Path Theory - Pooh Bah Dissertation

[pheasant tail (no 18)]

Krishan,

It seems that this is a mainly a helpful way for you to view EV of hands given various scenarios. Though I am not sure that viewed through Path Theory you bring anything really new to poker theory, it emphasizes that it is helpful to have a plan or plans when you make poker decisions and this is important. Though it is important to be able to make some seat of the pants decisions, usually a well thought out plan is superior. I forget this all the time and sometimes bleed profusely getting so involved in a hand that I have to call the river due to the size of the pot.

PT

Though the hands that you mention are only secondary, I am not yet wise enough to release the pocket eights [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[dave44]

Viewing a hand as a path tree, branches will split both when community cards arrive (flop, turn, river) and when actions are taken by players, correct?

This context is effective- You make a decision and another tree lies underneath based on the remaining variables left in the hand. The branches of the tree are assigned probabilities- i.e. the odds your flush hits, along with the odds your opponent check-raise bluffs you on the river. The EV of your action is the expectation (green or red intensity) of the tree under the branch you have chosen.

At every final node of the tree, there is a definite value- someone has won the pot. Before these final nodes, the value of nodes is the expectation of the tree underneath it, which could be more or less than the pot based on whether you are ahead or not and how many outs you have.

This is what I'm visualizing.