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Poker Rant Non math poker Mathematics in it's pure form is simply a study of logical systems. In 1903, Bertrand Russel defined is at all propositions of the form p implies q (http://fair-use.org/bertrand-russell/the-principles-of-mathematics/s.1) That definition still works pretty much as well as any other. The thing to note from this definition of Russel's is that the things most people think of as being mathematics, arithmetic and algebra, are mathematics, but mathematics isn't arithmetic and algebra. By that I mean that various kinds of symbolic manipulation is a part of mathematics, and an important part, but they aren't all there is to mathematics. Mathematics in it's broad sense is about using various intellectual tools (symbolic manipulation is a part of those tools) to evaluate information and draw conclusions from the implications of that information. When you think about mathematics in that way then playing poker is very much a mathematical activity. There is no division that sometimes poker is about mathematics and sometimes it's psychological. It's always mathematics. Psychology isn't a separate tool of analysis, it's a tool of observation, a way to help you collect data. I'm posting this because of an old thread I recently read on twoplustwo.com. I misplaced the link and don't even remember which of their forums it was in. But it was a question about when it might be appropriate to approach the game from a non-mathematical point of view. The answers seemed to all come from people who actually think mathematics begins and ends with calculating permutations and combinations. The actual answer to the guy's question is that it's never a good idea to not play mathematically, but it's often a good idea to take a reasonably broad view of what mathematics is.