;)
Arthur S. ReberI’ve spent over fifty years living two parallel lives. In one I am a semi-degenerate gambler, a poker junkie, horse player, and blackjack maven; in the other, a scientist specializing in cognitive psychology and related topics in the neurosciences, the origins of consciousness and the philosophy of mind. For the most part, I’ve kept these tracks separate mainly because my colleagues in each have little appreciation for the wonder, the complexities and the just full-bore fun in the other.
But over time these two avenues of my life have meshed. There’s a lot that we know about human psychology that can give us insight into gambling, especially poker and, of course, there’s a lot that poker can teach us about human psychology. It is quite astonishing how richly these topics interlock. I’ll also introduce you to some engaging characters I’ve known – bookies, con artists, hustlers, professional poker players and perhaps an occasional famous scientist.
This site will wander about in both worlds with new columns and articles along with links to scores of previously published ones. Now that I’ve retired I’ve become something of a political junkies and will go on rants on politics and economics, When the mood strikes I’ll share views on food, restaurants and cooking. Any and all feedback is welcome.
During my (mostly misspent) youth my hangout joint was the local bowling alley. I got to know guys who seemed to live in the alleys, didn’t appear to have jobs or obvious means of support. Their main income was from bowling – just like their brothers in the pool halls and their cousins who were playing chess, gin rummy and backgammon. They were hustlers, all of ‘em. They are a breed, a very special one.
;)
The really serious screaming, however, came from the various organizations that run major league sports and, of course, the NCAA. The article discussed recent moves by several states to consider legalizing sports betting to generate much-needed revenue and the predictable and utterly hypocritical hand-wringing and breast-beating from the usual quarters. The NCAA, Major League Baseball, the NFL, NHL and the NBA went into full panic mode stating that such a move would destroy the integrity of sport in America. All, not surprisingly, have already filed suit to stop New Jersey from legalizing sports betting and are geared up for similar actions in other states should they emerge.
One of life’s little WTF moments occurred recently and I can’t resist sharing it. Rhiannon and I were in the decent-sized city that is O’Hare Airport. We had a two-hour wait between planes and took a stroll to find lunch. Perhaps surprisingly, there are several good places to eat there. We found a sushi bar, sat down and I ordered a glass of wine.
“I need to see ID,” said the waitress.
“You what?” I said incredulously. [That’s me with my friend the bronze boar!]
“I need to see an ID,” she repeated, completely straight-faced.
“But surely ….” was all I got out. She looked at me and said, “We have to check everyone who orders alcohol.”
“Drinking age in Illinois is 21, right?” I said.
“Yessir, it is,” she said her expression never wavering.
“Just of out of curiosity,” I laughed, “how old do you think I am?”
“I’m sorry sir, we’re not allowed to think here.”
“You’re not allowed to what?”
“Think.”
“So you really do want to see my ID?” I asked.
“Yes sir, otherwise I cannot bring you your wine.”
So I got out my driver’s license while Rhiannon sat there snickering quietly. The waitress looked at it, nodded and walked away.
A few minutes later she returned with my wine. Being an ever-inquiring soul I asked, “I’m curious. What would happen to someone here who stopped to think?”
“Hasn’t happened in the two years I’ve been here,” she answered and walked away.
The wine, a French Viognier, was quite good and the sushi excellent. The waitress, who I hope was a stand-up comic working on a routine, was best of all.
If you’re not a poker player that title might be a bit obscure, so here’s a quick primer: Full Tilt Poker (FTP) was founded in the early 2000s by a couple of poker’s biggest stars, Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. Other pros including Phil Ivey, John Juanda and Andy Bloch invested in the start-up and a day-trader named Ray Bitar, who was a friend of Ferguson’s, became CEO. The company became wildly successful and was, before its dramatic demise, the second largest online poker site in the world (behind Poker Stars).
Okay, poker’s a game of skill. What about the rest of life? I’m serious. Is life a game where skill dominates luck, where talent and aptitude trump the RNG running in the background? This isn’t an idle question. It’s attracted the attention of social scientists and some interesting things are known – perhaps the most interesting is that the ol’ fickle finger of fate plays a larger role in our lives than we realize, and a far larger one than we like to acknowledge.
Arthur S. Reber