Geeks and Poker?

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Posted by Cliff on Wednesday May 26, 2004 @08:54AM from the do-you-play? dept.

Best ID Ever! asks: "Poker, a fascinating intersection of math, game theory, and observation of human behavior, is currently exploding in popularity due to televised high-stakes tournaments such as the World Poker Tour and Binion's 2003 World Series of Poker. Many of today's top professional players have nerdly roots such as Mathematicians, chess prodigies, or backgammon champions. A few pros, including 2000 champion Chris Ferguson, even used to play poker in the IRC poker community. This year's World Series final event, which began Saturday and lasts through the week, drew 2600 participants, more than three times the number of participants in 2003. How many Slashdot readers play poker, and what do you think of Poker's upswing?"

35 of 657 comments (clear)

Underlying elements by DaLiNKz · 2004-05-26 08:55 · Score: 5, Funny

..."drew 2600"...
So much geek urberness in poker, there is an underlying hacker element to the event..

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1. Re:Underlying elements by DaHat · 2004-05-26 08:56 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Or english fanatics (ie there is an english text book I had in high school which was simply labeled 2600)
  
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2. Re:Underlying elements by BigglesZX · 2004-05-26 09:05 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Curses, as soon as I read the article I thought about 2600 readers playing poker. Sod's law would have it that the first comment steals my potential "funny" modding up. :-P
  
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3. Re:Underlying elements by ansak · 2004-05-26 09:43 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  aw, shucks. you beat me to it. That "2600" just jumped out at me. great minds? or fools? but if fools, let us at least be coloured motley... :)
  
  cheers...ank
  
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  Still hoping for Gentle Treatment...
4. Re:Underlying elements by devaudio · 2004-05-26 09:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  but then geeks can also do things like make a database of all poker winnings, and use php to graph performance!!! Here is our little club, running off of mysql+php+libgd
5. Re:Underlying elements by JPriest · 2004-05-26 11:17 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I am pretty sure the mention was intentional. I am also pretty sure that about 90% of the people that read this site also caught it.
  In other news 420 people march to save the rain forest. Mary Jane on scene with more coverage.
  
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poker? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-26 08:55 · Score: 0, Funny

I hardly even know her!

actually, that's probably a /good/ thing (tm) :)

fp?
"How many Slashdot readers play poker"?? by Roland+Piquepaille · 2004-05-26 08:56 · Score: 5, Funny

How many Slashdot readers play poker

All those who aren't posting anymore, because they're too skint to pay the ISP bill now...
I used to play but... by millahtime · 2004-05-26 08:56 · Score: 2, Funny

I used to play poker but, I played 1 to many times where I lost my pants literally and gave up.

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Evolution or ID?
1. Re:I used to play but... by Arianrhod · 2004-05-26 09:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  You *literally* lost your pants? Sounds like the root of the problem may have been the free drinks the casinos hand out rather than the actual poker game.
  
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  "What we play is life." - Louis Armstrong
2. Re:I used to play but... by tundog · 2004-05-26 09:05 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I played 1 to many times where I lost my pants literally and gave up.
  
  Don't you mean figuratively?
  
  "I'm all in!...What!? Aces over Kings!?.... Noooooooooo, not my pants!"
  
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  All your base are belong to us!
Data from Startrek TNG played poker by decarelbitter · 2004-05-26 08:57 · Score: 4, Funny

The android Data, one of the most popular characters in TNG amongst geeks, is a fanatic poker player. Coincidence? I don't think so.
1. Re:Data from Startrek TNG played poker by RobertB-DC · 2004-05-26 09:22 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Coincidence? I don't think so.
  
  My favorite poker-related episode was the one (one of the ones) in which the Enterprise gets caught in a temporal loop. Data, more than the others, experiences deja vu, to the extent that they realize (after several dozen iterations) that they're about to have a destructive, time-ripping encounter with a ship from the past piloted by a late 20th century sitcom star.
  
  They eventually find a way for Data (big D) to transmit a small amount of data (little D) to his past self. The data Data sends to Data is the number "3" (IIRC), which shows up in every poker hand Data deals. He realizes that the odd coincidence corresponds to the last thing his previous self saw before being destroyed -- Riker's command pips. He follows Rikers instructions (which had been countermanded by Picard) and the crews of both ships finally emerge from (yet another) temporal distortion.
  
  All off the top of my head. I am such a geek.
  
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2. Re:Data from Startrek TNG played poker by David+Rolfe · 2004-05-26 10:21 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Geek alert:
  I assure you, commander, the cards have been sufficiently randomized.
  The episode is Cause and Effect.
  
  --
  Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
Heh by itwerx · 2004-05-26 08:58 · Score: 2, Funny

...drew 2600 participants...
Last I checked most of the folks in 2600 were pretty sharp! :)
A lot of /.ers play poker by millahtime · 2004-05-26 08:59 · Score: 5, Funny

I'm sure there are a lot of /.ers who play poker. They all downloaded that free strip poker and played for hours to win.

Or, was that just me

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Evolution or ID?
Drinking by NinjaPablo · 2004-05-26 09:00 · Score: 2, Funny

I find that the quality of my poker face decreases when I lose a lot of hands in poker-for-drinks. This further leads to more drinking, which results in an even worse poker face....

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Poker? by Profane+MuthaFucka · 2004-05-26 09:01 · Score: 2, Funny

Poker? Hell, I don't even know her!

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Re:Personally... by FatRatBastard · 2004-05-26 09:02 · Score: 5, Funny

I play the change machine personally. Play a dollar, hit four quarters every time.
not appropriate by jjeffries · 2004-05-26 09:03 · Score: 1, Funny

This story is obviously inappropriate for the slashdot crowd, as playing poker requires multiple players, ideally all in the same physical place, which is, of course, absurd.
Slashdotters are way more likely to spend an evening at home playing pocket pool.
a zinger for y'all by Savatte · 2004-05-26 09:05 · Score: 2, Funny

Poker? I hardly even know her!
Re:money and women by dknight · 2004-05-26 09:11 · Score: 3, Funny

any true geek will tell you that strip poker isnt the way to go. Strip UNO is where its really at!*

*yes, I have actually played Strip Uno.
Re:Personally... by cataBob · 2004-05-26 09:26 · Score: 5, Funny

If you want to leave Vegas with a small fortune, start with a large fortune.
Re:Personally... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-26 09:29 · Score: 4, Funny

and the Casino is willing to loose 3% on you

It's lose you idiot! LOSE

Every day i see some idiot saying loose instead of lose, and i'm sick of it! Your mom is LOOSE. You LOSE your money in Vegas. Get it?!
Re:Personally... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-26 09:37 · Score: 5, Funny

Your right. But your point is mute.
Re:Personally... by velo_mike · 2004-05-26 09:44 · Score: 2, Funny

They say black-jack and video poker are the only real way to leave with cash.
"Strange game Professor Falkan, it seems the only way to win is not to play..."

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Re:Poker advise by skifreak87 · 2004-05-26 09:46 · Score: 4, Funny

From Dutch Boyd (an internet entrepreneur, IIRC) at last year's WSOP: "Poker is a lot like sex. Everybody thinks they're the best. But for the most part, most of them dont know what the hell they're doing"
Re:There is little math in /playing/ poker by djtripp · 2004-05-26 10:52 · Score: 2, Funny

Sklansky's is a great book. For some people it's a revalation on how to play, and also a revalation on how retarded you've been in the past.

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geeks play strip uno all the time! by V_drive · 2004-05-26 10:57 · Score: 5, Funny

most geeks play strip uno all the time. it's strip duo that's a little more rare for them.

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Re:Personally... by mhesseltine · 2004-05-26 11:01 · Score: 2, Funny

If you keep this crusade up, you'll be able to nip that problem in the butt

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to remove my tongue from my cheek.

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Re:Personally... by toddt · 2004-05-26 11:06 · Score: 3, Funny

Yeah, your expected value improves by a small amount, but your variance goes up my a HUGE amount, which is pretty much always a losing proposition. You're suggesting that I wager $500 at a time? Unless I came with $20,000 or more, there's a good chance I'm going to go broke. And, if I did come with $20,000, I'd rather spend it at the high-limit tables (at 5x odds), where I'll look like a stud, and the drink girls are prettier and come more often, etc.

Of course, that's true, and that's the thing about Vegas that makes being a casino owner so lucrative: Most people aren't really interested in the best bets in the house, and those who come to gamble $20,000 or more almost never are. Most people are interested in either winning a car/jet ski/million dollars on a slot machine with really crappy return rates, or in getting free drinks and looking like a total James Bond stud. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those.

With that said, the original point of this thread was wondering what the best bets in the house are, and the answer is that a single bet on craps with max odds played gives you the best expected value for a game that involves absolutely no skill.
Well, almost no skill, anyways. When I play craps I somehow always end up tossing the dice off the craps table and into the blackjack area. God, how the people at the craps table hate me...
Todd
Two Most Important Rules of Poker by kallistiblue · 2004-05-26 11:31 · Score: 2, Funny

There are TWO rules for ultimate success in poker: 1. Never tell everything you know. more Poker Party Jokes

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It's like by magefile · 2004-05-26 11:50 · Score: 2, Funny

That ol' Janx Spirit!
Re:Personally... by eoyount · 2004-05-27 02:41 · Score: 2, Funny

So close...

"Your right. But you're point is mute." would have been +5 funny instead of +4.

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Re:Personally... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-27 07:41 · Score: 1, Funny

You should of said 'their'.