Game Theory: The Mathematics of Game Theory – Part 1

Everyone loves poker! Lets try to understand what we're doing when we're winning (or losing).

When attempting to locate an optimal strategy in any game, there is some information that could aid us in choosing the optimal strategy. We need to calculate the probabilities of a specific event occurring. For example, the probability in a two-player game of rock, paper, scissors of you winning is always ⅓, which is equal to 3/9.

Scenario Analysis:

You Choose: Rock, Opponent Chooses: Rock = Draw

You Choose: Rock, Opponent Chooses: Paper = Loss

You Choose: Rock, Opponent Chooses: Scissors = Win

You Choose: Paper, Opponent Chooses: Rock = Win

You Choose: Paper, Opponent Chooses: Paper = Draw

You Choose: Paper, Opponent Chooses: Scissors = Loss

You Choose: Scissors, Opponent Chooses: Rock =Loss

You Choose: Scissors, Opponent Chooses: Paper = Win

You Choose: Scissors, Opponent Chooses: Scissors = Draw

This is a simple example. Calculating probabilities get more difficult as the complexity of the game increases. Let’s consider Texas Hold’Em Poker.