Fundamental Theorem Of Poker
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Fundamental Theorem Of Poker
The fundamental theorem of poker is a principle first articulated by David Sklansky that he believes expresses the essential nature of poker as a game of decision-making in the face of incomplete information. The fundamental theorem is stated in common language, but its formulation is based on mathematical reasoning. Each decision that is made in poker can be analyzed in terms of the expected value of the payoff of a decision. The correct decision to make in a given situation is the decision that has the largest expected value. If a player could see all of their opponents' cards, they would always be able to calculate the correct decision with mathematical certainty, and the less they deviate from these correct decisions, the better their expected long-term results. This is certainly true heads-up, but Morton's theorem, in which an opponent's correct decision can benefit a player, may apply in multi-way pots. An example Suppose Bob is playing limit Texas hold 'em and is dealt ...
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David Sklansky
David Sklansky (born December 22, 1947) is an American professional poker player and author. An early writer on poker strategy, he is known for his mathematical approach to the game. His key work ''The Theory of Poker'' presents fundamental principles on which much later analysis is based. Early years Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but dropped out before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the age of 20, and worked for an actuarial firm. Poker career Sklansky is an authority on gambling. He has written and contributed to fourteen books on poker, blackjack, and general gambling. Sklansky has won three World Series of Poker bracelets, two in 1982 ($800 Mixed Doubles with Dani Kelly, and $1,000 Draw Hi) and one in 1983 ($1,000 Limit Omaha Hi). He also won the ''Poker By The Book'' invitational event on the 2004 ...
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Turn Cards
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics. A ; ace in the hole : One of the hole cards is an ace ; ace-to-five, ace-to-six : Methods of evaluating low hands. See lowball. ; act : To make a play (check, bet, call, raise, or fold) at the required time, compare to '' in turn''. ; acting out of turn : A player in poker that either announces their actions or physically plays before their turn (checks, folds etc.). Sometimes players act out of turn intentionally to get a read out of other players. When done intentionally, this is often referred to as "angle shooting." See angle shooting. ; action : A player's turn to act; a willingness to ...
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Poker Strategy
Poker is a popular card game that combines elements of chance and strategy. There are various styles of poker, all of which share an objective of presenting the least probable or highest-scoring hand. A poker hand is usually a configuration of five cards depending on the variant, either held entirely by a player or drawn partly from a number of shared, community cards. Players bet on their hands in a number of rounds as cards are drawn, employing various mathematical and intuitive strategies in an attempt to better opponents. Given the game's many different forms and various dynamics, poker strategy becomes a complex subject. This article attempts to introduce only the basic strategy concepts. The fundamental theorem of poker The fundamental theorem of poker, introduced by David Sklansky, states: Every time you play your hand the way you would if you could see your opponents' cards, you gain, and every time your opponents play their cards differently from the way they would pl ...
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Poker Glossary
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics. A ; ace in the hole : One of the hole cards is an ace ; ace-to-five, ace-to-six : Methods of evaluating low hands. See lowball. ; act : To make a play (check, bet, call, raise, or fold) at the required time, compare to '' in turn''. ; acting out of turn : A player in poker that either announces their actions or physically plays before their turn (checks, folds etc.). Sometimes players act out of turn intentionally to get a read out of other players. When done intentionally, this is often referred to as "angle shooting." See angle shooting. ; action : A player's turn to act; a willingness to ...
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Semi-bluff
In the card game of poker, a bluff is a bet or raise made with a hand which is not thought to be the best hand. ''To bluff'' is to make such a bet. The objective of a bluff is to induce a fold by at least one opponent who holds a better hand. The size and frequency of a bluff determines its profitability to the ''bluffer''. By extension, the phrase "calling somebody's bluff" is often used outside the context of poker to describe situations where one person demands that another proves a claim, or proves that they are not being deceptive. Pure bluff A pure bluff, or stone-cold bluff, is a bet or raise with an inferior hand that has little or no chance of improving. A player making a pure bluff believes they can win the pot only if all opponents fold. The pot odds for a bluff are the ratio of the size of the bluff to the pot. A pure bluff has a positive expectation (will be profitable in the long run) when the probability of being called by an opponent is lower than the pot od ...
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Pot Odds
In poker, pot odds are the ratio of the current size of the pot to the cost of a contemplated call. Pot odds are compared to the odds of winning a hand with a future card in order to estimate the call's expected value. The purpose of this is to statistically guide a player's decision between the options of call or fold. Raising is an alternative to place this decision on the opponent. Calculating equity Pot odds are only useful if a player has enough equity. Equity is the chance a player has to win the hand at showdown. It is calculated as the fraction of remaining cards in the deck for each remaining street (sequential card being dealt, e.g. turn, river) that can give a player the winning hand. For example, in Texas hold'em, if a player has an inside straight draw on the flop, there are four remaining cards in the deck, or outs, that can give them a straight on the turn or the river. The addition law of probability combines the chances of making the straight on the turn (4/47 ...
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Raise (poker)
In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, and small variations in etiquette exist between cardrooms, but for the most part the following rules and protocol are observed by the majority of poker players. Procedure Players in a poker game act in turn, in clockwise rotation (acting out of turn can negatively affect other players). When it is a player's turn to act, the first verbal declaration or action they take does NOT bind them to their choice of action; this rule allows a player to think out loud at the table without being penalized for doing so. Until the first bet is made each player in turn may "check", which is to not place a bet, or "open", which is to make the first bet. After the first bet each player may "fold", which is to drop out of the hand losing any bets they have ...
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Out (poker)
In a poker game with more than one betting round, an out is any unseen card that, if drawn, will improve a player's hand to one that is likely to win. Knowing the number of outs a player has is an important part of poker strategy. For example, in draw poker, a hand with four diamonds has nine outs to make a flush: there are 13 diamonds in the deck, and four of them have been seen. If a player has two small pairs, and he believes that it will be necessary for him to make a full house to win, then he has four outs: the two remaining cards of each rank that he holds. One's number of outs is often used to describe a drawing hand: "I had a two-outer" meaning you had a hand that only two cards in the deck could improve to a winner, for example. In draw poker, one also hears the terms "12-way" or "16-way" straight draw for hands such as , in which any of sixteen cards (4 fours, 4 fives, 4 nines, 4 tens) can fill a straight. The number of outs can be converted to the probability of maki ...
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Draw (poker)
A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are ''drawing to'' a flush. In contrast, a made hand already has value and does not necessarily need to draw to win. A made starting hand with no help can lose to an inferior starting hand with a favorable draw. If an opponent has a made hand that will beat the player's draw, then the player is ''drawing dead''; even if they make their desired hand, they will lose. Not only draws benefit from additional cards; many made hands can be improved by catching an out — and may have to in order to win. Outs An unseen card that would improve a drawing hand to a likely winner is an out. ''Playing a drawing hand has a positive expectation if the probability of catching an out is greater than the pot odds ...
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Flush (poker)
In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win. In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win. In high-low split games, both the highest-ranking ''and'' lowest-ranking hands win, though different rules are used to rank the high and low hands. Each hand belongs to a category determined by the patterns formed by its cards. A hand in a higher-ranking category always ranks higher than a hand in a lower-ranking category. A hand is ranked within its category using the ranks of its cards. Individual cards are ranked, from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. However, aces have the lowest rank under ace-to-five low or ace-to-six low rules, or under high rules as part of a five-hig ...
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Straight (poker)
In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high games, like Texas hold 'em and seven-card stud, the highest-ranking hands win. In low games, like razz, the lowest-ranking hands win. In high-low split games, both the highest-ranking ''and'' lowest-ranking hands win, though different rules are used to rank the high and low hands. Each hand belongs to a category determined by the patterns formed by its cards. A hand in a higher-ranking category always ranks higher than a hand in a lower-ranking category. A hand is ranked within its category using the ranks of its cards. Individual cards are ranked, from highest to lowest: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2. However, aces have the lowest rank under ace-to-five low or ace-to-six low rules, or under high rules as part of a five-high ...
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River Cards
The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics. A ; ace in the hole : One of the hole cards is an ace ; ace-to-five, ace-to-six : Methods of evaluating low hands. See lowball. ; act : To make a play (check, bet, call, raise, or fold) at the required time, compare to '' in turn''. ; acting out of turn : A player in poker that either announces their actions or physically plays before their turn (checks, folds etc.). Sometimes players act out of turn intentionally to get a read out of other players. When done intentionally, this is often referred to as "angle shooting." See angle shooting. ; action : A player's turn to act; a willingness to ...
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