[crownjules]

If there were any "be all, end all" to poker, then we'd all be many many BB/100 winners. I don't see too many of those around, so I guess that means that equity isn't all there is to poker.

Equity is a measuring tool that helps you determine whether or not you can bet or raise for value. When your equity is greater than the fair share equity (100 / # of players remaining), then more of that pot is "yours" and thus every bet you get in there is more towards your potential winnings. In your example, on the flop fair share equity is ~33% for each player and you have well over that, so the majority of every bet going into the pot is yours. Equity shows that you are likely to win the pot over half the time. This needs to be tempered by the fact that if you raise and knock people out, you're equity is going to go down drastically on the turn if you do not make a hand, making bets/raises on later streets a bad move.