
Poker Theory and Analytics - mlla
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s50-poker-theory-and-analytics-january-iap-2015/index.htm
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brightball
There's a book called Theory of Poker that covers all of this. Gets into all
of the math involved, how it changes throughout the game, how it changes in
different games, etc.

Basically it boils down to a solid system in limit poker where raises are
controlled. One huge raise in a no limit game skews the pot odds so badly that
mathematically it almost always means you should fold and that makes no limit
a great game for the WSOP.

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merlincorey
If you're only taking into account direct pot odds for NLHE in 2015, you're
missing out on a lot.

I like the book "The Mathematics of Poker" by Chen.

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andybak
> If you're only taking into account direct pot odds for NLHE in 2015, you're
> missing out on a lot.

I'd like to understand that sentence better. Got any links?

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wbc
In NL, you should also consider future betting and implied pot odds,
especially when playing deep stacked (say both of your stacks have 200+ big
bets)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_odds#Implied_pot_odds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot_odds#Implied_pot_odds)

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icpmacdo
What would be the best way to learn this content. Would you take notes while
watching the lectures or try and pay close attention to the videos and read
the class notes later, or something else?

What are other poker books, classes or tutorials that are high quality?

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jib
Harrington on Hold'em is a good starting place for (tournament) poker. It's an
old book but it teaches solid fundamentals.

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mod
Harrington wrote a cash book as well, fwiw.

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forloop
Can anyone comment on why poker is illegal in most of the U.S.?

I'm in the UK, and the government leans on the side of restricting freedom,
yet poker-for-money is _totally_ legal here.

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marincounty
Actually, a part of me wishes all gambling was illegial in the U.S., including
the lottery. I have seen the damage it does to poor, and middle class
families. The cards are stacked against us here; it's real easy to end up
homeless.

It's fine when your young, and single, but I have know families that lost
everything, and as I said before; we don't have much of a safety net.

(I haven't traveled much in the U.S., but every town I been in has had legal
poker tables. I think poker is legal here?)

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ILIKEPONIES
In the long run, poker is a skill game. It's played against random opponents,
not the house. As such, the cards aren't "stacked against you." To bucket it
with all gambling games, especially the lottery, demonstrates a lack of
understanding.

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learnstats2
I disagree that it demonstrates a lack of understanding:

\- In poker, the house takes a cut that typically overwhelms the benefit of
being a skilled player. An unskilled player is losing to the house and their
competitors.

\- An unskilled player may not be playing against random opponents. Part of
the skill you are talking about is the skill of picking vulnerable opponents
and milking them.

\- Gambler's ruin still takes effect: you have a finite bankroll so you can
only ride out a finite amount of bad luck before you're bankrupt. Fine, if
you're rich or the house.

\- Many of the best poker players in the world have bankrupted or have had to
take deep loans to continue playing.

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rubiquity
> _\- Many of the best poker players in the world have bankrupted or have had
> to take deep loans to continue playing._ '

That's because it turned out that those players weren't actually the best
players in the world. Poker saw a huge birth of statistical analysis from
2002-2008 when Online Poker was legal/legal enough in the US. People who only
played live (in person at a casino) their entire career might only play
50k-200k hands. When online poker came about you could play 200k hands in a
month. It turns out these so called "best in the world players" were just on a
really good run. It also turns out it takes millions upon millions of hands to
really find out if you're truly a winner or just benefitting from the good
side of variance.

This affect gets even worse because the so-called "Best players in the world"
were MTT players and MTTs have the highest statistical variance of all. I have
friends who are still poker pros. Next to Asian businessman, the only other
player they would rather have at their tables are "Television Pros."

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giltleaf
What is an MTT player?

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rubiquity
Multi-table Tournaments. World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour, etc.

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jgorn
Has anyone taken this course that can speak to its content and usefulness?

Is this aimed at those completely new to Poker Theory?

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vog
Also, are there real-world applications outside gambling, or as improved
negotiations in politics/business?

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icey
Poker math is great for quick estimation of whether an investment (time,
money, or otherwise) is worthwhile. Poker is all about risk vs. reward, and
puts you into the mindset of approaching risk statistically instead of using
an all-or-nothing approach. Considering investments in that way allows you to
get a better sense of whether or not something is worth your time, even if
there's a non-zero chance of failure (or sometimes a near 100% chance of
failure for an appropriately large payoff).

