When you’re trying to learn how to play poker, you want to know how it works and what you can and cannot do – then you can make better decisions and also less likely to make mistakes while you’re playing.
Poker players are also prone to judging themselves as over-expert at something and under-expert in something they are not – a process called superiority bias.
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematics that interprets the game of poker so that it is less exploitative of the opponent and more successful. And if former exploitative players made millions playing exploitatively, professional poker players nowadays are very much dependent on game theory to push their games to the next level.
When it comes to learning game theory, the first thing you need to do is see what parts of your poker game are not doing a very good job. This may mean checking in with oneself and identifying the weakness areas. After determining this, try to research these regions when you’re playing poker and make a hand history record of it along the way.
It takes some very strict stipulations to be met for game theory to be able to predict correctly: that every player is a utility-maximizing rational being who knows all the rules and potential game outcomes.
Odds
Poker theory is a collection of theories and concepts that are supposed to make it easier to make decisions on the table. It emphasizes emotional control, so you’re not making a mistake that cost you long-term profit; and it encourages players to pay more attention to decision quality than short-term gain.
Part of poker theory includes player profiling, which describes a group of opponents in terms of their style and patterns. This gives poker players a way to anticipate and modify their opponents’ moves to maximize profit. Another part is to watch what the other player does — body language, bet patterns, etc. — to gain knowledge of their hand power.
Poker theory involves the concepts of odds (the probabilities of winning and losing a hand). This includes pot odds, implied odds, and equity – all the mathematical stuff you need to work on your game and develop it.
Betting intervals
No one way to be a master poker player, but a well-rounded approach where study and practice are treated equally important. Too much theory, and you might not know what to play; too little theory and practice, and you’ll have blind spots in the game.
Poker theory gives you the knowledge needed to read players and decode their actions, and the ability to make educated guesses as to their hand strengths without committing rookie mistakes like overvalue weak hands and trying to win by doing impossible things – which makes you a better player, while saving you money through bad calls.
The other method to learn poker is by reading poker books, not to be thumbed through but read as you would any college textbook. Also, a good coach might be able to provide specific advice about how you can play better, but this could cost a fortune for players in the beginning.
Bluffing
Bluffing is part of the game of poker and can keep you in the game even if your hand is lousy, although it’s not always an easy skill to learn because there are so many factors involved – board feel, opponents inclinations, table image, etc. Learn about game theory optimal analysis (GTO) to optimize your bluffing for every scenario and take advantage of your opponents’ weaknesses.
GTO analysis is simply how much a high hand has a probability of being high, compared to its value, and how to calculate the probability using pot odds and implied odds. This also requires you to become a master at reading opponents’ tells of body language, bet patterns and timing that reveal their power; such tells could be body language or bet patterns as little hints of their power that you can guess on how their cards and intentions might work so you can more easily read their bluffs, which can make you a much better player at the poker table!