Top 10 Poker Rooms

Player		Location
	Doyle Brunson	Las Vegas, NV, United States
	Gus Hansen	Copenhagen, Denmark
	Johnny Chan	Cerritos, CA, United States
	Annie Duke	Los Angeles, CA, United States
	Andy Bloch	Las Vegas, NV, United States
	Phil Hellmuth	Palo Alto, CA, United States
	Phil Ivey	Las Vegas, NV, United States
	Ted Forrest	Las Vegas, NV, United States
	Kathy Liebert	Las Vegas, NV, United States
	John Juanda	Marina Del Rey, CA, United States

Article

Two concepts are necessary for success in poker: mathematics and psychology. The notion underlying mathematics stresses the need to understand shuffling and dealing of cards in addition to the dynamism in experience and personality that opponents possess is at least prerequisite to winning, which an average poker player should possess.

On the other hand, the psychological aspect of poker encapsulates the ability of a good poker player to make informed decisions necessary to challenge the odds that may arise in the course of the game. This perhaps explains the reason why Bill Chen’s The Mathematics of Poker caused a sensation.

The combination of mathematical analysis by no other than Bill Chen (the Doctor of Mathematics, poker player, quantitative analyst, and software designer) alongside Jerrod Ankenman (another top professional poker) clearly outlines the relationship between psychology and mathematics as they affect poker. This book works for everyone with the exception of those with little or no interest in formula and equations. Poker players who love applying quantitative strategies as well as using mind games against their opponents will find this book especially handy.

The book contains several mathematical expressions & equations that will be practiced by only a few poker players on the gaming table but the authors however argue that such concepts were designed with the aim of making more money for players. For this reason, the book exhibits the authors’ ability to think in a logical way and understand things. Unlike other ‘logical’ books with poker analysis that differ from a real-world scenario, the work of Ankenman and Chan enables the book to stand out from the rest as it contains details of how poker really seem.

There’s much more to this book than what the title suggests. An example is the amazing analogies the authors used in connecting poker with quantitative finance. Issues that were discussed regarding financial economics as well as quantitative finance include the Modern Portfolio Theory, the Sharpe Ratio, Real Options (Financial Options), etc. The book’s extensive clarification of risk of union is yet another excellent attribute worthy of mention. There are numerous books on mathematics, statistics, gambling and profitability that didn’t explicitly describe the basic principles of the risk of ruin but Ankenman and Chan explanation was outstanding. They really did a good work in expatiating this useful concept.

On a last note, the authors’ prerequisite to understanding the mathematical equations and expressions used in the book is simply the knowledge of high school mathematics.