Anyone have a good game theory reference?

[DrPhysic]

I am interested in learning Game Theory as related to poker. I play NL Holdem. I would like to find a coherent, useful book (or books) on the application of Game Theory to holdem poker. The books I know about (but have not read) are:

Poker Strategy: Winning with Game Theory, Naismith Ankeny. Rated 9 by Mason in GTAOT. Mason describes it as primarily a 5 card draw book.

The Mathematics of Gambling, Edward O. Thorpe. Rated 9 by Mason in GTAOT. Good review.

Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, Richard Epstein. Rated 10 by Mason in GTAOT. Mason’s review: “one of the most amazing books in the gambling field.....a graduate level text for someone with a sophisticated background in math and statistics.”

The Mathematics of Games and Gambling, Edward Packel. Rated 9 by Mason in GTAOT. Mason’s review: “excellent discussion of the math and probability and stats related to gambling...”
recommended for those of you who are weak in this area.

Thinking Strategically, Dixit and Nalebuff. Highly rated game theory text, not poker related.

I am sure there are more. Yes, my edcuation is in physics, so I am not afraid of a math book, but it’s been 40 years for PokerGod’s sake, and I do not use statistics on a daily basis in my work. I can’t handle a graduate course on statistics and game theory.

Anyone have opinions of these books or others that would help in learning game theory as it applies to holdem? Search on this forum has not so far helped, but a link to prev threads like this certainly would.

Doc [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Phat Mack]

Ankeny's book is well written, but, as mentioned, primarily about draw poker. If you are interested in some specific hold 'em problems, it will probably give you the tools you need to solve them. I know it discusses pot limit games of two and three players, but don't remember how much it discusses no limit. Well worth reading.

Epstein's book is everything Mason says it is, but I honestly don't remember the game theory section, and don't have the book handy. But if it's a reference book you are looking for, I assume that this book would serve well.

If you're looking for an introduction to game theory, I recommend The Compleat Strategyst by J. D. Williams. For the general reader, it is one of the most beautifully written books I have read on any subject. But with your background, you might find it too low-level.

[jakethebake]

Chris Ferguson has written some poker game theory academic type papers that are availabel on the web. Google them.

I thought Ankeny's book was very good. You can occasionally find it at reasonable prices on eBay.

[npc]

As I recall, the books by Thorpe and Epstein don't have any game theory content. The book by Packel has one chapter on the subject.

Ankeny's book is worthwhile. I haven't read Dixit and Nalebuff. I agree with the poster who suggested that J.D. Williams book is probably more elementary than you need. As a general game theory book I like Melvin Dresher's "Mathematics of Games of Strategy". This is good background, but there's nothing directly poker related.

I'm not sure that most poker players need to know much more about game theory than Sklansky's discussion of the topic in "Theory of Poker". However, for those who want to go further, Ankeny is a good place to turn. Someone who wants more mathematical background can turn to one of the good texts.

C'mon .. If you have a major in physic's, how hard can it be ??


Get a math's book on graphtheory or a primer in game theory for econmist ... I mean the math as you say is pretty basic, and really with a little thinking it is easily applied to poker ... As King Yao correctly states in his book .. whether you are buying a meal or playing poker really does not make much of a difference, the logic is still the same (And hey, you are pretty good at math already [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] )

[DrPhysic]

I just realized (in writing down a response to this thread) that I have three other game theory books on my list that I did not include earlier. They are:
Game Theory, A Nontechnical Introduction, Morton Davis
Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict, Roger B. Myerson
Prisoner's Dilemma, William Poundstone

If anybody has any feedback on these, I would appreciate that info also.

Doc [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[npc]

Poundstone's book is for a non-technical audience. It's kind of cool, but it contains essentially no math and no concrete application to poker. It is to game theory what Alvarez' "The Biggest Game in Town" is to poker.

I haven't read the other two books you mentioned.

A book called prisoners dilemma can't be good ... but I do not know it.

I do not know if you guessed that I'm an economist myself, but between you and me, If you shy away from the pokerrelated books, it doesn't have to make much of a difference which one you pick. My better half is currently sleeping, so I can't browse my own shelf of text books in our bedroom .. and It's been awhile since I last read them to remember which is which ... I you have access to a library with college books, why not visit it and pick up a couple primers.

Usually you will not need anything fancy to get by... for the most part using a simple approach, where you have a tree of outcome .. to each there is atached a probability .. then you just ad up and get an expected outcome. It takes a lot of fooling around with some numbers, but IMHO poker math doesn't have to be that extraordinary


But hey, that is just me .. I like to keep it simple, so maybe I'm not really getting to the buttom of things [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[maurile]

You're going to want the Chen/Ankenman book when it comes out.

Until then, check out Jerrod's series of rgp posts on the [0,1] game.

[uuDevil]

I think Abdul Jalib mentioned this book in an old post. I haven't looked into it beyond reading the reviews on Amazon.