Diogo Jorge
Rock Star
Silver Level
I dont know about it but i just know there are some ways and tips to play better. Game theory.. I've never heard about
Diogo Jorge
Rock Star
Silver Level
H
hffjd2000
Legend
Silver Level
In a way it helps since it will add up to our knowledge. There are game theories that relate much to poker theories.
But if you want a direct hand to poker theories, you can check out "The Theory of Poker" by David Sklansky.
But if you want a direct hand to poker theories, you can check out "The Theory of Poker" by David Sklansky.
XXPXXP
Legend
Silver Level
game theory is a kind of branch of maths.
used fairly wide in stock market, gamble, business to analyze the best decision making under certain situation.
Yes, it works for poker! You have to reach to large samples till you realized game theory help your game.
used fairly wide in stock market, gamble, business to analyze the best decision making under certain situation.
Yes, it works for poker! You have to reach to large samples till you realized game theory help your game.
Faust
Enthusiast
Silver Level
My opinion, which is not subjective at all, is that game theory can be divided in three main aspects:
The first aspects is what everyone thinks the game is about. And that's what they teach everywhere, but the game is simply more than that.
The economy differs whether it's a tournament or a table. In a tournament you have to consider the total amount of chips in the tournament, and the progress of average stack. You have to take this in consideration when you bet, if you don't you won't get to the final table.
The psychology is needed in order to control the table. Learning about psychology will give you the ability to read others, and to control them as well (with your bets or the way you play). This will also allow you to change your game when it's needed, being in constant flow so your opponents won't be able to read your game. In my opinion this is the most important thing to learn from the game in order to be succesful. This isn't so hard to apply, is just the same rules as in life, you apply the knowledge you get from relationships.
As i said those are the three global classifications to consider, but there's a world to discover in each one of them, is just a matter of paying attention to those aspects and learning while playing.
- Statistics
- Economy
- Psychology
The first aspects is what everyone thinks the game is about. And that's what they teach everywhere, but the game is simply more than that.
The economy differs whether it's a tournament or a table. In a tournament you have to consider the total amount of chips in the tournament, and the progress of average stack. You have to take this in consideration when you bet, if you don't you won't get to the final table.
The psychology is needed in order to control the table. Learning about psychology will give you the ability to read others, and to control them as well (with your bets or the way you play). This will also allow you to change your game when it's needed, being in constant flow so your opponents won't be able to read your game. In my opinion this is the most important thing to learn from the game in order to be succesful. This isn't so hard to apply, is just the same rules as in life, you apply the knowledge you get from relationships.
As i said those are the three global classifications to consider, but there's a world to discover in each one of them, is just a matter of paying attention to those aspects and learning while playing.
duggs
Killing me softly
Silver Level
none of what you said is game theory.
Faust
Enthusiast
Silver Level
No i didn't, neither your comment. I just mentioned the three main classifications from where to obtain game theory. Of course you can get it from somewhere else and apply it to poker, or get it directly from poker which i assume that's what you want me to speak of. Well i won't because there is a lot more knowledge that can be applied to poker and i find it more efficient to apply that rather than using the "pure" knowledge from poker.
duggs
Killing me softly
Silver Level
no, game theory is a means of solving game structure by using backward induction and nash equilibriums. the whole point of an equilibrium is that you become unexploitable so that no play would change their strategy even if you wrote someone else's exact strategy down and handed it to them
TheDuke177
Rising Star
Silver Level
In broad terms the field of game theory is a mathematical approach to developing optimal models for decision making in certain situations. I study chemical engineering, so I haven't really studied the topic heavily, but most of the game theory that I've seen consists of mathematical operations on matrices of choices and their outcomes weighted against their probabilities of occurrence. I think that understanding some game theory concepts can be helpful, like push/fold nash equilibrium in HU play. However, I would venture to guess that it may be of limited usefulness to a beginner player.
The main problem I would see with attempting to incorporate game theory too heavily is that it is usually based around choices occurring in a ideal model designed to approximate a real situation. There are many unknown variables and parameters in a real game. A novice player is not going to have the judgement to factor these into their decisions, or differentiate between an appropriate and inappropriate situation in which to apply certain concepts. Blindly applying game theory to poker and expecting results without an already deep understanding of the game is pretty much like trying to model an airplane as a flying sphere in a frictionless vacuum.
The main problem I would see with attempting to incorporate game theory too heavily is that it is usually based around choices occurring in a ideal model designed to approximate a real situation. There are many unknown variables and parameters in a real game. A novice player is not going to have the judgement to factor these into their decisions, or differentiate between an appropriate and inappropriate situation in which to apply certain concepts. Blindly applying game theory to poker and expecting results without an already deep understanding of the game is pretty much like trying to model an airplane as a flying sphere in a frictionless vacuum.
transformpoker
Enthusiast
Silver Level
Yes. Game Theory is probably the single most important element in poker.
The misconception that there's an argument to be had about if it is important or if it is not important is mostly because Game Theory is just a name for the math that allows players and analysts to look into complex interactions like the ones that take place at a poker table. Some players "do the math" with intuition. Basically, their brains do a (sometimes only slightly) crappier job of identifying spots that the player may need to take a particular set of actions.
Any player may certainly study or think about the game a little less than someone using advanced mathematics and come out better than his opponent who may not have given particular situations a second thought.
It's kind of like asking does calculus make for a good farmer? Obviously it helps when you're thinking about optimizing fencing placement or irrigation routes, but most farmers can look at the lay of their land and have a fairly good idea of what's going on.
Over time, though, the farmer who "eyeballs" it is going to get pwned by the farmer who crunched the numbers. All else being equal, the number crunching farmer is selling his goods at an effectively higher margin because he has lower upkeep costs on fencing and less energy spent getting water through his irrigation pipes. The same is true for poker. Somebody who eyeballs their frequencies in a spot can certainly do well enough, but without an in depth look at the mathematics of the reasoning, the player is necessarily limited by their own guesses, and guessing exactly right is difficult. Over sufficient time, the farmer or poker player who studies the proper math (Game Theory) will win out.
The counter "argument" is usually something like "Well what about Phil Ivey? Isn't he the best?" There are cases where farmers can eyeball very near to the correct situations for their crops. Ivey is likely a solid corollary in the poker world, but pitted against a Game Theory studying specialist, he might not do so well. For example, in the cap $100k NL games on Full Tilt a few years back, he got lit up. That's because 30bb HU poker is close to solvable with Game Theory as it is many orders of magnitude simpler than multiway deep stacked poker. He sat with specialists in the field and because they knew the math nearly perfectly, no amount of intuition could help him.
The long and short of it all is that math wins out in the long run, but only if it's the right math.
H
HooDooKoo
Visionary
Platinum Level
This is a MAJOR oversimplification. There are plenty of great players that never have --- and never will --- study game theory. And there are plenty of poor players that have studied game theory. Game theory is just one tool in a poker player's bag of tricks, and it's DEFINITELY NOT the most important tool in that bag.
I'm not saying that studying game theory isn't worthwhile --- but it simply isn't the key to poker success.
Good luck.
-HooDookoo