[elindauer]

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There is no inherent advantage... But that doesn't matter... You seem more interested in poker from a theoretical point of view...

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There's no doubt that I'm interested in the theory of poker. As a purely intellectual exercise, it's fascinating.

That, however, is not my sole motivation. The only way I know to improve in games is to try to learn and practice the fundamentals. In poker, this is quite difficult, since there isn't much agreement on what the fundamentals are, or how you should practice them. In many ways, I've been forced to come up with own idea of what these are.

One way I've tried to understand the game is to understand it's "basic strategy", to try to imagine what the game would look like if it were played perfectly. Not perfectly in the "everybody knows everybody else's cards" sense (although I did practice that when I started), but perfectly in the "incomplete information game theory" sense.

Now, if I discover that the initiative is not really an inherent advantage in the perfect game, this doesn't change my play immediately, but it does change my understanding completely.

If there is no inherent advantage to the initiative, then I can't defend a move by just saying "and I grab the initiative"... I have to acknowledge that I am taking advantage of my opponents bad play to even suggest that such a thing is possible. What is it exactly that he is doing that allows me to say this? Is this actually true for this opponent?

Without seeing that the initiative doesn't mean anything in itself, I can't even begin to contemplate the widespread mistakes in current play that have caused me to take this flawed view. I can't consider what mistakes I'M making against good players that allow THEM to keep seizing the initiative from me and gaining an edge.


So, yes, I am interested in the theory, but a big part of the reason why is so that i can then try to understand the practice. In all of my theoretical exercises, like my recent failed attempt to talk more about game theory and perfect play of a hand, I'm hoping that seeing how it would be done against a perfect opponent will help me understand how to adjust to the actual highly-flawed-but-often-uniquely-flawed opponents I actually face.

Mostly, I'm interested in getting to a place where I know that I will always be able to beat the game, no matter how the styles change with the times. As a pro, that is my job security.

-Eric