But body language and instinct for many players is a big part of the game. Phil Helmuth (who has one WSOP bracelet more than Chan ) has a number of specific reads of body language he counts on. Meaning specific poses, like the hands in a steeple in front of the face. Annie Duke also uses it, one example I’ve seen her say is hooded eyes when making a bet is a bluff. Phil Ivy varies his play based on the table he’s at, he dosn’t go in with a specific game plan of being tight or aggressive he bases his play on the feel of the game he’s at. For myself I also play based on the feel of the game, agreed to get a feel for the opponent or if you have no read on them, knowing thier previous play is a big help. But reads on players is common, you may not get a read every single hand, but alot of the time you can base your decision on a read. Say you’re in a tournament and your pretty good at getting reads off body language you won’t get reads on everyone but you will on alot of the players, giving you an edge. That’s why players are always trying to get thier opponents to talk even just asking for a chip count to hear the tone of thier voice or see how they’re counting the chips. Simply the term of having a “poker face” shows one dosn’t want to give away thier hand by body language.

I’m not saying all of the play is based on human instinct, I just think its a big disadvantge to be without any.

Being smart by knowing all the odds and having a perfect memory of all previous play will definitely make the computer a very good player but in my opinion not the best. not by a long shot.