Review of The Mathematics of Poker

Title:

The Mathematics of Poker

Author:

Bill Chen and Jarrod Ankenman

Publisher:

ConJelCo

Date:

2006

ISBN:

1-886070-25-3

Pages:

382

Price:

$29.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

August 7, 2007

Ask poker players how mathematics can be applied to poker, and they are likely to talk about odds and outs. Perhaps more sophisticated poker players will know about mathematical terms such as equity and expected value. However, there is a branch of mathematics called game theory that deals with creating a complete formulation of how to perfectly play a given game. Because poker games are so complex, we cannot find complete solutions for the games we play today. However, we can examine simplified, or "toy", poker games, and from these games we can hope to learn general truths that can be applied to more popular poker games. This is the goal of The Mathematics of Poker.

Let me spoil the ending of my review right up front. I believe that The Mathematics of Poker is the most important book on poker written in the last decade, arguably the most important poker book of the last 25 years. Despite this, I believe that this book will help relatively few poker players, and as such, it's impact on the games played in most card rooms will be relatively minor.

The Mathematics of Poker is not a poker book with a mathematical focus, it is a college-level math text whose subject matter is game theory as it applies to the game of poker. It is not an easy read. This reviewer has a degree in mathematics, yet at several points I found the book tough to follow. I expect that most readers who have not taken college math courses will struggle to digest what lies between its covers.

The authors attempt to isolate the generally useful poker results from the math, but I think this effort falls flat. The bottom line is that those who wish to learn what this book has to offer while skipping over the math will face a daunting task. Chen and Ankenman also attempt to split off portions of their derivations that require a knowledge of calculus or even more advanced mathematics from the rest of their explanations, but I believe that attempt doesn't accomplish much either. Even though the methods they use throughout the book may be familiar to those who recall high school algebra, the applications of these techniques will be far beyond the comprehension of much of the book's audience.

I have some other criticisms with the book. The printing I have is riddled with typographical errors, especially in the equations. Someone truly comfortable with advanced math will be able to compensate for this, but it will only add to the confusion of most readers who are struggling to follow the authors' arguments. Also, in the closing chapters of Part 3, the authors explanations become more and more sketchy. It feels as if they had gotten tired of this material and just wanted to wrap the last of it up as quickly as possible.

Despite a few objections, The Mathematics of Poker is an amazing book. I believe that much of what it has to say will become the basis for strategies used by those who play poker at the highest levels, and those who do not understand the things that Chen and Ankenman have uncovered will be reduced to second tier players. By no means do I expect that poker players will need to fully understand this book in order to beat their local $4-$8 games. However, I do believe that The Mathematics of Poker marks a turning point in the literature and in our understanding of poker as a whole. Despite the fact that reading this book requires a lot of work, and sometimes more work than necessary, this is clearly an important book, and I would encourage serious poker players to at least attempt to tackle this material. The Mathematics of Poker isn't for every poker player, but I am in awe of what the authors have accomplished in its pages.

Capsule:

The Mathematics of Poker isn't a poker book with math, it's a math textbook about poker. Consequently, I expect that most poker players simply will not have the background to be able to follow everything the authors are saying, and the authors did not make it as easy as I would have preferred to navigate around the math to appreciate their conclusions. Nonetheless, this is a remarkable work that I believe will be part of the foundation for future explorations into the game. It may not be an easy read, even for those with an understanding of college level math, but I believe it's the most important book on poker I've read in the last decade, and I highly recommend it.

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