Register here: http://gg.gg/oyy35
Play against more than a hundred different opponents and use your winnings to buy up property. Compete in games all over Texas, win it all, and be proclaimed the Governor of Poker! Featuring sophisticated computer opponents, gorgeous graphics, and nearly endless poker fun, Governor of Poker for Mac is a rip-roaring good time. Master the odds of real Texas Holdem by playing this free poker Texas Holdem game. Watch your skills improve as your high score shoots up with each free poker game. Each AI opponent has his own unique personality-just like real people-so you can figure out all the little quirks involved in playing real texas.
As new depths of poker strategy continued to be discovered, Texas holdemtables sound more like science labs than the scene of a simple card game.
Thinking players in today’s game casually toss out references to balancing ormerging their hand ranges, applying an “exploitative” approach to take advantageof “suboptimal” strategies, and of course, integrating “game theory optimal”plays into their arsenal.
Perhaps more than any other advanced strategy concept, the notion of gametheory optimal play – better known as GTO – has seeped into the mainstream pokerconsciousness. Players of every skill level have at least familiarizedthemselves with the idea of making their own game GTO, but as with any otherubiquitous term, the exact definition of poker’s newest buzzword differsdepending on who you ask.
*Master the odds of real Texas Holdem by playing this free poker Texas Holdem game. Watch your skills improve as your high score shoots up with each free poker game. Each AI opponent has his own unique personality-just like real people-so you can figure out all the little quirks involved in playing real texas holdem poker.
*Fast Texas Hold ’Em Poker with four smart computer opponents. Learn poker, or sharpen your skills with this fun app. Simple, very fast playing app. No registration, no login, no IAP, free! This app will provide you with many hours of fun Texas Hold ’Em Poker. Play against the AI or Play.
*PlayWPT - Play Free Texas Holdem Poker by the World Poker Tour.
The steady advancement in the way players tackle Texas holdem problems isonly natural, as the Poker Boom of 2003 to 2006 prompted millions of thoughtful,intelligent, and analytical individuals to take their talents from the classroomto the card room. The merits of that choice are debatable on the individuallevel, but what can’t be disputed is how the new generation of poker studentsultimately became masters of the field.
Eschewing traditional advice about “playing the man, not the cards,” youngpoker players today focus their minds on the mathematical underpinnings of Texasholdem gameplay. By using hand distribution to equity calculators like the PokerStove product, basing every possible decision on the all important variableknown as expected value EV, and scaling back the standard opening bet from threetimes the big blind, modern Texas holdem experts have fundamentally altered thegame’s very foundation.
For beginners just now entering the world of Texas holdem, or even old handswho simply struggled to keep up with the game’s accelerating advancement,hearing smart and savvy opponents reference ideas that sound more like calculushomework than a card game can be quite intimidating. It’s hard enough figuringout what to do when you get four bet holding pocket jacks, so the thought oflearning about intricate game theory constructs and the higher level reasoningbehind GTO plays can be daunting to say the least.
With this page, we don’t purport to be PhD holders or even Texas holdemexperts, but rather recreational players like yourself who simply wanted tolearn more about game theory as it applies to poker. In keeping with theinstructional theme, we’ll offer a syllabus of sorts, starting out with a basicglossary of the key terms and concepts you’ll hear repeatedly during anydiscussion on GTO play. Next up you’ll find a section detailing several commonexamples, written from the perspective of a poker player, that help toillustrate the technical terms described earlier. From there you’ll find a listof applicable resources – written or developed by successful high stakesprofessional players and game theory experts – through which you can pursue anadvanced education.Glossary of Game Theory Terms
Before we move on to the descriptions, it’s important to discuss what theconcept of game theory really means.
According to Roger B. Myerson, whose introductory textbook titled “GameTheory: Analysis of Conflict” was published by the Harvard University Press in1991, game theory can be defined as “the study of mathematical models ofconflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision makers.”
As you can see, this definition doesn’t mention anything at all about pokeror Texas holdem. That’s because game theory is applicable to any game or contestwhich involves decision making on the part of players combined with access topartial information. Additionally, the ideas put forth by game theory expertshave also been co opted for use by economists, political scientists, biologists,and several other fields of study. Thus, while the study of game theory ispredicated on the various rules and procedures used to govern classic games likeTexas holdem, the ideas that emerge from game theory investigation are widelyapplicable across a diverse range of subjects.
Although game theory wasn’t codified as a field of study until the 1920s,evidence of GTO approaches to basic card games can be found dating back to theearly 1700s.
In 1711, Charles Waldegrave wrote a letter to his brother outlining a“minimax mixed strategy” to the simply two player card game known as Le Her.
In 1913 a German mathematician named Ernst Zermelo developed “Zermelo’sTheorem,” which states thatWant To Play Free Texas Holdem
“In any finite two person game of perfectinformation in which the players move alternatingly, and in which chance doesnot affect the decision making process, if the game cannot end in a draw, thenone of the two players must have a winning strategy.”
As you might suspect, thislong passage was used by Zermelo to describe chess, which he successfully provedto be a “strictly determined” game from a strategic sense.
Throughout the 20th century, mathematicians and logicians like John vonNeumann, Oskar Morgenstern, Merrill M. Flood, Melvin Dresher, and John Nash eachcontributed fundamental theories and postulations to the field of game theorystudy.
For poker players with an educational background in advanced mathematics – ofwhom there seemed to be an endless supply during the Poker Boom – learning thelingo of game theory and applying it to their favorite game proved to be ahighly beneficial proposition. These players were able to expand their lines ofthinking beyond the most basic constructs – what do I have or need, what does myopponent have or need, etc. – to turn a seemingly simple poker hand into anexercise in statistical modelling and probability based prediction.
But for the rest of us, the laymen at the table who haven’t memorized reamsof mathematical formulas, diving deeper into the subject of game theory studycan present a firm barrier. The average person can only take so manyabbreviations and hypotheticals before their head begins to ache, so breakingthings down to their basic meaning is a helpful way to begin.
Take a look below for a comprehensive glossary of essential terms andconcepts used within the world of game theory:Exploitable Strategy
Any strategy that offers a reduced expected value EV,compared to GTO strategy, when playing against an exploitive strategy. Any nongame theory optimal GTO strategy is, by definition, an exploitable strategy.Exploitive Strategy
Any strategy that offers an increased expected value EVthan a game theory optimal GTO strategy, when playing against any particularstrategy. Any non GTO strategy that counters an exploitable strategy better thana strictly GTO approach is, by definition, and exploitive strategy.Game Theory Optimal GTO
The strategy that offers the highest possibleexpected value EV when an opponent always applies an optimal counter strategy.The classic GTO strategy example concerns the zero sum hand game known as “Rock,Paper, Scissors.” In this game, the GTO approach involves selecting randomlybetween rock, paper, and scissors while using an equal distribution. Thisstrategy provides the highest level of EV, at 0.50 percent equity, against anyopponent strategy that consists of all rock, all paper, or all scissors.Optimal Exploitive Strategy
The strategy that offers the highest possibleexpected value EV against any opponent strategy. Returning to the Rock, Paper,Scissors example, in a game where you know your opponent’s strategy was to throwrock on every game, the optimal exploitive strategy would be to counter withpaper every game – because this would create an EV of 100 percent. And shouldyour opponent modulate to a strategy based on using rock on 50 percent of games,paper on 25 percent, and scissors on the other 25 percent, the optimalexploitative strategy would also be to throw paper on every game – because you’dcreate a scenario in which you’d win or tie on 75 percent of games, while losingonly 25 percent of the time.Suboptimal Strategy
Any strategy that offers a lower expected value EV thanthe optimal exploitive strategy. Back to that Rock, Paper, Scissors game, whereyour opponent’s strategy is to throw rock on each game, you could opt for a 50percent paper and 50 percent rock blend of moves. And while this would still bea winning strategy, because you’d only win or tie, it’s performance can’t matchthat of the optimal exploitative strategy throwing paper every time – making ita suboptimal strategy at best.Game TypesCooperative / Non Cooperative Game
In a cooperative game, players arepermitted, encouraged, or even required to form binding agreements with fellowplayers. A game like Monopoly, in which players can negotiate the price of amortgage on property deeds among other agreements, is a classic cooperativegame.
A non cooperative game, on the other hand, forbids players from makingsimilar arrangements among themselves. Technically speaking, poker variants likeTexas holdem are non cooperative games, because the rules preclude collusion andother forms of explicit cooperation. Even so, as you’ll learn in the nextsection featuring examples of Texas holdem game theory in action, manysituations in the game compel players to form implicit agreements to achieve acertain effect stalling on the bubble, big stacks avoiding one another withpending pay jumps, etc..Infinitely Long Games
From a practical standpoint, any game involving humanplayers must be a finitely long game – or one that has a fixed endpoint. Whetherthat means attaining a certain score, satisfying a series of conditions, orotherwise defeating your opponent, a finitely long game has a beginning – and adefinitive end. And even in a game designed to stretch on into perpetuity, thelimits of human endurance, and indeed lifespan, prevent it from being trulyinfinite.
But game theorists have no such limitations on their work, and in the processof investigating mathematical proofs, they’ve created the concept of infinitelylong games that are never forced to end. These games are devised, in part, tostudy the relative strengths and weaknesses of dueling strategies which adaptbased on one another’s actions.
For poker players, every cash game or tournament session has a start and anend. But as any experienced poker pro knows quite well, judging the results ofany particular session provides an inconsistent appraisal, and the truth is bestdiscovered by examining results over the long run. That long run can encompassyears, decades, or even a player’s entire lifetime on the felt – making Texasholdem and other poker formats an infinitely long game in spirit.Meta Game
For game theorists, a “meta game” means something entirelydifferent, but as a poker player, you’ll hear this expression used largely todescribe the multitude of external factors that conspire to influence everyaction, hand, and session.
These factors can span the spectrum from personal history between particularplayers, the relative importance of pending prize money to opponents ofdifferent means, the impact of physical fatigue and diminished stamina, and eventhe presence of television cameras or a similar spotlight.
Some players can dominate a large tournament field until reaching the finaltable, where the change of setting from anonymous area on the floor to ringedoff feature table can jar their nerves. Experienced players use their knowledgeof this meta game to apply increased pressure and make things uncomfortable forless experienced foes.
For the most part though, when a poker player mentions the meta gameaffecting their decision making, they’re referring to prior history betweenthemselves and an opponent. Perhaps the other player has shown a propensity forchecking back strong hands in position, so you may begin using flop checks moreoften to clarify his range. Or maybe you were a tournament victor to theirrunner up twice before, and you know they’ll be looking to knock you out of thefinal table earlier to prevent another heads up match, so you widen your rangein anticipation of them playing back light.
The concept of meta game at the poker table can go as deep as a thinkingplayer prefers to take it, but in many cases, if your opponent isn’t a thinkingplayer in their own right, the advantages gained simply aren’t all thateffective. An oblivious opponent who doesn’t even realize that they’ve playeddozens of pots with you before can’t really be exploited based on that metagame, as they aren’t even aware that it exists.Perfect / Imperfect Information Game
A perfect information gameis one in which both players have full knowledge of each other’s previous movesor actions. The classic example of a perfect information game is chess, as bothplayers begin with identical piece alignments and witness all subsequent moves.
An imperfect information game is one in which both players are limited to anobscured view of the full game conditions. In blackjack, for example, you knowyour own hole cards, but not that of the dealer, leading to a situation in whichmaking educated guesses is the only way to proceed. Texas holdem is anotherimperfect information game, because even though all players can see the samecommunity cards on board, and their own hole cards, the hole cards of everyother opponent remain concealed until the showdown round is reached.Zero Sum / Non Zero Sum Game
A zero sum game is one in which the amount of“available resources” in play can never be changed. Poker is the standard zerosum game, because leaving aside the house’s rake in cash games, every pot thatis played results in an equal transfer of chips. If you win 12,000 chips in apot, a player or players at the table must have lost 12,000 chips as a result.
A poker tournament is a perfect encapsulation of a zero sum game, as everychip put in play throughout the proceedings will wind up in the eventualwinner’s stack. Players will transfer chips back and forth throughout thetournament, stacks will grow, shrink, and disappear, but when it’s all said anddone, the same amount of chips will be present and accounted for when the finaltwo competitors begin heads up play.
Conversely, a non zero sum game is one in which the amount of availableresources in play can be changed. While playing Monopoly, for example, everybodybegins with a set amount of dollars in their bank, but factors like Chance cardsand other features can add dollars into the game’s economy without transferringthem from one player to another.Examples of Game Theory You Already Use in Texas Holdem
After perusing the scholarly definitions listed in the Glossary section, somereaders may be thinking that game theory is a bridge too far in terms of whatthey’re willing to learn. Poker is supposed to be a fun game after all, and mostof us aren’t trained in upper level mathematics anyway, so can game theoryapproaches really help the recreational player?
They can, and they already do. In fact, if you’ve spent any serious time atthe Texas holdem tables, whether in tournament play or cash games, chances arehigh that you already apply game theory concepts without even knowing it.Strategies that rely on unspoken acknowledgement of certain factors, deviationsfrom the norm decided on when competing against certain players – these playsthat seem instinctual are actually demonstrations of game theory in action.
We’ll run through a laundry list of commonly encountered Texas holdemscenarios below, covering both the No Limit and Limit versions of the game, toshow you a few different ways game theory principles are routinely put into useby beginners:Checking It Down to Eliminate a Short Stack
Imagine yourself playing a $55 Sit and Go tournament at your local casino.You wind up playing your way into the final four out of nine players – but onlythree players will earn a payout.
The next one to be eliminated will take home nothing for their efforts, anignoble end to a long tournament, but you don’t really have to worry too muchabout that at this point. You sit with 7,000 chips, another has 6,800, while twoshort stacks are clinging to 1,200 and 1,000 respectively.
In the big blind position, with 400 chips already committed, you watch theshortest stack shove all in for his last 1,000. The small blind player, who isyour fellow big stack, makes the call to put the shorty at risk. You look downat Kc 10c – a decent hand to try and bust the next player with – so you call aswell, creating a heads up side pot while the all in player sweats the action.
The flop comes down 10s 9h 7h, and the small blind checks it over to you. Inmost spots, firing out with top pair on a textured flop would be advisable, asto prevent opponents from backing into a straight or flush on the turn. But youshoot your heads up opponent a quick look and knock the felt with your fist,signaling a check.
The turn comes a blank with the 2d, but this time the small blind is checkingas the baby card falls. You check back quickly, and the process repeats itselfon the Kh river. Upon the showdown, you show your top two pair, but the shortstacked player flips up his J 8 with a smile, knowing his straight has beatenone of the two hands it’ll need to fade.
But the small blind turns his 5h 3h face up on the felt, and the flush isgood enough to bust the short stacked player in fourth place. You, the smallblind, and the other shorty have each made the money – and all because you neverbet to force out the small blind’s ragged flush draw.
In this case, even though poker is a non cooperative game by rule, you andthe small blind recognized a prime opportunity to cooperate. By checking downthrough all three streets, you and the small blind effectively ensured that twohands, rather than one, would have a chance to eliminate the
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Play against more than a hundred different opponents and use your winnings to buy up property. Compete in games all over Texas, win it all, and be proclaimed the Governor of Poker! Featuring sophisticated computer opponents, gorgeous graphics, and nearly endless poker fun, Governor of Poker for Mac is a rip-roaring good time. Master the odds of real Texas Holdem by playing this free poker Texas Holdem game. Watch your skills improve as your high score shoots up with each free poker game. Each AI opponent has his own unique personality-just like real people-so you can figure out all the little quirks involved in playing real texas.
As new depths of poker strategy continued to be discovered, Texas holdemtables sound more like science labs than the scene of a simple card game.
Thinking players in today’s game casually toss out references to balancing ormerging their hand ranges, applying an “exploitative” approach to take advantageof “suboptimal” strategies, and of course, integrating “game theory optimal”plays into their arsenal.
Perhaps more than any other advanced strategy concept, the notion of gametheory optimal play – better known as GTO – has seeped into the mainstream pokerconsciousness. Players of every skill level have at least familiarizedthemselves with the idea of making their own game GTO, but as with any otherubiquitous term, the exact definition of poker’s newest buzzword differsdepending on who you ask.
*Master the odds of real Texas Holdem by playing this free poker Texas Holdem game. Watch your skills improve as your high score shoots up with each free poker game. Each AI opponent has his own unique personality-just like real people-so you can figure out all the little quirks involved in playing real texas holdem poker.
*Fast Texas Hold ’Em Poker with four smart computer opponents. Learn poker, or sharpen your skills with this fun app. Simple, very fast playing app. No registration, no login, no IAP, free! This app will provide you with many hours of fun Texas Hold ’Em Poker. Play against the AI or Play.
*PlayWPT - Play Free Texas Holdem Poker by the World Poker Tour.
The steady advancement in the way players tackle Texas holdem problems isonly natural, as the Poker Boom of 2003 to 2006 prompted millions of thoughtful,intelligent, and analytical individuals to take their talents from the classroomto the card room. The merits of that choice are debatable on the individuallevel, but what can’t be disputed is how the new generation of poker studentsultimately became masters of the field.
Eschewing traditional advice about “playing the man, not the cards,” youngpoker players today focus their minds on the mathematical underpinnings of Texasholdem gameplay. By using hand distribution to equity calculators like the PokerStove product, basing every possible decision on the all important variableknown as expected value EV, and scaling back the standard opening bet from threetimes the big blind, modern Texas holdem experts have fundamentally altered thegame’s very foundation.
For beginners just now entering the world of Texas holdem, or even old handswho simply struggled to keep up with the game’s accelerating advancement,hearing smart and savvy opponents reference ideas that sound more like calculushomework than a card game can be quite intimidating. It’s hard enough figuringout what to do when you get four bet holding pocket jacks, so the thought oflearning about intricate game theory constructs and the higher level reasoningbehind GTO plays can be daunting to say the least.
With this page, we don’t purport to be PhD holders or even Texas holdemexperts, but rather recreational players like yourself who simply wanted tolearn more about game theory as it applies to poker. In keeping with theinstructional theme, we’ll offer a syllabus of sorts, starting out with a basicglossary of the key terms and concepts you’ll hear repeatedly during anydiscussion on GTO play. Next up you’ll find a section detailing several commonexamples, written from the perspective of a poker player, that help toillustrate the technical terms described earlier. From there you’ll find a listof applicable resources – written or developed by successful high stakesprofessional players and game theory experts – through which you can pursue anadvanced education.Glossary of Game Theory Terms
Before we move on to the descriptions, it’s important to discuss what theconcept of game theory really means.
According to Roger B. Myerson, whose introductory textbook titled “GameTheory: Analysis of Conflict” was published by the Harvard University Press in1991, game theory can be defined as “the study of mathematical models ofconflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision makers.”
As you can see, this definition doesn’t mention anything at all about pokeror Texas holdem. That’s because game theory is applicable to any game or contestwhich involves decision making on the part of players combined with access topartial information. Additionally, the ideas put forth by game theory expertshave also been co opted for use by economists, political scientists, biologists,and several other fields of study. Thus, while the study of game theory ispredicated on the various rules and procedures used to govern classic games likeTexas holdem, the ideas that emerge from game theory investigation are widelyapplicable across a diverse range of subjects.
Although game theory wasn’t codified as a field of study until the 1920s,evidence of GTO approaches to basic card games can be found dating back to theearly 1700s.
In 1711, Charles Waldegrave wrote a letter to his brother outlining a“minimax mixed strategy” to the simply two player card game known as Le Her.
In 1913 a German mathematician named Ernst Zermelo developed “Zermelo’sTheorem,” which states thatWant To Play Free Texas Holdem
“In any finite two person game of perfectinformation in which the players move alternatingly, and in which chance doesnot affect the decision making process, if the game cannot end in a draw, thenone of the two players must have a winning strategy.”
As you might suspect, thislong passage was used by Zermelo to describe chess, which he successfully provedto be a “strictly determined” game from a strategic sense.
Throughout the 20th century, mathematicians and logicians like John vonNeumann, Oskar Morgenstern, Merrill M. Flood, Melvin Dresher, and John Nash eachcontributed fundamental theories and postulations to the field of game theorystudy.
For poker players with an educational background in advanced mathematics – ofwhom there seemed to be an endless supply during the Poker Boom – learning thelingo of game theory and applying it to their favorite game proved to be ahighly beneficial proposition. These players were able to expand their lines ofthinking beyond the most basic constructs – what do I have or need, what does myopponent have or need, etc. – to turn a seemingly simple poker hand into anexercise in statistical modelling and probability based prediction.
But for the rest of us, the laymen at the table who haven’t memorized reamsof mathematical formulas, diving deeper into the subject of game theory studycan present a firm barrier. The average person can only take so manyabbreviations and hypotheticals before their head begins to ache, so breakingthings down to their basic meaning is a helpful way to begin.
Take a look below for a comprehensive glossary of essential terms andconcepts used within the world of game theory:Exploitable Strategy
Any strategy that offers a reduced expected value EV,compared to GTO strategy, when playing against an exploitive strategy. Any nongame theory optimal GTO strategy is, by definition, an exploitable strategy.Exploitive Strategy
Any strategy that offers an increased expected value EVthan a game theory optimal GTO strategy, when playing against any particularstrategy. Any non GTO strategy that counters an exploitable strategy better thana strictly GTO approach is, by definition, and exploitive strategy.Game Theory Optimal GTO
The strategy that offers the highest possibleexpected value EV when an opponent always applies an optimal counter strategy.The classic GTO strategy example concerns the zero sum hand game known as “Rock,Paper, Scissors.” In this game, the GTO approach involves selecting randomlybetween rock, paper, and scissors while using an equal distribution. Thisstrategy provides the highest level of EV, at 0.50 percent equity, against anyopponent strategy that consists of all rock, all paper, or all scissors.Optimal Exploitive Strategy
The strategy that offers the highest possibleexpected value EV against any opponent strategy. Returning to the Rock, Paper,Scissors example, in a game where you know your opponent’s strategy was to throwrock on every game, the optimal exploitive strategy would be to counter withpaper every game – because this would create an EV of 100 percent. And shouldyour opponent modulate to a strategy based on using rock on 50 percent of games,paper on 25 percent, and scissors on the other 25 percent, the optimalexploitative strategy would also be to throw paper on every game – because you’dcreate a scenario in which you’d win or tie on 75 percent of games, while losingonly 25 percent of the time.Suboptimal Strategy
Any strategy that offers a lower expected value EV thanthe optimal exploitive strategy. Back to that Rock, Paper, Scissors game, whereyour opponent’s strategy is to throw rock on each game, you could opt for a 50percent paper and 50 percent rock blend of moves. And while this would still bea winning strategy, because you’d only win or tie, it’s performance can’t matchthat of the optimal exploitative strategy throwing paper every time – making ita suboptimal strategy at best.Game TypesCooperative / Non Cooperative Game
In a cooperative game, players arepermitted, encouraged, or even required to form binding agreements with fellowplayers. A game like Monopoly, in which players can negotiate the price of amortgage on property deeds among other agreements, is a classic cooperativegame.
A non cooperative game, on the other hand, forbids players from makingsimilar arrangements among themselves. Technically speaking, poker variants likeTexas holdem are non cooperative games, because the rules preclude collusion andother forms of explicit cooperation. Even so, as you’ll learn in the nextsection featuring examples of Texas holdem game theory in action, manysituations in the game compel players to form implicit agreements to achieve acertain effect stalling on the bubble, big stacks avoiding one another withpending pay jumps, etc..Infinitely Long Games
From a practical standpoint, any game involving humanplayers must be a finitely long game – or one that has a fixed endpoint. Whetherthat means attaining a certain score, satisfying a series of conditions, orotherwise defeating your opponent, a finitely long game has a beginning – and adefinitive end. And even in a game designed to stretch on into perpetuity, thelimits of human endurance, and indeed lifespan, prevent it from being trulyinfinite.
But game theorists have no such limitations on their work, and in the processof investigating mathematical proofs, they’ve created the concept of infinitelylong games that are never forced to end. These games are devised, in part, tostudy the relative strengths and weaknesses of dueling strategies which adaptbased on one another’s actions.
For poker players, every cash game or tournament session has a start and anend. But as any experienced poker pro knows quite well, judging the results ofany particular session provides an inconsistent appraisal, and the truth is bestdiscovered by examining results over the long run. That long run can encompassyears, decades, or even a player’s entire lifetime on the felt – making Texasholdem and other poker formats an infinitely long game in spirit.Meta Game
For game theorists, a “meta game” means something entirelydifferent, but as a poker player, you’ll hear this expression used largely todescribe the multitude of external factors that conspire to influence everyaction, hand, and session.
These factors can span the spectrum from personal history between particularplayers, the relative importance of pending prize money to opponents ofdifferent means, the impact of physical fatigue and diminished stamina, and eventhe presence of television cameras or a similar spotlight.
Some players can dominate a large tournament field until reaching the finaltable, where the change of setting from anonymous area on the floor to ringedoff feature table can jar their nerves. Experienced players use their knowledgeof this meta game to apply increased pressure and make things uncomfortable forless experienced foes.
For the most part though, when a poker player mentions the meta gameaffecting their decision making, they’re referring to prior history betweenthemselves and an opponent. Perhaps the other player has shown a propensity forchecking back strong hands in position, so you may begin using flop checks moreoften to clarify his range. Or maybe you were a tournament victor to theirrunner up twice before, and you know they’ll be looking to knock you out of thefinal table earlier to prevent another heads up match, so you widen your rangein anticipation of them playing back light.
The concept of meta game at the poker table can go as deep as a thinkingplayer prefers to take it, but in many cases, if your opponent isn’t a thinkingplayer in their own right, the advantages gained simply aren’t all thateffective. An oblivious opponent who doesn’t even realize that they’ve playeddozens of pots with you before can’t really be exploited based on that metagame, as they aren’t even aware that it exists.Perfect / Imperfect Information Game
A perfect information gameis one in which both players have full knowledge of each other’s previous movesor actions. The classic example of a perfect information game is chess, as bothplayers begin with identical piece alignments and witness all subsequent moves.
An imperfect information game is one in which both players are limited to anobscured view of the full game conditions. In blackjack, for example, you knowyour own hole cards, but not that of the dealer, leading to a situation in whichmaking educated guesses is the only way to proceed. Texas holdem is anotherimperfect information game, because even though all players can see the samecommunity cards on board, and their own hole cards, the hole cards of everyother opponent remain concealed until the showdown round is reached.Zero Sum / Non Zero Sum Game
A zero sum game is one in which the amount of“available resources” in play can never be changed. Poker is the standard zerosum game, because leaving aside the house’s rake in cash games, every pot thatis played results in an equal transfer of chips. If you win 12,000 chips in apot, a player or players at the table must have lost 12,000 chips as a result.
A poker tournament is a perfect encapsulation of a zero sum game, as everychip put in play throughout the proceedings will wind up in the eventualwinner’s stack. Players will transfer chips back and forth throughout thetournament, stacks will grow, shrink, and disappear, but when it’s all said anddone, the same amount of chips will be present and accounted for when the finaltwo competitors begin heads up play.
Conversely, a non zero sum game is one in which the amount of availableresources in play can be changed. While playing Monopoly, for example, everybodybegins with a set amount of dollars in their bank, but factors like Chance cardsand other features can add dollars into the game’s economy without transferringthem from one player to another.Examples of Game Theory You Already Use in Texas Holdem
After perusing the scholarly definitions listed in the Glossary section, somereaders may be thinking that game theory is a bridge too far in terms of whatthey’re willing to learn. Poker is supposed to be a fun game after all, and mostof us aren’t trained in upper level mathematics anyway, so can game theoryapproaches really help the recreational player?
They can, and they already do. In fact, if you’ve spent any serious time atthe Texas holdem tables, whether in tournament play or cash games, chances arehigh that you already apply game theory concepts without even knowing it.Strategies that rely on unspoken acknowledgement of certain factors, deviationsfrom the norm decided on when competing against certain players – these playsthat seem instinctual are actually demonstrations of game theory in action.
We’ll run through a laundry list of commonly encountered Texas holdemscenarios below, covering both the No Limit and Limit versions of the game, toshow you a few different ways game theory principles are routinely put into useby beginners:Checking It Down to Eliminate a Short Stack
Imagine yourself playing a $55 Sit and Go tournament at your local casino.You wind up playing your way into the final four out of nine players – but onlythree players will earn a payout.
The next one to be eliminated will take home nothing for their efforts, anignoble end to a long tournament, but you don’t really have to worry too muchabout that at this point. You sit with 7,000 chips, another has 6,800, while twoshort stacks are clinging to 1,200 and 1,000 respectively.
In the big blind position, with 400 chips already committed, you watch theshortest stack shove all in for his last 1,000. The small blind player, who isyour fellow big stack, makes the call to put the shorty at risk. You look downat Kc 10c – a decent hand to try and bust the next player with – so you call aswell, creating a heads up side pot while the all in player sweats the action.
The flop comes down 10s 9h 7h, and the small blind checks it over to you. Inmost spots, firing out with top pair on a textured flop would be advisable, asto prevent opponents from backing into a straight or flush on the turn. But youshoot your heads up opponent a quick look and knock the felt with your fist,signaling a check.
The turn comes a blank with the 2d, but this time the small blind is checkingas the baby card falls. You check back quickly, and the process repeats itselfon the Kh river. Upon the showdown, you show your top two pair, but the shortstacked player flips up his J 8 with a smile, knowing his straight has beatenone of the two hands it’ll need to fade.
But the small blind turns his 5h 3h face up on the felt, and the flush isgood enough to bust the short stacked player in fourth place. You, the smallblind, and the other shorty have each made the money – and all because you neverbet to force out the small blind’s ragged flush draw.
In this case, even though poker is a non cooperative game by rule, you andthe small blind recognized a prime opportunity to cooperate. By checking downthrough all three streets, you and the small blind effectively ensured that twohands, rather than one, would have a chance to eliminate the
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