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Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: — Poker Isn’t Luck, It’s Leverage
Chapter 3: — Expectation: The Only Scoreboard
Chapter 4: — The Fundamental Theorem That Explains Profit
Chapter 5: — Antes, Pot Odds, and the Price of Chasing
Chapter 6: — Effective Odds, Implied Odds, Reverse Implied Odds
Chapter 7: — Deception, Big Pots, Free Cards, and the Semi-Bluff
Chapter 8: — Defending Against Semi-Bluffs and the Power of Raising
Chapter 9: — Check-Raising, Slowplaying, and Adjusting to Loose/Tight Games
Chapter 10: — Position, Bluffing Frequency, Game Theory, and the Final Round
Chapter 11: — Hand Reading, Psychology, Table Analysis, and Game Selection
Description
The Theory of Poker is a foundational strategy book that explains the logic behind winning decisions across many poker variants—draw, stud, hold ’em, razz, and lowball. Instead of offering rigid “do this with that hand” rules, it builds a mental framework: how to evaluate expectation, pot odds, effective odds, implied odds, and how opponents’ mistakes translate into your long-run profit.
The book’s centerpiece is the Fundamental Theorem of Poker: whenever someone plays differently than they would with perfect information, money shifts. From there, Sklansky connects core math to real table tactics—semi-bluffing, free cards, raising, check-raising, slowplaying, bluff frequency, game-theory mixing, hand reading, and psychological leverage—while constantly stressing structure, position, and opponent adjustment.
Who Should Listen
- Poker players who already know the rules and want a deeper, transferable framework beyond “starting hand charts.”
- Cash-game grinders and serious hobbyists who want to understand odds, implied odds, and why deception and position change everything.
- Strategy-minded listeners who enjoy decision theory: risk/reward, game theory, and exploiting systematic mistakes.