Poker Theory and Analytics

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-s50-poker-theory-and-analytics-january-iap-2015/index.htm

by mlla • 11 years ago

90 47 11 years ago

ocw.mit.edu

icpmacdo• 11 years ago

What would be the best way to learn this content. Would you take notes while watching the lectures or try and pay close attention to the videos and read the class notes later, or something else?

What are other poker books, classes or tutorials that are high quality?

tP5n2• 11 years ago

Mostly everything Phil Gordon, David Sklansky and Ed Miller put out over the years. poker differs a lot in its variants, atleast to newcomers, so it's probably best to pick up one variant (no limit hold'em I'm looking at you) and start from there.

mcgin• 11 years ago

+1 for sklanskys stuff, particularly his Theory of Poker book

dmansen• 11 years ago

A good starter book that won't teach bad habits is Professional No Limit Holdem by Ed Miller et al: http://www.amazon.com/Professional-No-Limit-Hold-em-I/dp/188...

Once you master the basics, Miller's Poker's 1% (http://www.amazon.com/Pokers-1%25-Secret-Keeps-Players/dp/14...) and Janda's Applications of No Limit Holdem (http://www.amazon.com/Applications-No-Limit-Hold-Matthew-Jan...) explore the game from a game theoretical perspective - interesting if you want to go deeper.

jib2• 11 years ago

Harrington on Hold'em is a good starting place for (tournament) poker. It's an old book but it teaches solid fundamentals.

mod6• 11 years ago

Harrington wrote a cash book as well, fwiw.

drham• 11 years ago

The two plus two poker forums [1] are one of the best resources for learning about poker, especially so for online poker but live poker as well.

[1] http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com

jamestnz• 11 years ago

Doyle Brunson's "Super/System" was an early and influential book on poker strategy. It's been a while since I read it, but I recall it contains a general game and strategy overview, followed by chapters dedicated to the different Poker games (stud, draw, etc... and importantly: no-limit hold'em). Though outdated in some respects (first published in the 70s) it's considered a classic in the field, worth a look IMHO.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super/System

rubiquity3• 11 years ago

The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky is the SICP of poker.

saryant• 11 years ago

I'm just getting into poker so I can't claim to be an expert but I've been enjoying Lee Jones' Winning Low-Limit Hold'em.

treme• 11 years ago

Super System is outdated. Sklansky is good but extremely dry.

If you are mathematically inclined, Mathematics of Poker by Bill Chen (one of the lecturers in the linked post) is one of best books to get introduced to modern poker theory & math.

TwoPlusTwo is the biggest community but their quality has gone south for many years. Currently the hottest content/community is on http://www.runitonce.com community. Their $10/mo membership delivers serious value for any serious poker enthusiasts.

forloop2• 11 years ago

Can anyone comment on why poker is illegal in most of the U.S.?

I'm in the UK, and the government leans on the side of restricting freedom, yet poker-for-money is totally legal here.

marincounty• 11 years ago

Actually, a part of me wishes all gambling was illegial in the U.S., including the lottery. I have seen the damage it does to poor, and middle class families. The cards are stacked against us here; it's real easy to end up homeless.

It's fine when your young, and single, but I have know families that lost everything, and as I said before; we don't have much of a safety net.

(I haven't traveled much in the U.S., but every town I been in has had legal poker tables. I think poker is legal here?)

tP5n2• 11 years ago

Poker is not a lottery, the cards are not 'stacked against us'. I'd also question the subtext that gambling (addiction?) only harms the poor.

I wish people would be able to make educated decisions in regards to their own life. I would not want the state to decide on how I, or others, spent our pastime.

forloop2• 11 years ago

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man[0].

Is there any factual basis? Or historical reason(s) which influences the psyche of the U.S., inducing an irrational response to poker?

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c

j422• 11 years ago

Do you see how your argument breaks down when you can substitute any potentially-addictive activity in place of [gambling]?

Any pleasurable activity from video games, to food, to alcohol, etc. can be done to a destructive end. That doesn't make the activity intrinsically destructive on its own.

There is a well-established correlation between poverty and addiction--don't make the mistake of assuming that just because the correlation applies to a variety of real-world activities it is causal.

Current research is actually leaning in the opposite direction: lower socioeconomic status/poverty has a negative long-term effect on the brain's plasticity & stimulus response which may pre-dispose individuals to addictive tendencies (through altered reward pathways or lessened inhibition re: changes in the pre-frontal cortex).

Please don't make the mistake of trying to impose value judgements on society in the name of "protecting" people -- that line of "reasoning" has led to some really problematic and harmful public policies.

Regardless of how you feel about the activity itself, treating addiction as a neurophysiological state has produced consistently better outcomes. Trying to ban potentially-addictive triggers for at-risk populations isn't really helping them at all, and in a sociological context can actually have the opposite effect.

ILIKEPONIES3• 11 years ago

In the long run, poker is a skill game. It's played against random opponents, not the house. As such, the cards aren't "stacked against you." To bucket it with all gambling games, especially the lottery, demonstrates a lack of understanding.

asift• 11 years ago

Even if it were illegal, it would still happen all of the time (it would just be one more way for local governments to profit off of policing the poor).

That said, I'm all for abolishing state-run lotteries. The government simply has no business running a lottery. The profit from these lotteries also stifles the potential for better alternatives such as Prize-Linked Savings plans. Freakonomics has had some decent discussions of these types of accounts.

http://freakonomics.com/2010/12/02/freakonomics-radio-who-co...

ChazDazzle• 11 years ago

In 2006 the religious right & existing casinos partnered together on a law which made online poker effectively illegal in the US. Even still, the bill only passed because it was tacked on to unrelated "must-pass" legislation at the last minute in the Senate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlawful_Internet_Gambling_E...

ILIKEPONIES3• 11 years ago

Adding context to the original question (from Wikipedia):

"According to a study published in May 2015, players from the USA are banned in more than 72% of the world's online casinos. Having considered multiple factors, such as ISP blocks of online casinos and restrictions for casino financial transactions, the report concluded that as of 2015, the USA is the worst country for online gambling of the 225 studied[1]."

[1]http://www.keytocasino.com/en/article/online-gambling-access...

boomshucka• 11 years ago

Poker is in fact legal in a lot of the US in some form. Whether it be indian casinos or regular casinos or legal poker only rooms, the majority of the population has access (say, within a 1 hr drive) to a public game of poker which is legal.

jgorn• 11 years ago

Has anyone taken this course that can speak to its content and usefulness?

Is this aimed at those completely new to Poker Theory?

vog• 11 years ago

Also, are there real-world applications outside gambling, or as improved negotiations in politics/business?

mod6• 11 years ago

The course description mentions real-world applications: "applications of poker analytics to investment management and trading."

icey• 11 years ago

Poker math is great for quick estimation of whether an investment (time, money, or otherwise) is worthwhile. Poker is all about risk vs. reward, and puts you into the mindset of approaching risk statistically instead of using an all-or-nothing approach. Considering investments in that way allows you to get a better sense of whether or not something is worth your time, even if there's a non-zero chance of failure (or sometimes a near 100% chance of failure for an appropriately large payoff).

brightball• 11 years ago

There's a book called Theory of Poker that covers all of this. Gets into all of the math involved, how it changes throughout the game, how it changes in different games, etc.

Basically it boils down to a solid system in limit poker where raises are controlled. One huge raise in a no limit game skews the pot odds so badly that mathematically it almost always means you should fold and that makes no limit a great game for the WSOP.

merlincorey• 11 years ago

If you're only taking into account direct pot odds for NLHE in 2015, you're missing out on a lot.

I like the book "The Mathematics of Poker" by Chen.

andybak• 11 years ago

If you're only taking into account direct pot odds for NLHE in 2015, you're missing out on a lot.

I'd like to understand that sentence better. Got any links?

Poker Theory and Analytics

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