hey qutip thanks for clearing it up, ive fininished it but definaltley going to read again so got the concepts nailed, only bought the book because u kept plugging it in every other page in ur hole card confession book with statements like, "if u havent got it yet then poker maths that matters is for you" and "i dont have time to explain it here but poker maths that matter will clear it up" or " you really need to buy poker maths that matters, its my other book called poker maths that matters"
haha good one, but i felt the maths book really made you work for it in the quiz, and u went a little bit light on us in the quiz section in the hole card conffesion book, if i was to say that in poker maths that matters you made us run a 26 mile marathon and inthe card conffession book it was like a 10 mile bike ride, should have pushed us and made us run 2 26miles marothons, dont know if anyone one else felt that way or maybe its just me because i read them in the wrong order.
but i would say that poker maths that matters is the most I got out of in any poker book ive read so far and cleary the most comprhensive maths book thats easy to understand out there.

Glad to hear that.

I've heard a few people comment about the 5-6 times I talked about Poker Math That Matters in Hole Card Confessions. Certainly wasn't meant to just plug a different book...I just try hard to make sure that anyone can keep up with the material I'm presenting. I hate it when I'm reading a book, get lost, and don't know how to grasp the concepts being presented.

I am reading Qtip's book for the first time. I didn't even finish it and I know that I have LOTS of math to study

Great book, Qtip :P

thinking to buy this book so now i'm wondering...
can i learn anything from it that's not in "mathematics of nl holdem" video series by wiltontilt?

Very different presentation and method of learning. I don't do well with video's for this type of learning. I learned way more from the book.

I have the book and seen Wilts video's. Aaron is an excellent video maker I just think this material for me is better dealt with in book format.

very nice, thank you HB!

Quiz 5, Page 160:
Two dice, someone offers us $37 if we roll 66. We pay 1$ per roll.

While your math totally makes sense to me:
1/36($36)+35/36(-$1) = $0.036

My old approach would have been:
In 36 rolls we pay $36 and win $37, which makes for a net profit of 1$ in 36 rolls, so 1$/36 per roll = $0.028

I can't figure out, why these two results don't match. Anyone?

His result is wrong. If you solve his equation it's .028.

thanks, yup, probably a rounding issue by QTip

Herrigel: Good question. I'm always rounding and sometimes that throws answers off a bit (in this case a little over a half a cent). Here's what's in the book.

Answer:

Double sixes: 1/36 = .028
Other rolls: 35/36 = 0.972
.028($36) + 0.972(-$1) = x
$1.008 – $0.972 = $.036

You'll notice 1/36 actually = 0.0277777777777778

0.0277777777777778 * 36 = 1 (instead of 1.008)

Then 1 - 0.972 = .028

Sorry that caused you a bit of a headache, but I think it's awesome you're digging in this thoroughly. Keep up the good work.

Edit: I see you beat me to it

Hi,

I am a little bit of a math dunce.

What I love about your book is the stuff I sort of knew – it explained it so well that I now know why I knew it… i.e. it made the stuff I got-ish a lot clearer.

I have both this book and hole cards... though I may not be the best advert for your math book - as like I said math isn't my strong point... hence this question...


If possible I would like to know the formula so that I can work it out on any/all examples I come across in the future.

What I’m looking to learn is how to work out – when I am facing a 4 bet that would mean I have to stack off to call… against a known range – what should I call with… I will explain better (I hope).

This is just an example....

I’m playing 100NL.

I’m sitting on $40

I have made a pot sized three bet

Then I get 4 bet shoved on

I have a 4 bet% for the Villain of 1% (AA, KK). I need to know what % equity I can call him with. If I have KK I have 22.62% if I have T9s I have 21.65% equity pre flop

So I am covered and have $40

UTG bets $3
C/O calls $3
Hero on Button bets pot £13.50
SB folds .50
BB folds $1
UTG shoves
C/O folds

So the pot is $58

And it’s $26.50 for me to call

What’s the equation for the amount of equity I need to call?

I’m just looking for the formula – then I can apply it to all examples of stack size/pot odds/etc.

I just want to get a % that if my hand’s % against his range is above it I know I can profitably call and if it’s below it I should fold.

Sorry if this is a basic question that I have somehow asked in a convoluted way.

Thanks again

Great book. I have despised maths my entire life, but this book is awesome. Easy to read and presented very well.

Hi. Glad to hear you're enjoying the book. The equation you're looking for is on page 59.

"...using the equation x / (x+y) where x is the amount we must call, and y is the pot before our call."

In your case:

x = 26.50
y = 58

26.50 / (26.50 + 58)
26.50 / 84.5 = 31.36

Don't know about you, but that's not going to happen for me at the table. To work this stuff out quickly at the table, you're going to want to get very familiar with the chart on page 94. Make sure you understand every cell in that chart and memorize the entire thing.

I would have been able to estimate in a second how much equity I needed to call there by knowing this chart. In your hand, you're risking x to win 2x because 58 is about 2 times 26 (i.e. you're risking $26 to win $58). Another way to say this is you're getting 2:1. If you know the chart on page 94, you know you need about 33% equity (close estimates are fine).

Hope that helps.

I thought this book was a good read and the concepts in it have helped my game.

Ditto, ditto, ditto.

I'm reading it now, many of these concepts are not new to me as I have traded options and futures for many years. But the book has helped remove foolish assumptions of mine and really helped apply these concepts to poker.

I have also seen WiltonTilts videos but like you, I tend to learn math better by reading and then attempting a series of problems on my own. If anything, I wish this book had more math problems at the end of each chapter than it already does but that's easily remedied by my own efforts.