"Poker rests on a foundation of mathematics and everything else is built on top of this."

Only if your opponents understand and apply this.

I played 6 handed 75-150 Limit HE some years ago at the Taj. The other players rarely came in and I was beating up on one guy I saw before but never played against. He always followed my raises and reraises to the river, but he never called me down in 10 (all the) hands. By the 7th or 8th hand I figured The Hell With It and played any 2 (always raising to get the players--who never seemed to enter anyway--out). I had a 76s on the 10th hand and raised coming in. He followed my raises and reraises to the river again (he would raise on occasion too). I totally blanked. 7 high. I thought, "He has to call me just to show me that he can call me, even if he thinks he is beaten." I must have hesitated a split second before betting and I guess he thought that meant strength. I don't know. He folded again and the game broke up.

Math means nothing if you can intimidate your opponent, or he is silly enough to fold all the time. I still have no idea why he folded on the river all the time after he, himself, raised more than a few times. It wasn't like I could shove all-in. It was Limit.

Math means something when you are taking flops with people who you know have the ability to call you on the river. It means a lot when you are up against very good or better players. But if your opponents frown when they have bad cards and/or miss and smile when they have good cards and/or hit the math is minimal.

I think I'm saying the same thing you are. I just wanted to point out that one weird incident.