Over the last five to ten years, a whole new breed has risen to prominence within the poker community. Applying the tools of computer science and mathematics to poker and sharing the information across the Internet, these players have challenged many of the assumptions that underlie traditional approaches to the game. One of the most important features of this new approach is a reliance on quantitative analysis and the application of mathematics to the game. The intent of this book is to provide an introduction to quantitative techniques as applied to poker and to a branch of mathematics that is particularly applicable to poker, game theory. There are mathematical techniques that can be applied for poker that are difficult and complex. But most of the mathematics of poker is really not terribly difficult, and the authors have sought to make seemingly difficult topics accessible to players without a very strong mathematical background.

William (Bill) Chen is a quantitative analyst, poker player and software designer with a Ph.D. in mathematics (1999) from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently in the Statistical arbitrage department at Susquehanna International Group.

At the 2006 World Series of Poker Chen won two events, a $3000 limit Texas hold'em event with a prize of $343,618, and a $2500 no limit hold'em short-handed event with a prize of $442,511. Prior to these events Chen's previous largest tournament win was for $41,600 at a no limit hold'em event at the Bicycle Casino's Legends of Poker in 2000.