The world has had its fair share of geniuses. Archimedes is the fist to come to my mind as the world’s first great genius, inventor, and mathematician. After him comes a list of that reads like the who’s who from a MENSA role call. Einstein, Tesla, Edison, While E. Coyote, all geniuses, all mathematicians, all wasting their efforts on frivolous things like electric light and nuclear weapons. If only they had used their mental power for something useful to humanity, like figuring out the odds of hitting an inside straight on the river.
Brian Alspach is a mathematics genius with the pedigree to back it up. He has a B.A. from the University of Washington and M.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. as well from the same school. What has he done with his talent? Well he has used his intelligence and experience with math to figure out poker.
When you go to his site, there is a section called Poker computations. He uses the type of math to figure out probabilities in a hand of poker that generally sends me sprinting for a bottle of Advil. Because most of us are not very good with algebra, he not only provides the formulas, but provides a quick reference guide that tells you what the probability of hitting any hand is. Most of it is absolutely ingenious.
So why should you care that this guy has taken the time to break the game down into workable numbers? Because this can give you an edge and help you intelligently decide when to be aggressive, and when the odds suggest you play a passive game. I am finding his calculations to be an invaluable tool.
Do yourself a favor and give his site a look. What he has posted will help your game by taking much of the guesswork out of it.
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