A SHORT STORY ABOUT POKER COMPLEXITY

One of the main reasons poker has become such a big deal over the past few decades is the actual complexity of the game. Simply put, there is just so much to it, so many different levels of play. This, in part, is why so much space on the Internet is devoted to it, and why millions of people across the globe are hooked on it. People who still think that card games are purely based on luck (and a lot of the lawmakers out there seem to still hold this view) really need to re-examine what a complicated game poker really is, and how many simultaneous 'games' can be coexisting within the same round of play.

Allow me to explain, You are sitting round the table with three friends, one is a complete beginner who has only just mastered the rules as to how different hands are assembled and what they are worth. He can now play through a entire round without needing to have anything clarified for him but knows precious little about poker odds and strategies. His 'game', will no-doubt be the weakest at the table because he hasn't attained a proper grasp of why his opponents are making certain decisions. His game doesn't yet stretch as far as looking at what is going on elsewhere on the table, he probably looks no further than the end of his own cards. His actions and choices will seem erratic to everyone else at the table and he will, no-doubt, not go very far.

Next to him is an intermediate player, one who has mastered the basic rules, but who is also now steadily learning to look slightly further than his own cards by calculating the statistical odds he has of winning any given round by looking at the pot odds and comparing them to his odds of winning each and every time. He reasons that if he sticks to them he will have a statistical advantage over his opponents in the long run, and will, eventually, end up on top.

Beside him sits another player, one whose poker proficiency probably represents most average poker players. This player knows the rules, he is capable of calculating his odds in any given situation without tasking himself too much and is also fast getting to grips with the art of bluffing. Sitting, as he is, on the threshold between the beginner and the pro, he is fast realizing that although poker is a game of chance and statistics, with good players learning to make the soundest decisions while only having access to limited information, the human element of the game throws all these stable mathematical concepts out of the window. Human intelligence is the aspect of poker that confounds statistics and chance. With this understanding he has started to see how a bad hand may be overcome with a stone-cold bluff that his opponents didn't see coming. This player is actively trying to blur his tracks, purposefully confusing the knowledge of the game that other players think they have attained by using deception tactics. To him statistics mean nothing if he can get his opponents to believe that he is holding something he isn't.

Finally, the forth player at the table is you. Hopefully by gaining hands on experience and also doing your post-game reading you are starting to realize that all of the above perceptions can co-exist in a game of poker, altering the dynamics of play and hindering your abilities to read what is really going on. Every poker situation is a unique convergence of chance, mind and strategy that is very difficult to repeat. This is why there is always so much room for improvement in poker, for many it has become a life-time goal to be the best. You have come to terms with the fact that, yes, there are some arbitrary rules governing how the game is played and arbitrary values for how hands are put together and what their worth is. You have also understood that statistics play an enormous role in poker, and by only betting when the odds are best, in the long run you will win more times than you will lose. Above and beyond odds you have understood that poker is a game of wits, where intelligence can be used to undermine the odds by deceiving opponents.

But even more than player 3 you have understood that intelligence can also be used to read other players, as you look out across the table and observe your opponents, you notice aspects of their game than can be predicted. Player one, for example, is a loose player who carries on playing regardless of the strength of his hand, this, and the fact that he doesn't really pay attention to other players will make your bluffs less effective on him. Player two, on the other hand is a tight player who only proceeds when he feels his hand is reasonably strong. Bluffing will work better on this player. Player three is more of a hard-ass and although you have probably a more complete grasp of the game, his erratic bluff game is enough to throw you off sometimes.

However, since you know this is his style of play you can see it coming and play the odds. Also, you recognize your position at the end of the table is stronger than his and that a raise at the right time will steal all the bets. You have started to realize that any round of poker has many simultaneous games taking place, and that you need to not only be on top of your cards, the odds, your bluff game and your position game, but also learn to know what games other players at the same table are playing (or are limited to). Your reading of your opponents seems to grow stronger with each hand as you can see the tell tale signs in player 3's body language and facial features, you also know (within reason) how strong player 2's hand currently is by the amount he is raising and you can see player 1's understanding of his own situation growing because you were also once in his shoes. It takes a multitasking, mathematical mind-reader to get to the very pinnacle of poker, you must learn to keep on top of as many variables of the game as possible, whilst also reading your opponents and not to forgetting to marshal your own reactions for those tell-tale signs you give off without realizing. To top it all off, you never actually get there, you never arrive one day at a fresh table as a bona fide poker pro. As this hand will testify, because player 1 just took the pot with his hand.....yes, these things also happen, beginners luck is a bitch and those without even a rudimentary grasp of the game can trump even the very best when chance is on their side. Keep playing, keep learning, keep growing.