The Theory Of Poker
This book is a companion to the original Theory of Poker by the same author. This book even frequently recommends rereading a particular section when it is going to passingly address a topic. The latter is one of my favorite poker books, and this is largely repetitive. Theory of Poker by David Sklansky discusses theories and concepts applicable to nearly every variation of the game, including five-card draw (high), seven-card stud, hold'em, lowball draw, and razz (seven-card lowball stud). This book introduces you to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker, its implications, and how the theorem should affect your play. The Theory of Poker introduced concepts like expected value, semi-bluffing, optimum bluffing frequency, implied odds and reverse implied odds. These concepts are all essential elements of modern poker strategy, but Sklansky was decades ahead of his time in applying these fundamentals to the game in the 1970s and 80s. The Theory of Poker was first published in 1987, and since then, there have been new books about poker strategies. But what sets David Sklansky’s book apart from the rest? For one, the book has an abundance of ideas, strategies, and insights that are still applicable and widely used today.
Author: David Sklunsky |
Book Review Part 1
David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker is among the “must read” books on the game. This is a book for beginning to intermediate players looking to understand poker’s hidden mathematical structures and optimize their own betting and playing strategies. It’s for serious players only, however.
What makes The Theory of Poker so vital? It’s certainly not the writing style, which borders on the pedantic and suggests nothing so much as that high-school civics tome that you tried but really couldn’t stand to read. Yet The Theory of Poker (originally titled Winning Poker) has held an important slot among poker books for the roughly quarter century since its initial publication, being on the short list of books worth reading to begin improving one’s poker game. If you’re not serious about playing poker to make money, then there’s no need to bother reading Sklansky… or other poker books, for that matter. But if you are serious, then this is as good a stepping stone to better play as any.
Much of the book – and indeed, much of Sklansky’s poker writing career – is built around what he’s coined herein as his Fundamental Theorem of Poker, which simply states that we’d all play different (and much better) poker if we were able to see our opponents’ cards. The fact that we can’t see our opponents’ holdings means that poker is a game of imperfect information, and making sense out of nuggets of partial, often-misleading information is part of the essence of the game itself. The rest of the book expands on Sklansky’s Fundamental Theorem and applies it to a large handful of the game’s core strategies, showing how a player with a true understanding of the game’s hidden mechanisms can then begin to take advantage of those who are lesser skilled.
One of the important concepts brought up in the discussion of Sklansky’s Fundamental Theorem is that its insight cuts both ways: that is, it’s as important for you to be able to make your opponent bet incorrectly, against the odds, as it is for you to make correct choices yourself. This dynamism in turn cuts to the heart of what makes poker click as a battle of complex strategies and tactics.
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Probably the single most important book ever written on poker is ``TheTheory of Poker' by David Sklansky [87]. Written in 1987, itwas the first book to correctly identify many of the underlying strategicprinciples of poker. These concepts are illustrated with examples fromTexas Hold'em, Seven-Card-Stud, Five-Card-Draw, Seven-Card-Lowball, andLowball-Draw, but they are equally applicable to all variations of poker.
While it is beyond the scope of this essay to present a complete overviewof poker theory, a few examples of essential concepts will be given forcontext. First, after explaining the nature of mathematical expectation,Sklansky states the overriding principle of the game, which he calls ``TheFundamental Theorem of Poker'.
Sklansky's Fundamental Theorem of Poker:Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.
The Fundamental Theorem is stated in common language, but has a precisemathematical interpretation. The expected value of each decision madeduring an actual game can be compared to the expectation of the correctdecision, based on perfect information. Each player's long termexpectation is determined precisely by the relative frequency and severityof these ``misplays'. On average, a player who makes fewer misplays thanher opponents will be a winning player. The theorem may appear to statethe obvious, but has many subtle implications to poker strategy, some ofwhich are illustrated in the text.
Other fundamental concepts introduced in this book include ``odds' (potodds, effective odds, implied odds and reverse implied odds), the value ofdeception, the danger of the free card, the semi-bluff, and the importanceof position. Each of these notions can be encorporated into a theoreticalframework for understanding the game, and could prove to be substantialstrengths for a computer algorithm.
Issues of practical importance are also addressed in the book, such asreading hands, understanding the psychology of poker, and evaluating theprofitability of a game. While these topics may be of a less theoreticalnature, they are among the many abilities required for play at the highestlevels. It is unclear to what degree a computer algorithm can excel atthese ``human' aspects of the game, or whether it is even necessary toattain world class strength.
Note that this classic book does not attempt to give a step-by-stepprocedure for playing each game, but instead teaches the player how tothink correctly about each situation that may arise. This requiresconsiderable effort on the part of the student, but once the principlesare fully understood, they are much more reliable, and can be applied toany form of poker, regardless of the particular characteristics or gameconditions.
Sklansky also includes a chapter on game theory, as it applies to bluffingand calling. This is done largely for the sake of completeness, and toshow that he is aware of such views. He then goes on to explain some ofthe limitations of such a system, and justifies the more pragmaticapproach to bluffing, described in a separate chapter.
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