Thursday, April 8, 2021
Reading more chapters of Play Optimal Poker. All fascinating stuff. There's some real power behind the strategies of this game. More bluffing is what I will need to work on. If I'm not bluffing enough, I'm not getting called enough on my strong nut hands. If my opps don't know if my strong bets mean strong hands or bluffs, that will play in my favor. Game theory is cool. I bet these strategies work in other areas of life. I'm curious to find out. I see connects between poker and race in America. Both deal with creating an edge, exploitative behaviors, exploiting situations, and navigating uncertain variables. The use distinct language that capture similar ideas and concepts. There's a moral framework governing race in America, whereas poker's framework is strategic, mathematical, situational. There's no morally whatsoever governing poker. And yet both engage in leverage to seek out what is wanted (more chips, winning the pot, increasing our overal expected value). I don't think anyone has combined these two subjects together before, and yet both have a long history in America. Poker is America's card game, but it's currently illegal to play in many states. This makes no sense and came about indirectly in an underhanded and illogical manner. As poker has evolved, the skill factor has increased exponentially. And these strategies are so powerful they can apply to other areas in life with great success. Poker has a somewhat negative connotation as a game of chance that can potentially lead to ruin. This is actually true for some people who enjoy the emotional thrill that poker creates. The rush of winning a big pot is intoxicating. But for students of the game who put in time to understand the inner workings of poker's math and game theory strategies, poker represents an opportunity for better thinking, better decision-making, and a bigger, beefier bank roll. All the concepts woven into poker (logical thinking, calculations, odds, insights, paying attention, bankroll management, managing emotions, being observant) are skills that translate nicely in the real world. I haven't looked into the language used in support of legalizing online poker, but I will. The langauge may need to be updated, just as poker itself has updated itself into a game worthy of great respect, challenge, difficulty and skill.
Enjoyed our regular evening Petty Zoom session tonight. Lots of fun chatting with uncles and cousins. We had a good post-script convo that I missed last week about religion. Always fun
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