game theory: the theory of games

[gamblore99]

I am science psycholgoy student in 2nd year university. For next year i am considering taking a class in game theory to better my understanding of game theory as it applies to poker. Does anyone who has taken a course in game theory think this is a good idea? would it actually benefit my game? how might it benefit my game?

[gaming_mouse]

Game theory will do little to improve your game. It can be used to find proper bluffing and calling frequencies in certain situations, but you are much better off just buying Theory Of Poker and reading what it has to say about it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't take the course -- game theory is interesting in its own right. Just don't take it expecting to become a good poker player. To do that, take the direct route: Play alot, read the good literature, and get expert advice.

HTH,
gm

[gamblore99]

[ QUOTE ]
Game theory will do little to improve your game. It can be used to find proper bluffing and calling frequencies in certain situations, but you are much better off just buying Theory Of Poker and reading what it has to say about it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't take the course -- game theory is interesting in its own right. Just don't take it expecting to become a good poker player. To do that, take the direct route: Play alot, read the good literature, and get expert advice.

HTH,
gm

[/ QUOTE ]

as of now im doing all this. I have read theory of poker. At the moment I play 3-6 and 5/10 about even, winning very solid at both. I am pretty experienced.

Have you taken a course in game theory?

[gaming_mouse]

[ QUOTE ]

Have you taken a course in game theory?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I have, and I liked it. But, like I said, what you are already doing is the best way to improve your poker.

Two things to keep in mind. One is that game theory is concerned with optimal strategies, which assume a perfect opponent. Optimal strategies are defensive: they make it impossible for any player to beat you.

Playing poker against human beings, on the other hand, is about finding maximal strategies -- strategies that exploit your opponents' weaknesses. You want to protect yourself from exploitation too, of course, but unless you are playing against world class players your primary goal is exploitation.

Second, even if you wanted to play poker using optimal game theoretic strategy, you couldn't. The problem of finding Nash equalibria for a full ring game is, as the computer scientists like to say, "computationally intractable." By a long shot, too. Even the most powerful computers available are nowhere near being able to solve the game tree for a full ring game.

Having said all that, if you are really interested, there is an old, out of print book:

Poker strategy: Winning with game theory by Nesmith C Ankeny

which is supposed to be good.

gm