Quote Originally Posted by Chopper
heres an example of logic v math. sorry, but it just popped into my head.

do any of you also play limit? if so...

you have A6s in lp. you limp after several limpers. the guy behind you raises, the others call. do you? math says yes.

but what about if the guy behind you raises, and another 3bets...all the others call 2 cold. do you? math says yes.

but logic...may say no. your A6s is very likely dominated here. leaving your only REAL hope on the flush draw hitting the flop.

what if it were KQs? you are likely dominated, AND you arent even drawing towards the nuts..in all probability. again, logic...may say no.

you have to look at both sides of the situation before you make your move. if you bet/call/raise/fold solely on the math...you can make the wrong decision for the SPECIFIC hand.
OH MY GOD! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE "MATH."

What does "math says yes" mean? You use logic to set up the problem then work it out mathematically. If you havn't even used logic "MATH SAYS F'ALL." Read the post I quoted to you explaining how you actually use the maths.

In a nutshell:
Look at the situation, estimate your opponents range, use that distribution to come up with probabilities for winning/losing a hand. Evaluate your utility for money, work out your utilities for the monies involved, work out expected utility for each decision, and choose the decision with the highest expected utiltiy.

As discussed if you are properly rolled and not playing scared you should be able to treat your utility for money as linear, I.e. just the absolute value of the money involved.

If the Math says yes, (and we're talking about the real math, not whatever you have in your mind to be the math,) then you say yes or you are WRONG. No arguements. Being a good poker player means being able to shoot through a rough version of the maths, being a GREAT poker player means being able to evaluate the probabilities EXTREMELY well.