Learning The Fundamental Theory of Poker

This theory coined by David Sklansky, defines the way every player should play poker. The theory itself shows how poker is a game of decision making and incomplete information. This theory is what makes players like Daniel Negraneu, players that have innate ability to know what their opponents are playing, such big winners. Knowing this theory and remembering it while at the tables will make all players fundamentally better.

The Theory

The Fundamental Theory of Poker says:

Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.

Here is an example of this theory in action. A player raises under-the-gun with a pair of 9’s. Everyone folds to the big blind, who calls. The flop comes: A-K-Q. Now, if the player with 9’s KNEW his opponent had A-K, he would know he was beat, check and fold when the big blind bet. The big blind would not gain anything else from the hand, and in theory the player with 9’s would gain. However, if the player with 9’s, knew his opponent had J-8, the 9’s would know to bet enough so that the player with J-8 would not get sufficient odds to draw to a 10 or Jack. In this case, the 9’s would profit, and even if the J-8 calls the big bet, he would still be making the wrong decision and the 9’s would be profiting in the long-term. The point is, he is making J-8 play differently then it would have if it knew the hand it was up against was 9’s. (If J-8 knew it was up against 9’s, he would probably raise, knowing the 9’s would almost certainly fold)

This theory highlights the main goal of poker, which is to profit by causing the opponents to make incorrect decisions. If a player could play so he always made the right decisions and always played so his opponents made the wrong decisions, he would be playing “Perfect Poker” and would be a long-term winner. (Even though he might not win every hand he played).

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