Sam Jack
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The rules of the game are the same essentially everywhere, but there are
issues surrounding the game that arise in common for Canadian venues. So it
seems to me there are some compelling reasons for a Canadian poker magazine.
Of course, most of the articles will be of interest to people from many countries.
I shall be writing a variety of articles about mathematics and poker. The
relationship between mathematics and poker is interesting and murky.
Frequently, I am asked about the perceived advantage a mathematician has
in poker. The people who ask me about this almost always are not poker players.
I assure them that mathematics plays a role, but there are many very successful
players who have almost no formal knowledge of mathematics.
On the other hand, another feature of the people who ask that question is
a lack of understanding of what mathematics is. I suspect most of the people
reading this article do not share my view of what mathematics is. A thumbnail
description of my view is the following: Mathematics is the attempt to discover
and classify patterns. The point of this is that there are many questions I see
as mathematics, whereas, most people would screw up their brows and query,
“That’s math?”
Pure curiosity drives one type of mathematical question that arises in poker
— answering these questions is interesting, but, in truth, will have little impact
upon how we play the game. This is the kind of question that a mathematician
finds much more interesting than does a poker player. The mathematician
will smile and think that problem sounds fun and then attempt to solve it.
Meanwhile, a typical poker player, upon hearing the question, will say, “Who
cares?”
issues surrounding the game that arise in common for Canadian venues. So it
seems to me there are some compelling reasons for a Canadian poker magazine.
Of course, most of the articles will be of interest to people from many countries.
I shall be writing a variety of articles about mathematics and poker. The
relationship between mathematics and poker is interesting and murky.
Frequently, I am asked about the perceived advantage a mathematician has
in poker. The people who ask me about this almost always are not poker players.
I assure them that mathematics plays a role, but there are many very successful
players who have almost no formal knowledge of mathematics.
On the other hand, another feature of the people who ask that question is
a lack of understanding of what mathematics is. I suspect most of the people
reading this article do not share my view of what mathematics is. A thumbnail
description of my view is the following: Mathematics is the attempt to discover
and classify patterns. The point of this is that there are many questions I see
as mathematics, whereas, most people would screw up their brows and query,
“That’s math?”
Pure curiosity drives one type of mathematical question that arises in poker
— answering these questions is interesting, but, in truth, will have little impact
upon how we play the game. This is the kind of question that a mathematician
finds much more interesting than does a poker player. The mathematician
will smile and think that problem sounds fun and then attempt to solve it.
Meanwhile, a typical poker player, upon hearing the question, will say, “Who
cares?”
