That is the question that every poker player ask. “Which hands should I play?” You will see a lot of players like to play any suited cards or hands such as high pairs. There are many reasons for this but more often then not, these hands are losing hands. In this article we will answer the question using simple mathematics.
Mathematical Predictions
What mathematical prediction can be applied to a poker hand? Well if you have ever done any maths in school you will know that the answer is a straightforward: the less the number of cards in the deck and the more cards that are still to come out of the deck the more chance you have of getting the right calculation. Poker is the same, the more people are in the pot the more chance you have of getting the best hand.
So in essence the answer is that the more people are in the pot the more likely you can hit a hand. The value of your hand in relation to the pot is the determining factor to call or fold.
There are also other considerations to take into account before making the final decision. If you call you may be making a mistake and may lose the hand; you may also leak chips if your opponent has a better hand; you may call with no idea whether you have the best hand or not. Understanding the mathematics of poker will help you make the correct decisions based on mathematical prediction.
Cards In The Deck
One of the hardest aspects of poker to learn is knowing whether cards are better than other cards in the deck. In other words what are the odds of getting a better hand post flop? This often confused with the odds of getting a particular hand on the flop.
One way of putting this is to consider flops. Many of the cards in a deck may be useless later on, as the flop completely throws out any previous information or information gained from the flop or turn. A lot of hands you will fold when you have a low ranking flop, the odds are against you. However if the board is high ranking it is possible to have a better hand with regards to the board, what cards can be seen and what are the odds of hitting a specific hand on the turn or river.
The Fold Line
The line between being able to call and not calling is a very fine line. One method of explaining this is by calculating the pot odds and payoff risk. Many top poker players use a variant of poker called tournament poker. This is where the amount of chips you have is taxed by the blinds and antes. So whilst you will always want to have the best hand, the perfect hand may not be obtainable unless the most likely losers fold and slot deposit 30 bonus 30.
Being able to calculate the pot odds and payoff risk is key to either staying in the game or getting out. Knowing when to call or fold is very important, as poker is not a game of the higher mathematics. There are however ways to approximate the hand odds.
Firstly there are the standard rankings of poker hands. Each hand is ranked from the highest possible to the lowest. The full house is the highest ranking and the royal flush is the lowest. However if there are two players with the exact same hand the pot is split between them. The card counting method is a simple method of adding up the cards to determine the odds of the next card being higher or lower than the card you have.
The next problem is one of concentration. You will not get the chance to calculate the odds if you are concentrating in other areas of your life. You will need to know and adjust constantly to the mental calculations of probability. Whilst you may be able to do this in some situations there will always be other factors that you must consider.
Lotto Systems
Whilst not an exact science the use of lotto systems can be a valid technique applied to the game of poker. Picking the winning lottery numbers is of course an impossible task, the odds are astronomical and no one individual could possibly have a complete handle on all the numbers in the draw. However you could conceivably select a few strings of numbers, preferably being of a different sequence than your peers. Un Kare: this is the process of adding up all of the individual numbers in a set for the sole purpose of entering the draw.
Leaving everything to chance is not advisable. Under no circumstances should you completely leave the controls of the game to your fate. If you desire to take part in a draw of multiple tickets, then it is of the utmost importance that you organize your playing time. When you know that the lottery is coming, take the time to opt out of certain draws when you know you have less than optimal odds of success. You could be saving the rest of the lottery numbers for a better chances.