Re: WSJ: Harvard Ponders Just What It Takes to Excel at Poker
Hmmm... considering the on-going comparison between blackjack and poker.
If Blackjack is not skilled because Blackjack has a mathmatically optimal play for each decision we have a problem for poker. Poker likewise has a mathmatically optimal play for each decision. There is undoubtably a Nash Equilibrium strategy for the game where each player plays optimally. It's just that the game has yet to be solved. If the argument is that blackjack is not skill based for the reason that mathmatically optimal play exists then that argument should extend to poker as well.
If you don't buy that, consider that once the game is solved one could produce a chart much like those that exist for blackjack that state what to do under any possible situation. Granted it would be a HUGE chart, but it's not inconceivable. The chart would likely also differ in that in many situations the answer would be fold X% of the time, call Y% of the time, and raise Z% of the time instead of always do W.
Aaron
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