Quote Originally Posted by Donachello View Post
I definitely found this section interesting though I tend to agree somewhat with JKDS. I played a session afterwards and really tried to focus on my bet sizing. It seriously slowed down my game play and I ended up trying to do a lot of incomplete math. I guess my question for some of the more successful guys is, how much math are you doing in your head during your hands or is it more of a ballparking/feel exercise where you go, well I'm valuebetting so lets make it like 5/6s of the pot cause he is calling with a lot of worse regardless of pot size. Or is it more like well he might have a flush draw which for the next card has about 19% chance of hitting so I should bet this amount which gives him worse than 4:1 to call which would be a mistake mathematically speaking.
For me the majority of actual gameplay thinking is to do with what my opponents range is and how he plays it. There's obviously not time to do the calculations the authors are discussing every hand you play, because you have to estimate a range not just work out how to price out a flush draw or whatever. Learning how much equity certain hands have against you in certain spots helps your game a ton and feeds your intuitions with the ability to make in game rough estimations etc.

The more spots you get yourself into, the better a feel for ranges you develope. With practice and repitition you'll become quicker and more efficient at putting your opponent on a range that will lead to more profitable decisions. Doing these equity calculations can help your game a for sure, but being able to apply what you learn away from the action into a fast moving poker session is another skill altogether and practice is the main weapon for this imo.

i think you should keep poker math during an actual session to a minimum unless it's essential (you know exactly what a guy can have in a spot and what he does, and you have time to do some calculations) Your precious time during actual decision making moments should be used on your poker thought process, which should include putting opponent(s) on a range and working out how they will play that vs different actions by you, and consequently, what you stand to gain or lose by making these actions.