Importance of poker math and how do you use it?

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rektman

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I find math in poker really difficult.

I mean first you need to calculate pot odds, than fractions, than outs, equity, implied odds, also ranges equity and god knows what else I am not even aware of. This stuff is insane.

I don't get it how can you manage to make all these calculations during the hand? Especially if you are multi tabling , how to calculate all this in such short period of time???

I talked to some people and they say they don't do it in real time, they do it in hand reviews for studding purposes and then it somehow gets embedded in your brain so you kind of just "know in" when you play. How were people doing this in times when there was only live poker and when there were no online tools? How are you doing this now?
 
AKQ

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I find math in poker really difficult.

I mean first you need to calculate pot odds, than fractions, than outs, equity, implied odds, also ranges equity and god knows what else I am not even aware of. This stuff is insane.

I don't get it how can you manage to make all these calculations during the hand? Especially if you are multi tabling , how to calculate all this in such short period of time???

I talked to some people and they say they don't do it in real time, they do it in hand reviews for studding purposes and then it somehow gets embedded in your brain so you kind of just "know in" when you play. How were people doing this in times when there was only live poker and when there were no online tools? How are you doing this now?

Get a paper and write the odds down .
Doyle Brunson used a pencil not a computer. U may choose either non relevant
i have a 19.1% flush draw
I have on an open ended straight off the flop you have 8 outs twice, for a total of 16 and about a 34% chance to hit it by the river
Now ask yourself how often does your opponent bet 19-30% of the pot?
Very rare
How often will your opponent fold using fold equity if you shoved all in over his 1/2 pot raise?
How often does he cbet?whats his range preflop?
Is this opponent capable of folding top pair weak kicker?
Your friends "play" poker bro sorrey to say. learning to play an exact situation well is great for when you are back in that exact spot
But you will most likely not be you will have different opponents using different strategys playing differently.
personal Rule of thumb always be the guy with the pair betting never bet less than 1/2 pot make sure to make em pay!! They will pay
you'l get to win a good bit by betting on the turn as the draw only was 18%ish and 4/5 times still has nothing .
Many players will pay the flop half pot bet but will be more wary to a turn sized 1/2 bet or better
and if he is daring he wants to see a river its your decision/risk/reward to either bet larger same or check to induce a bluff
dont be the guy caling with 1/3 draw chance or less be the guy folding it or shoving all in for added fold equity/bluff.
The math is there to show which hands are ahead at the moment and its expected value over hundreds of thousands of hands
Headsup all in rankings always go with the pair 22 versus AK as the 53+% fav
pair versus underpair is 80% fav
AK versus AQ is 74.7%

now you know the odds that was'nt bad or hard to remember
The trick is now figuring out what your opponent has and either avoiding or picking a situation that is favorable to you

1 last tip
always think about opponent ranges versus the flop composition
understanding proper line logic helps further refines your reads

ex. me button 10 9 flat calls on the buton
sb and BB calls
flop comes A 96
I bet out and am known as aggressive player.
but wait I would never limp with an ace preflop on the button.
So line logic combined with range says I don't have an ace.

pyscholgy was the name of the game
now its some kind of reverse mind ****ing with occasional lotto drawings
know the odds now forget the odds
don't gamble as the underdog you want them to do that

Gl out there and would love to answer any more questions
love me some mind math conundrum but it doesnt dictate the flow of the game by far

Next time you play your friends just keep asking them how much fold equity they have at the moment lol
Than ask about SPR

btw implied odds are like saying
the pots 100
villian bets 100 and definitely has top pair but has 3k in chips
but you have an 18% flush draw that doesn't justify the call
So we make up an excuse and say well I could potentially win 3k if he shoves all in
implied odds = justifying stupidity
implied odds+ fold equity/BLUFF+ implied odds +line logic= Opportunity:fight:

Hope to see you on the tables
hopefully not as dead money xD
 
Peppinotom

Peppinotom

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Get a paper and write the odds down .
Doyle Brunson used a pencil not a computer. U may choose either non relevant
i have a 19.1% flush draw
I have on an open ended straight off the flop you have 8 outs twice, for a total of 16 and about a 34% chance to hit it by the river
Now ask yourself how often does your opponent bet 19-30% of the pot?
Very rare
How often will your opponent fold using fold equity if you shoved all in over his 1/2 pot raise?
How often does he cbet?whats his range preflop?
Is this opponent capable of folding top pair weak kicker?
Your friends "play" poker bro sorrey to say. learning to play an exact situation well is great for when you are back in that exact spot
But you will most likely not be you will have different opponents using different strategys playing differently.
personal Rule of thumb always be the guy with the pair betting never bet less than 1/2 pot make sure to make em pay!! They will pay
you'l get to win a good bit by betting on the turn as the draw only was 18%ish and 4/5 times still has nothing .
Many players will pay the flop half pot bet but will be more wary to a turn sized 1/2 bet or better
and if he is daring he wants to see a river its your decision/risk/reward to either bet larger same or check to induce a bluff
dont be the guy caling with 1/3 draw chance or less be the guy folding it or shoving all in for added fold equity/bluff.
The math is there to show which hands are ahead at the moment and its expected value over hundreds of thousands of hands
Headsup all in rankings always go with the pair 22 versus AK as the 53+% fav
pair versus underpair is 80% fav
AK versus AQ is 74.7%

now you know the odds that was'nt bad or hard to remember
The trick is now figuring out what your opponent has and either avoiding or picking a situation that is favorable to you

1 last tip
always think about opponent ranges versus the flop composition
understanding proper line logic helps further refines your reads

ex. me button 10 9 flat calls on the buton
sb and BB calls
flop comes A 96
I bet out and am known as aggressive player.
but wait I would never limp with an ace preflop on the button.
So line logic combined with range says I don't have an ace.

pyscholgy was the name of the game
now its some kind of reverse mind ****ing with occasional lotto drawings
know the odds now forget the odds
don't gamble as the underdog you want them to do that

Gl out there and would love to answer any more questions
love me some mind math conundrum but it doesnt dictate the flow of the game by far

Next time you play your friends just keep asking them how much fold equity they have at the moment lol
Than ask about SPR

btw implied odds are like saying
the pots 100
villian bets 100 and definitely has top pair but has 3k in chips
but you have an 18% flush draw that doesn't justify the call
So we make up an excuse and say well I could potentially win 3k if he shoves all in
implied odds = justifying stupidity
implied odds+ fold equity/BLUFF+ implied odds +line logic= Opportunity:fight:

Hope to see you on the tables
hopefully not as dead money xD
Soooooo good!
I never saw math in poker explained better. I always say, math is the only language to explain what is going on in the hand. Nobody calculates the exact odds, we just know them!:cool:
 
ventrolloquist

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I find math in poker really difficult.

You can do the math off the table to develop an intuition at the table. Or you can memorize some charts.

I've made a chart using excel for pot odds that tells you how many outs you need to call each bet size (as a percentage of the pot). And then memorized it. You can try the same. If you're not sure how to do this I can pm you the file.
 
Last edited:
R

rektman

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Get a paper and write the odds down .
Doyle Brunson used a pencil not a computer. U may choose either non relevant
i have a 19.1% flush draw
I have on an open ended straight off the flop you have 8 outs twice, for a total of 16 and about a 34% chance to hit it by the river
Now ask yourself how often does your opponent bet 19-30% of the pot?
Very rare
How often will your opponent fold using fold equity if you shoved all in over his 1/2 pot raise?
How often does he cbet?whats his range preflop?
Is this opponent capable of folding top pair weak kicker?
Your friends "play" poker bro sorrey to say. learning to play an exact situation well is great for when you are back in that exact spot
But you will most likely not be you will have different opponents using different strategys playing differently.
personal Rule of thumb always be the guy with the pair betting never bet less than 1/2 pot make sure to make em pay!! They will pay
you'l get to win a good bit by betting on the turn as the draw only was 18%ish and 4/5 times still has nothing .
Many players will pay the flop half pot bet but will be more wary to a turn sized 1/2 bet or better
and if he is daring he wants to see a river its your decision/risk/reward to either bet larger same or check to induce a bluff
dont be the guy caling with 1/3 draw chance or less be the guy folding it or shoving all in for added fold equity/bluff.
The math is there to show which hands are ahead at the moment and its expected value over hundreds of thousands of hands
Headsup all in rankings always go with the pair 22 versus AK as the 53+% fav
pair versus underpair is 80% fav
AK versus AQ is 74.7%

now you know the odds that was'nt bad or hard to remember
The trick is now figuring out what your opponent has and either avoiding or picking a situation that is favorable to you

1 last tip
always think about opponent ranges versus the flop composition
understanding proper line logic helps further refines your reads

ex. me button 10 9 flat calls on the buton
sb and BB calls
flop comes A 96
I bet out and am known as aggressive player.
but wait I would never limp with an ace preflop on the button.
So line logic combined with range says I don't have an ace.

pyscholgy was the name of the game
now its some kind of reverse mind ****ing with occasional lotto drawings
know the odds now forget the odds
don't gamble as the underdog you want them to do that

Gl out there and would love to answer any more questions
love me some mind math conundrum but it doesnt dictate the flow of the game by far

Next time you play your friends just keep asking them how much fold equity they have at the moment lol
Than ask about SPR

btw implied odds are like saying
the pots 100
villian bets 100 and definitely has top pair but has 3k in chips
but you have an 18% flush draw that doesn't justify the call
So we make up an excuse and say well I could potentially win 3k if he shoves all in
implied odds = justifying stupidity
implied odds+ fold equity/BLUFF+ implied odds +line logic= Opportunity:fight:

Hope to see you on the tables
hopefully not as dead money xD


Thank you for extensive reply. So I watch videos like this
and really get put off. If this is basic stuff what is advanced? I still don't get it how can you do all this during the hand?

For my "friends" comments, there is no friends. I am in one of the training programs and I asked poker pro that has millions in winnings. He simply said that this calculations are not done during the hand but when you are doing hands review. After you do it many times it will get "embedded" in you brain and you will know it intuitively. This kind of makes sense.

If I understand you correctly you are saying that math is not that important. I should focus more on reading ranges and adjusting to different players?
 
R

rektman

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You can do the math off the table to develop an intuition at the table. Or you can memorize some charts.

I've made a chart using excel for pot odds that tells you how many outs you need to call each bet size (as a percentage of the pot). And then memorized it. You can try the same. If you're not sure how to do this I can pm you the file.


Hey bud. It would be awesome if you could pm me the chart. Thank you!
 
FoxMS

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I do not make any complicated calculations while playing. This is a hobby for me and I play poker simply intuitively. The game should be fun, not a headache.
 
AKQ

AKQ

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Thank you for extensive reply. So I watch videos like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auJ1MNFFhk0 and really get put off. If this is basic stuff what is advanced? I still don't get it how can you do all this during the hand?

For my "friends" comments, there is no friends. I am in one of the training programs and I asked poker pro that has millions in winnings. He simply said that this calculations are not done during the hand but when you are doing hands review. After you do it many times it will get "embedded" in you brain and you will know it intuitively. This kind of makes sense.

If I understand you correctly you are saying that math is not that important. I should focus more on reading ranges and adjusting to different players?
You are correct!
Pokers a people game and we should play to the player.
Reading ranges and line logic is the advanced thing you should be practicing.

The hard part comes when you get a read and have to put your whole stack on that one read with nothing in your hand:cool:
thats BALLS!
Gl out there:D
 
Dailon Arroyo Blandon

Dailon Arroyo Blandon

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For many people it is difficult to apply the mathematics when you are playing poker ... and the truth calculating pot odds, outs, etc ... in seconds is not easy ... but there are tutorials that explain in a simple way how to perform these calculations ... the truth is that these calculations are important and help you make better decisions when we play poker ...!
 
R

rektman

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I understand. However, I want to take this to another level and eventually make a living of poker, so it is not just fun for me.
I do not make any complicated calculations while playing. This is a hobby for me and I play poker simply intuitively. The game should be fun, not a headache.
 
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rektman

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I am glad to hear that as I suck in math but I am pretty good at reading people. :)
You are correct!
Pokers a people game and we should play to the player.
Reading ranges and line logic is the advanced thing you should be practicing.

The hard part comes when you get a read and have to put your whole stack on that one read with nothing in your hand:cool:
thats BALLS!
Gl out there:D
 
R

rektman

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For many people it is difficult to apply the mathematics when you are playing poker ... and the truth calculating pot odds, outs, etc ... in seconds is not easy ... but there are tutorials that explain in a simple way how to perform these calculations ... the truth is that these calculations are important and help you make better decisions when we play poker ...!


If you could link or pm me those tutorials I would really appreciate it.
 
Pokersolomdp

Pokersolomdp

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Poker

I love this question, it happens to me that online is quite complicated for the time it gives you to act, I still can't succeed reading online. Playing face. to face if you can only a matter of studying a bit I recommend studying poker. regards
 
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poker-outs-chart.png
 
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