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Theology of Poker, Part Three – Non-Traditional Theologies


questioning traditional understandings of poker requires us to reconsider previously held beliefs. Do we hold certain beliefs about poker that were arrived at through natural reasoning or revelation? I will argue that both are wrong.

Theology of Poker, Part Three – Non-Traditional Theologies

To understand why, we must first understand why certain ideas or beliefs are held by the majority of people in this discipline who, despite the evidence, do not question the reality of poker. Can you name the single most held belief in poker? The answer is:

The belief that poker is not a game of luck.

Flat-landing. That’s what you get when you believe that poker is a game of chance. You learn nothing about poker odds and you are led to believe that you can’t lose unless you are out of numbers. As taught in many books, the casinos take full advantage of the public and the poor are especially taught to surrender.

This is a course that feeds the monster. Learning to live with it is an important and dare I say, foolish step. If you were married to aoning machine and your balls kept falling into the wrong refuse heap, would you peep inside to see where you might feel less unhappy?

Your Homework:

You can learn a great deal about poker by writing and published research. James Mason, perhaps the father of poker, in his book “No Limit Hold’em: Theory and Practice” introduced a formula for – the probability of a made hand. It is a dismal sum, but aunit. It is the sum of the four cards you hold in your hand divided by the4 cards you know about. It is a probability that can be calculated, recorded and then acted upon.

Knowing poker odds is not enough to defeat the casino, but it is essential in placing the right bet in any situation. When you refer to poker odds, you are referring to the probability of making your hand, exclusive of the flop or turn. The odds are the chances you have of getting a desirable card or a pair in one of the upcoming two cards. Following Mason’s formula, we will divide the probability of making our hand into four equal parts or Choices. The first eight choices are called the flop, the turn or the river. Choices 1 to 8 are known as the board. Each of these has a one in eight probability of occurring.

inserted into the mix of probability theory, we get something called the indicator, indicator or perhaps indicator profile. This is the point on the curve we want to explore. Once a sufficient number of indicators have been attained, enabling a defined edge onto the table, you can be confident you are a better player than most at the table. To be certain you are better, you should read a few books and study the strategies employed by the successful players at the table. Each of them has a style of play that they uniquely adhere to and one you should study and be learned from.

In additional, there is a lot of already published material on the internet; hundreds of books and new ones are being published almost daily by the professional poker players. Some of it is old, dry stuff that uses confusing, old terminology and misleading opener plugs to lure the unwary and uninformed poker player. Most of it though has been written over the past 5 years and so offers little value for the beginner and Snake oil salesman no end of new, untested strategies and ineffective advice. So, if you give up on any strategy that your teacher, friend or mentor says nothing for, adopt his “positions” and play in a similar fashion to him, you will soon blow your bankroll and quickly!

In conclusion, it’s been said, “You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” The same is true of many poker strategies, but especially of the majority of so-called strategy books and articles written by some self-proclaimed poker pro. The majority of strategy articles and books written by non poker players, unfortunately, are just garbage. It is interesting to note the endless number of book reviews and articles by supposedly poker experts who recommend books, exclusively.