Mastering Poker Math, Volume 1

Some parts of the book are straightforward, and some are more complicated. Chuck Clayton wants you to gain a deep understanding of the mathematics of poker, not only to memorize it. Thus, when playing, you will be able to use it automatically, without thinking about it too much… of course, before you can do that, you need to practice it as well.

“The reward of understanding the math at a gut level is a significant competitive advantage resulting in a higher level of confidence. You will know more than most players who depend heavily on good cards and good luck” .

After you gain a full understanding of poker math, you will be ready to use it with other equally essential poker skills. 

“Knowing the math isn’t enough. NLH is incredibly complex. To be a complete player, your math skills need to be integrated with your other poker skills.” 

What will you learn from the book?

You will learn quick & straightforward poker math shortcuts. Mastering Poker Math provides you with easy ways to calculate if your poker choices are mathematically correct. The author transforms some of the old poker math tricks into new ones and presents them in an easy-to-understand way. 

It is impressive how Chuck clarifies different aspects of poker through simple math and logic. 

“All players experience bad beats by other players. The bigger the pot, the more intense and painful the experience.  Over time, this intensity of their pain from repeated bad beats is seared into their memory. This causes many players to think that suck outs happen to them more often than they do. This is what is known as selective memory. It is also faulty logic since the probabilities don’t care what you, I, or any other player’s think. The math is dependable and consistent.” 

The book also goes beyond the mathematics of poker. It presents a bit of history, psychology, reading your opponents, recognizing patterns, and more. 

The ‘Preface’ section nicely describes major historical poker events, from the invention of Texas NLH until the appearance of Poker Strategy Software.  It covers all the major events that contributed to the evolution of Texas No–Limit Holdem and of poker in general. Although I was aware of most of the poker cases described in that chapter, it opened up my mind and helped me to see clearly and understand the fantastic evolution of poker. 

I particularly enjoyed the ‘Chip Management Skills’ chapter. It teaches how to manage your chips properly to survive in tournaments as long as possible. 

Despite the complexity of its subject, the book is easy to read, well organized, with a good structure of chapters, sections, paragraphs, and steps. Chuck Clayton phrases poker math in an easy-to-follow and understand way. The writing style reminds me of my favorite high school math teacher.

The book includes tracking spreadsheets that you can use for online and live tournaments. It will help you to know where you are in the tournament when to consider going all-in, what mistakes you made etc. 

Recommendation

I find Mastering Poker Math absorbing because I like numbers, probabilities, statistics, and all the calculations related to poker.

But this is my perspective.

If you are someone who doesn’t like math, then you might not enjoy it as much. Though, remember that to be a successful poker player you need to master all the required skills, including the mathematics of poker.  A must-read if you are serious about improving your poker math. You can get a free version of the book with Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.