cards. Andy Bloch, a mathematical player, was convinced that Doyle had A-Q and said Doyle wouldn’t fold two queens in that position. Old school player T.J. Cloutier replied that he would fold it if he thinks it is beat. Now isn’t that poker? Isn’t poker just making the right play regardless of all the math? Cloutier has been very successful in tournament poker. From what I have heard, he doesn’t care about pot odds in big pots. Instead, he bases his decision simply on if he thinks his hand is better, even if the call would be mathematically wrong.

That’s what I think poker truly is. Don’t get me wrong; math is a big help in this game. But there are spots when it isn’t going to help. When playing at a table that is full of players that understand pot odds, math helps you know exactly the price to bet. But if you are sitting at a table and you are the only one that understands pot odds, the mathematically perfect bet doesn’t mean as much.

The true challenge of poker is getting to know your opponents. Knowing them will help you know what is the right play. The reason I love poker is because it is one huge mind game. Math will help your game a lot, but when it all comes down to it, the key to poker is knowing how the competition will react to what you do.