How did the early players do it?

[obsidian]

They played, learned, and adjusted.

Ok, granted. But my question has more to do with how they learned pot odds, sound poker theory, etc.

Let's say it's back in the 60s and 70s and Doyle Brunson is in his heyday. He's playing a whole lot (but not near as much as the Internet players of today) and learning as he plays. When did he find out about the math? Did someone come to him one day and say "Hey Doyle, maybe you should think about making your calls based on the odds you will make your hand compared with the total pot you win for the price you are paying." Surely at some point Brunson learned about pot odds. What about concepts such as the Gap concept. After 5 years of playing did a light bulb go on and he just figure it out on his own? Did another player tell him about it?

So, I guess what I am asking is, was their ONLY source of information their own experience?

[Nightwish]

You do realize that things like pot odds and expected value have been around much longer than the current poker boom, right? Same goes for the concept of game theory.

I'm not saying that Doyle and his buddies knew all about this stuff in the 60s (even though it existed), but it doesn't take a genius to figure out some basics either.

[umdpoker]

umm, its sorta common sense if you have taken math before. i thought about pot odds before i ever read anything about poker. obviously, i didn't call it pot odds, but i knew that the relationship between the bet and pot was important. if you are good at math, i think that is a pretty easy concept to figure out on your own. its too bad that i suck at all the other stuff in poker (don't really like "gambling" enough to get really good).

[kiemo]

Smart people in smart universities did thesis papers on lots of math.

These lead other smart people to say 'Gambling seems to be encased in mathmatics, lets do a study on gambling'

+EV is born.