Online Poker Mathematics - 5 Aspects Of Poker Mathematics That Will Improve Your Results Today!
Mathematics and poker is a wide-ranging subject area. Math is a necessary but not sufficient skill in beating poker games - that is you need to understand the numbers in addition to many other skills such as hand-reading and table selection.
This article looks at 5 areas of poker mathematics and suggests ways in which understanding the concepts behind them can improve your results
1) Poker Math - Pot Odds
Your Pot Odds are the odds you are getting (or offering an opponent) during the current round of betting only. This is a very important concept when you are holding a draw - for example to a flush or straight.
To calculate pot odds simply divide the amount of the bet you need to call by the size of the current pot. For example if it is $20 to call a bet and the pot is $120 then your pot odds are 5 to 1. Since your chances of making a flush with one card to come are 4.5 to 1 against you can call - on average the pot odds mean that you will show a profit be calling here.
2) Poker Math - Implied Odds
The pot-odds example above covered the odds you were getting for the current betting round. If you make your flush on the river there is a good chance of making at least one more bet from your opponent. If this were the case then you could profitably call with less than the required pot odds.
This is known as your implied odds - the extra money you could make if you make the hand you are drawing to. These extra bets will come from subsequent betting rounds.
3) Poker Math - Return on investment and Hourly Rates
Return on Investment (ROI) is the profit you make divided by the size of your original outlay. This is used by tournament and Sit n Go players as the measure of how profitable your games are.
Hourly rates describe how much money you are making in your current game per hour. For example if you play 100 hands per hour and make an average of 10 big blinds per hour and one level, but make 7 Big blinds for the same 100 hands at a level twice as high then your hourly rate shows you should play the higher limit - even though you are proportionally less successful there!
4) Poker Math - The Independant Chip Model
The independant chip model (ICM) gives dollar value to your chip stack during the different stages of tournament play. As more than 1 person gets a prize in most tournaments the math shows that your chips are not directly proportional to your eventual prize.
This model demonstrates that each additional chip won in a tournament (or Sit and Go) is worth proportionally less than the one before it. In turn this leads to strategy adjustments which balance the prize pool equity risked against the reward in terms of additional prize pool equity gained.
5) Poker Math - Game Theory
Game theory is applicable to poker mathematics in many ways. It can be used to work out your optimal bluff strategy - that is a correct proportion of bluffs which mean your opponent can not profitably call. Game theory is also useful at the end of poker tournaments. Heads-up play with large blinds can be played using what is known as the 'Nash Equilibrium', this is also known as 'unexploitable heads-up strategy' and involves playing in such a way as your opponent can not take advantage of you.
Mark Holland is an online poker pro, Poker Blogger, and writer for high-quality poker websites. For great strategy tips to boost your poker profits today visit SNG Planet - you'll find fantastic Online Poker Tournament Strategy Tips and Articles right there!
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