Poker, the Last Refuge Of Obsolete Politically Incorrect Cliches
Posted by Unknown in p/s-e
Poker is a game of probability. Among other things, of course. This means a 50%+1 shot, be it +1 out of 2, or +1 out of Infinity, is a favorite and should be considered and played with due respect. Obviously, some players, most actually, will never bother to calculate these shots so precisely, but still, poker is a game of probability. Among others. And this 50%+1 shot is the mathematically correct play.
With this binary/manichean dichotomy of sort, poker is truly the stage of o so many of the oldest, nowadays politically incorrect cliches. And most are definitely legitimate, in the whole 50%+1 shot perspective. Example : Women are weaker: is there older, stupider cliche than this one??? Yet, many players, including your own (though, only sometimes... Hey, not gonna bash myself that muc; this is my blog after all! LOL), still perceive women as weaker players, not fearing their raises and re-raises as much of, say, the silent geek quietly ploting away his take on world domination while folding 95% of the time... And well, most of the time, it's true.
Having recently set my PokerStars client to display people's avatars, I must admit paying closer attention to both their icon and nickname, sometimes picking up some kind of useful information yes, based on those lamest stereotypes ever. Such as: family people (family ring to their nick or a family picture of some sort) will play tight-passive more times than none (notice the flamboyant return of the whole '50%+1' hypothesis ;-)), while, in a very twisted reverse-psychology not unlike the one a baseball pitcher must master, people with obvious shark, wolves, any predatory symbols, will most probably fold faster than the father of 3 whose basically just having a good time while being yes a tad chauvinistic... Furthermore, I tend to fear (yeah, I still fear some players around a table, and I am deeply convinced it's normal and quite healthy to actually acknowledge it; poker players are so dishonest with themselves :P...) the people with explicit 'I suck' symbolism, such as the typical donkey or fish pics. Especially when said donk-fishy plays less than 20% of the pot :P... And this brings us back full circle to: Poker is a game of probability. Among other things.
