Go with your Instinct or be Mathematical?

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samir77

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I am an instinctive player and have been trying to get into more mathematical aspect of poker.
How important is Poker Math ? Do you calculate Pot odds , equity etc every game?
I personally found it very hard to go through all the calculations in online poker. Please, do share what strategies you adopt while playing poker online.
 
Aguimonteiro

Aguimonteiro

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The math part is important to know if a call is profitable in the long run or not!

Knowing your equity and pot odds to determine if the call is profitable is important!


To see the equity of your hand postflop, multiply the number of outs, x2 for the turn and x2 for the river.

if you have 9 outs on the flop it would be:
9x2x2=36% equity!


To calculate pot odds, divide the call value by the total pot (including the call value)
call/total pot

Ex:
Call = 500
Pot=1500
Total pot = 2000

500/2000=0.25 or 25% pot odds

If your equity is greater than the pot odds your call is profitable in the long run...
 
willjosp

willjosp

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I generally trust my math ability when I believe in my instinct I almost never win at least ago I went with all of them with pair of 4 and they paid several and another player had pair of 4 too so the possibility of the trio was foamed :confused:
 
Ellvira

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hi, I think everyone has read about mathematics in poker and pot odds, but when AA often can't resist any random hand, mathematics doesn't work here, yes, of course, they write that they were unlucky, but something is often so unlucky, good luck at the tables
 
Juan Oro

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make decisions in the game based on intuition that develops over time due to the game situations that are repeated over and over again and we already have a feeling about the hands that we are playing.

But poker is about calculations and mathematics, that is, calculated risks are taken based on the probabilities you have of winning a hand and it would be the most optimal decision.
 
papapokera85

papapokera85

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I'm more suitable for instinct, but you need to calculate the moves sometimes. I'm not bad, although in mathematics my estimate in school 2-3)))
 
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danydidi

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i think both are important ,but in my opinion the most important is to watch the way a player plays specially online
some people go all in for nothing ,no math can apply for this
 
NWPatriot

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Poker IS a large math problem. The more we understand the math behind the game, the better our instincts will become.

Though it is a math problem, it is a math problem largely based on uncertainty. The uncertainty includes the unknown cards and our human opponents. So, even poker math can only tell us the probability of something happening, it can rarely tell us what will happen.

EV (expected value) tells us an average result of a specific situation if it were played a number of times. This is the poker math that sets us free and allows us to make the best decisions. As a side benefit, it also gives us confidence to accept the bad beats because we know that if our assumptions were valid, that these bad beats were a definite possibility, which makes them a little easier to accept.

Instincts absolutely play a role in the poker math. Without a set of assumptions (outs, opponent read, opponent observation, pot odds, SD equity, fold equity, stack impacts, etc.) we cannot begin to do the math. The better our instincts are, the more accurate these assumptions can be. We can play 80% of our hands without specifically calculating anything, but for the 10% of important hands that will have a high impact on our results, we need to understand and be able to execute the math that matters.

Good luck and God Bless.
 
TeUnit

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I think you want math to become "instinct", what I mean by that is you do not want to have to pull out an excel spreadsheet and solve for every situation, but what you do want to do is make "pivot points" ie. know that I should shove with TT or better in this situation, or I know I have to call in this situation with any 2 if they have 2.6bbs or less, or with this stack size I need to min raise or fold, etc, etc.
 
VikyGia

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Hi

Hello friend, I am a fan of poker and graduated in mathematics, and poker is made up of 30% luck and 70% probabilities, you should always analyze the outs to achieve the best hand, they do not always come out but the idea is to improve your chances in every hand you play.
 
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I have read a few poker strategy books and even a book that discussed how math is used in poker. I need to read it again. I guess what I am trying to say is I use my gut a lot more than math.
 
Shrops

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Odds

I like to use the odds when I play Poker.
 
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EvandroGatti

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Studying the game is fun and also the best way to really understand both game and players. I'm reading Essential Poker Math, wich is really great. You should check it out!
 
FoxMS

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My strategy is effective and efficient. My strategy is not to play with junk, be patient and wait for a good situation. Everything is very simple and I am completely satisfied with my results.
 
Rosxana13

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Math is very important so you can have an idea of what's the right and profitable call also knowing more about the math (which it isn't very hard) will help your instincts that are also necessary on the poker game wether is live or online
 
thetaxman1

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Slap and Tickle. Thats the formuula. LOL What's your position? What's your image? Can you bluff with 72 off suite? Are you trapping with 12 outs or 2. What is your chip count compared to your peers. How deep into the tourney are you. Math is situational in the hand but intuition is great for all the question marks above and more.
 
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coffee_jelly

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When I am in doubt, I always go with the math because it'll always be a correct or incorrect decision.
 
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LetterRip

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As with most things, the answer is both. You should do the math away from the table to train your intuition. This will make your 'instincts' more likely to do the right thing. Soon your instincts will 'know' you are ahead of their range, or will 'know' that their river bluff doesn't make sense.
 
jsnake716

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I am an instinctive player and have been trying to get into more mathematical aspect of poker.
How important is Poker Math ? Do you calculate Pot odds , Equity etc every game?
I personally found it very hard to go through all the calculations in online poker. Please, do share what strategies you adopt while playing poker online.

Believe it or not, as you begin to play thousands of hands and then hundreds of thousands of hands, IF you learn the basic equity and pot odds to call. It actually becomes "instinct" . At this point, after playing for so many hands of online poker, I do not even "think" about my odds to call.

I don't want you to misunderstand, you should definitely learn the basic math now at the beginning of your journey, I just want you to know that once it is learned, it becomes automatic, you will know when you are not getting the odds, you will know how much equity your hand has vs villains range. Once this starts to happen you will feel great, and in control. give it a try and good luck
 
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Carlo35

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Hello friend, I am a fan of poker and graduated in mathematics, and poker is made up of 30% luck and 70% probabilities, you should always analyze the outs to achieve the best hand, they do not always come out but the idea is to improve your chances in every hand you play.
so if you are graduated in mathematics are you a winning player? just curious:)
 
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TaigaMaster

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I try to count .... math is safer, but sometimes I just feel it automatically
 
Rost

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In my opinion, playing poker based on instinct is the same as playing the lottery or bingo. Poker is a game that requires skill and experience. As for mathematics, in my opinion, enough basic knowledge.
 
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Shooter74

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Sometimes Instict but i prefer math....
 
blueskies

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For best results, use both. What separates the good players from bad players is where the good players can better understand where they are in a hand and thus can extract more value when ahead or bluff more successfully when behind. They can also fold when beaten.

Knowing the basic pot odds and things like that can certainly help, but understand that a good player will be able to exploit you by adjusting his bet sizing if you only go by pot odds.
 
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