The Science of Poker

Author: M. Mahmood
Publisher: High Stakes
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Chapter One

Poker - People - Money

Many old-fashioned players, whom I think of as the dinosaurs of the game, will argue that poker is a game of people. According to them, all you have to do is understand the psychology of your opponents. Once you have done that and identified your opponents' playing and betting habits you can't lose. They could not make a more misguided statement.

Poker is a game of people, probabilities and money. These are the primary skills of the game. The successful player will find the right balance between these three skills depending on:

(1)  the structure of betting and the size of the buy-in of the game;

(2)  the type of the game, as well as the size of the ante/blinds and the number of betting rounds;

(3)  the level of the other players' skill.

Money is an important component, especially in pot-limit poker. It is also important in the bigger limit games. If you play in a game whose betting structure does not suit your bankroll, you will almost certainly end up as the loser no matter how good your knowledge ofpeople and probabilities. It is very simple. Scared money can't win.

On the other hand, if you are an amateur who challenges the laws of probabilities all the time, please come and play in my games. Novices like to walk on water and will definitely sink because most of their calls and bets have negative mathematical expectations. They will win lots of pots on the very few days Lady Luck is on their side, but eventually skilled players will end up with the money.

Likewise, players who ignore the playing and betting habits of their opponents will be losers. They either put their opponents on hands they do not have or live in a state of oblivion, where only the cards they hold in the palms of their hands matter. Skilful players do not take prisoners. They will either bully that type of opponent or entrap him when they have the better hand. You need to know four things. (1) Who bets on the come, and if so how good is their awareness of the probability of completing