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The Fundamental Theorem of Poker | |
| There is a Fundamental
Theorem of Algebra and a Fundamental Theorem of Calculus. So it's about
time to introduce the Fundamental Theorem of Poker. Poker, like all card
games, is a game of incomplete information, which distinguishes it from
board games like chess, backgammon, and checkers, where you can always see
what your opponent is doing. If everybody's cards were showing at all times,
there would always be a precise, mathematically correct play for each player.
Any player who deviated from his correct play would be reducing his mathematical
expectation and increasing the expectation of his opponents. Of course, if all cards were exposed at all times, there wouldn't be a game of poker. The art of poker is filling the gaps in the incomplete information provided by your opponent's betting and the exposed cards in open-handed games, and at the same time preventing your opponents from discovering any more than what you want them to know about your hand. That leads us to the Fundamental Theorem of Poker: |
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