Poker Mathematics vs Instincts

Before the poker boom of 2003 when Chris Moneymaker the part-time poker player and full time accountant from Tennessee won the World Championship of No Limit Hold Em at the World Series of Poker, poker players and poker in general was pretty unpopular. Professional players at that time mostly played No Limit Hold Em and Seven Card Stud. There were no such things as poker training sites, 99% of people didn’t know online poker existed, SuperSystem by Doyle Brunson was one of the only poker books to be written and poker sites such as Pocketfives and 2+2 did not exist.

All in all, the information players share with each other today, in terms of strategy did not exist. Because of that, play was not so standard. Professional players played poker by their instincts and basic math such as pot odds. After 2003 and after all of the poker books, poker training sites and online poker sites cam into existence, the way poker was played totally changed. Young kids now were playing poker at online poker sites and could play hundreds of thousands of hands in the time it took players like Doyle Brunson to play 1/10 of that amount.

These young kids were learning poker not only by some instinct, but they were learning the exact math behind every situation. And that is where the division occurred. Old school poker players like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey played poker by their gut feelings, and they believed that was the right way. The young kids thought that the numbers were all they needed to beat the game. So which is right?

Math vs Instinct

In every situation in poker, numbers do play a role. On the other hand, even when a player is getting 10-1 odds on a call, if that decision is for his tournament life, instincts must come into play. So which should players rely on, their instincts or the math? In truth, players nowadays must take both of these things into consideration when playing. Instinct guides a player towards hand reading, be able to feel what cards the opponent is playing and if he is bluffing or not.

The math will also guide the player by telling him how often he has to be right to make a call, raise or fold correct. While instinct is the raw skill the numbers will always be there, so players should know the math as well. Remember, poker is a numbers game and a people’s game, so knowing the math and having the instinct is essential to being a winning player.

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