This is my first discussion on David Sklansky's "The Theory of Poker". If you are reading it, please state anything you've learned in the comments and feel free to start up a discussion. I'm going to be writing on what I've learned from each chapter. These are my personal notes that I'm sharing with people in case they need it. Do not ask me why I'm just re-iterating, because I learn by rephrasing and taking notes.

If you do not have a copy of the book, I suggest you go out and buy it, as it is arguably one of the best poker books ever written. Here's a link to the book on Amazon (that's where I bought the book and it was definitely the best price I could find).

Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 - Nothing too exciting yet. Just basic probability.

Chapter 3 - Sklansky states "the Fundamental Theorem of Poker" by saying:

"Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents' cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose."

Simple enough. He says that the beauty of the theorem is its simplicity and obviousness, but its applications aren't so obvious. For example, if you're on a flush/straight draw after the flop, if the opponent (who has top pair) knew your cards, he would raise your bet to make it unprofitable for you to chase any draws, therefore making you fold. However, if your opponent merely calls your bet, then you gain a cheaper turn, due to his ignorance to what you truly hold (if he's putting you on TPTK for example). And if he folds, then you have gained an enormous amount, as he threw away the best hand.

Another point that I found to be basic, but interesting is that even if at a certain point you have your opponent beat, you should win the pot right then if you're opponent is getting proper odds and there are still more cards to come. "A pair of kings versus two smaller pair needs very short odds to justify a call. Since your opponent would have been correct to call, you gain when you make him fold."

Since you want your opponent to fold if he is getting sufficient pot odds, the converse holds true as well. If your opponent is getting insufficient pot odds, you want him to call, even if he is on a draw. A good example he uses is as follows: You are on the turn with two other opponents and you have a straight which, at that point, is the nuts. One guy raises all-in with $200, raising the pot to $500. You know that if you re-raised any amount, the second guy (who you are pretty sure has two pair) would fold. If you call the $200, there would be about $700 in the pot, giving him 7-to-2 odds to call $200 with his two pair. The odds of him landing a full house on the river, and consequently beating your hand is 10-to-1. "Therefore, if he knew that [you] had a straight, it would be incorrect for him to take 7-to-2 odds on a 10-to-1 shot." So, the correct play would be to call the $200 so that he calls you instead of folding. Even if he makes a full house and beats you on that hand, in the long run, you will make a profit. "Many people argued I had been wrong to let him in rather than raise him out, but in fact they are wrong. I had to give him a chance to make a mistake, which he did, because whenever my opponent makes a mistake, I gain in the long run."

Sklansky also talks about multi-pots and how sometimes it is beneficial for one or more of the opponents to play as if they knew what you were holding. In his example, you have a 30% chance of winning the pot, A has a 50% chance of winning the pot and B has a 20% chance of winning the pot. You wouldn't mind if A raised your bet to force B out of the pot, since that increases your chances to 40% and his to 60%. Both players in this scenario have gained by C's fold.

That's about all for Chapter 3. I'll try my best to post one on Chapter 4 by tomorrow. I don't know if I'll be playing any hands tonight or tomorrow night since I have plans, but I'll try my best to get some kind of post in.