Poker Thoughts

Something I have noticed while playing a lot of live poker is that there is so little critical thought processes going on in the majority of players. I suppose a little background on myself will play an important role in this entry. I am a science fanatic. I am constantly reading about almost any sort of physical science; astronomy, geology, biology, etc. I am also a huge fan of skepticism, (actual skepticism, not moon hoaxers and 9/11 “truthers”) I’m talking about needing data before I accept a claim. Real data. No, a grainy photograph someone took of a dark room showing some sort of shadow is not evidence for a ghost, sorry. Nor is a funny light in the sky that I cannot explain. More than likely there is someone that CAN explain it, and even if there isn’t the odds that its a visiting civilization are extraordinarily low.

So back to poker. I am constantly amazed at how much confirmation bias there is with most casual players. How many times do we hear “yea 9 3 is my favorite hand, it hits all the time.” Remembering the hits and forgetting the misses is how any psychic medium works when they are “contacting the dead.” This is totally applicable to poker hands. The casual player remembers every time 9 3 hits for him, and completely forgets the vast majority of the time that it doesn’t go well. A perfect example is weathermen. I constantly hear how the local weather man screws up the forecast and doesn’t know what they are doing. Actually reflect on how amazingly accurate weather forecasts are these days. Yes they get it wrong once in a while and its funny and ironic to comment on, however the majority of the time it is almost spot on. There is no reason to go “wow, another day the weather man knows what he is doing!” We forget the misses. These sort of thought processes go on at a poker table all the time, I’m sure that it happens online as well, but I am primarily a live player. For obvious social reasons it is much easier to pick up conversations about how Q2 is a favorite players hand in a live encounter. I think someone paying attention to such statements can pick up lots of useful information about a player and his line of thinking. I usually just smile and nod, altho inside I am just cringing at the lack of critical thinking going on, whether I’m at a poker table or somewhere else in life. Think critically friends, whether at the poker table or not, it is one of the most important lessons in my opinion.

So, why is Doyle still being invited to sit in on high stakes poker? What a complete bore to watch. This new table that is premiering tonight seems to have a bunch of younger pros that are mixing it up as to be expected and are actually, you know, exciting to watch. I realize the guy is an icon to the poker world, but seriously, Phil Galfond was told that he was too boring when he got replaced. I can only imagine that Doyle is being invited back because of his status of an old pro, certainly not because of any exciting play as of late. Yuk.