Most Significant Mathematical Probabilities

[n3rv]

Hey guys,

Which piece of maths do you draw upon the most when making decisions?

For example, it may be knowing that a player generally has a 1/3 chance of pairing any two cards on the flop.

Essentially what I am getting at is, what basic fundamental has helped improve your game the most?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Propane Goat]

I'm relatively new to poker so I'm not at any deep mathematical level yet, but what has helped me tremendously has been learning the basic pot odds vs. drawing odds calculations. Before I learned this I was basically flying blind, just calling any bet to chase draws based on gut feelings, then come to find out I've been making -EV calls on the vast majority of hands like calling 2.5:1 pot odds to chase a 10:1 draw.

We're faced with these types of decisions so often that this process should be second nature.

 

[n3rv]

Yes, expected value is important to consider when calling bets - it can also help you make better bets too so that you don't let other players chase their draws without paying a premium price and narrowing the opponents first. I think this is something I really underestimated at the beginning as well and still need to develop.