The Mathematics of Poker

[maurile]

I've had my book for about fifteen minutes so I can't give much of a review. I will point out, however, that:

1. It is 375 pages of small print with small margins, so lots of material here.

2. From what I've read so far, it is well written -- the prose is clear and direct.

3. As you might expect, there is a lot of math. Just flipping through the book, I note that there seem to be equations or graphs on a rather large majority of the pages.

[Bryn]

When are amazon UK likly to get it? How long will it take to ship to the uk direct from conjelco?

[Lottery Larry]

[ QUOTE ]
If I were you (all of you) I'D REALIZE THAT FREE SHIPPING ISN'T ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE AND I'D ORDER FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.


[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[maurile]

I'm only 60 pages in, but so far it looks as though this book is everything I thought it would be (and my expectations were high).

A few errata:

Page 15: Hard return after "mutually exclusive" (halfway down the page) shouldn't be there.

Page 33: Just under figure 3.1, there's apparently a space immediately preceding a comma, causing the comma to be the first character in the next line.

Page 37: "Of the 95,000 who have the condition" -- the second time that phrase appears, it should have a "do not" stuck in there.

[maurile]

Very good explanation of Bayes' Theorem, by the way.

[UATrewqaz]

Nobody with comments on how "hold'em centric" the book is?

Obviously alot of the mathematical concepts they discuss can apply to other forms of poker or even other types of games, but are most of the examples/content centered around Hold'Em?

This question has been asked repeatedly by nobody has addressed it.

[sobefuddled]

Here is a quote from Jerrod which appeared in another thread. I would have to say no, the book is not Hold'Em Centric.

[ QUOTE ]
The book is divided into 5 parts:

I) Basics
Covers basic probability and statistical concepts, as well as Bayes' theorem, inference from observed data.

II) Exploitive play
Covers odds, reading hands, reading strategies, a little bit about data mining, playing accurately in cards exposed situations, hand vs distribution situations, and distribution vs distribution situations.

III) Optimal play
Introduces game theory, concept of the nemesis, and then solves many different poker-like toy games. Concepts touched on by these toy games are:

--Jam-or-fold (contains solution to HU JoF NL holdem)
--betting and bluffing ratios
--card removal (AKQ game)
--NL bet sizing
--all manner of [0,1] games
--multi-street games without draws - bet sizing across multiple streets
--multi-street games with open and closed draws - also exposed hand vs known distribution play on turn and river.

IV) Risk
Covers risk of ruin calculations, also risk of ruin based on a sample (includes the uncertainty of the win rate). Covers Kelly utility, game selection (CE choice of limits), portfolio theory, and backing agreements.

V) Other Topics
Covers tournaments, both necessary adjustments (based on the theory of doubling up) and also statistical inference based on tournament payout structures and results.
Covers multiplayer games, collusive alliances, and so on.

--jerrod

[/ QUOTE ]

[God Complex]

I'm about 100 pages in, and my soul is owned. Very thorough. While most poker books read like a collection of short essays, this is more like a text book. Life is grand!

[Heisenb3rg]

[ QUOTE ]

The book is divided into 5 parts:

I) Basics
Covers basic probability and statistical concepts, as well as Bayes' theorem, inference from observed data.

II) Exploitive play
Covers odds, reading hands, reading strategies, a little bit about data mining, playing accurately in cards exposed situations, hand vs distribution situations, and distribution vs distribution situations.

III) Optimal play
Introduces game theory, concept of the nemesis, and then solves many different poker-like toy games. Concepts touched on by these toy games are:

--Jam-or-fold (contains solution to HU JoF NL holdem)
--betting and bluffing ratios
--card removal (AKQ game)
--NL bet sizing
--all manner of [0,1] games
--multi-street games without draws - bet sizing across multiple streets
--multi-street games with open and closed draws - also exposed hand vs known distribution play on turn and river.

IV) Risk
Covers risk of ruin calculations, also risk of ruin based on a sample (includes the uncertainty of the win rate). Covers Kelly utility, game selection (CE choice of limits), portfolio theory, and backing agreements.

V) Other Topics
Covers tournaments, both necessary adjustments (based on the theory of doubling up) and also statistical inference based on tournament payout structures and results.
Covers multiplayer games, collusive alliances, and so on.

--jerrod


[/ QUOTE ]


You know you are a poker/math geek when this makes you pop a chubby.

[maurile]

[ QUOTE ]
Nobody with comments on how "hold'em centric" the book is?

Obviously alot of the mathematical concepts they discuss can apply to other forms of poker or even other types of games, but are most of the examples/content centered around Hold'Em?

[/ QUOTE ]
If I understand what you are asking, I don't know how to answer. The concepts in the book apply to all poker games, not just hold 'em. But most of the examples taken from actual poker games (and not from artificial games like the AKQ game or the [0,1] game) refer to hold 'em. Also, the "Jam or Fold" game uses NLHE hands, and the case study -- a short section on using game theory to formulate a playing strategy -- uses hold 'em.

But the largest part of the book does not focus on or use examples from any particular poker game. So while the book is more hold 'em-centric than it is Padugi-centric or Razz-centric, it is not in fact hold 'em-centric.