Poker strategy I
For all good poker players, who do not rely on just blind luck to make a winning, strategy play is an imperative. There are many poker strategies that have found favor with gamblers and none of them are simple. However, among the basic concepts ‘the fundamental theorem of poker’ stands out as a very essential tactics. A veteran poker player who has devised gameplans for other aspiring poker stars, David Sklansky is attributed with the ‘the fundamental theorem of poker’ which states that you can either win by playing your hand in a manner as if you knew what the other players’ hands are or whenever your opponents play their hands in a manner that they would not have played if they could see your hand. This is a basic concept and using it many poker strategies have been formed. A case in point is bluffing where the deceptive strategy makes a player’s opponents play in a different way than they would if the player’s cards were revealed.
The exception of applying this theorem to all poker plays is evident when one considers the multi-way pots. To tackle this problem, Andy Morton formed the Morton’s theorem according to which a player’s chance to make the most of his gains in multi-way pots is dependent on his opponent’s decision, judiciously taken. For example, when a player has an excellent hand, with some of his opponents close to him, his chance to win the pot becomes more when an opponent rightly decides to fold and not call.
The contrast between ‘the fundamental theorem of poker’ and Morton’s theorem is based on their application, with the former true strictly in one-to-one plays whereas the latter comes is applicable when more than two gamblers are vying for the pot. So, these two theorems go a long way to help experienced poker players to accordingly formulate their tactics of play whether they are playing against a single opponent or several.
