Question about math in poker

[Scorpius]

Can anyone tell me what the most important mathematical factors are in poker??? The books and articles talk about pot odds, implied odds, odds against making certain hands, etc., but they never say which are the most important factors to calculate and think about. There are all kinds of statistics one could calculate for poker, but you have to draw the line at some point. You simply don't have the time to calculate into infinity while playing your hand. Can anyone tell us what the best mathematician among the top poker professionals would be calculating and whether this would enable the average player to take his game up to a higher level??? This may seem like a silly question to the rest of you, but it is confusing to me in terms of level of importance to one's game and as to what factors to use if it is that important. I just need some clarity on this. Thanks.

[LetYouDown]

Mike Caro is generally considered the top guy when it comes to poker & probability.

You mentioned the "big three"...pot odds, implied odds and probability of making/missing hands. These are the only ones I really think are relevant while a hand is actually playing out. The other probabilities are used more for theory and different types of approaches to the game as opposed to in-hand calculation.

[Jerrod Ankenman]

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Can anyone tell me what the most important mathematical factors are in poker??? The books and articles talk about pot odds, implied odds, odds against making certain hands, etc., but they never say which are the most important factors to calculate and think about. There are all kinds of statistics one could calculate for poker, but you have to draw the line at some point. You simply don't have the time to calculate into infinity while playing your hand. Can anyone tell us what the best mathematician among the top poker professionals would be calculating and whether this would enable the average player to take his game up to a higher level??? This may seem like a silly question to the rest of you, but it is confusing to me in terms of level of importance to one's game and as to what factors to use if it is that important. I just need some clarity on this. Thanks.

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The most important thing you can do mathematically is consider probability distributions instead of simple probabilities. Your opponents don't hold (from your perspective) a single hand, they hold a probability distribution of hands.

You should also base your strategy on more than only the specific hand that you hold, because your opponent's exploitive responses to your play are based on the probability distribution of hands that you in turn hold.

"Mathematical" players don't spend much energy on "making decisions." They spend time on creating balanced, difficult to read strategies that extract value while being difficult to exploit.

Jerrod Ankenman