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Prisoner's dilemma is probably THE classic game theory problem. For a very long time the tit-for-tat strategy was considered unbeatable, until recently where the master slave code theory solution defeated it. Here is a link that tell you more.
http://tinyurl.com/y4ono4
I have a similar application of this to poker, that is very simple.
Assuming that playing your cards blind is legal (something i didnt know about before, it is NOT, for example, in bridge) I draw this analogy with prisoners dilemma.
There are a number of possible strategies using blind cards, and I will discuss one practical application as follows:
You aim as a poker player is to maximize your earning per hour. Given this, let's take the example of the most common tournament on the internet, freerolls with large numbers of players. It strikes me (though i cant prove it) that it is possible that 2 agents going allin against each other on the first hand with random cards, could increase the potential COMBINED earnings per hour of the 2 players, creating a win win situation. The rationale for this is that the losing player has wasted very little time, and the winning player has a significantly increased chance of earning something from the tournament.
If you can somehow signal that you are blind to your opponent (either via a code or even more cleverly through a known betting pattern, say go allin-1 on the first hand), other honorable agents in the master-slave situation can generate a win-win EV situation for both players by following the pattern.
A seemingly losing strategy could be turned into one where both agents have a mutually benefical system for cooperation, (similar to cooperation plays in poker), either implicitly or explicitly.
I would be interested to know if i have my logic correct here, or if anyone has thoughts on the subject.
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Very interesting article about the master&slave tactics, although it was more like an attempt to exploit a specific weakness in the tournament setup, than a winning strategy by itsself. Still when you think of master&slave, then some bells are ringing in conjunction with the rumors about Men the Master and certain forms of chipdumping by his students.