WSJ article about Harvard poker session

Some academics got together with Howard Lederer and Annie Duke recently to discuss the skill factor of poker in an attempt to legitimize the game in recent efforts to pass new legislation to overturn the September ban on online gaming.

Lederer had this interesting comment:

The "vast majority" of high-betting poker hands, he says, are decided after all players except the winner have folded. So if no one shows his cards, Mr. Lederer says, "can you legally argue that the outcome was determined by luck?"

Here's the link:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117812153189389684-lMyQjAxMDE3NzA4MzEwMjMxWj.html

Roshambo on Ultimate Bet

Probably you've figured out by now that rock, paper, scissors has finally gone prime time with a game dedicated to it on Ultimate Bet. I used to think I was good at Roshambo (before I even knew it was called such a thing) when I would play friends and family in a game of first to 10. I actually have never lost a match of that length, though I probably haven't played others of high Roshambo ability...I tried to get Iggy to play me in a first to 10 game last summer after the blogger tournament at Caesars, but he got distracted after I pulled ahead and I got bored waiting for him to come back and left. I tried to continue the match later at the Excalibur, but he insisted on best of 3 and beat me. That guy is such a scam artist!

So anyway, UB is now offering up the game on its site. Unfortunately, for you high-stakes Roshambo players, the max bet per game currently is just $2. With a 10 percent rake out of every pot, the game is probably unbeatable in the long run. I sat down with $20 Sunday night and got spanked 18 games to 10. So ends my attempt at a professional Roshambo career.

Probably not such a gentleman

I was warned by a well-respected poker writer last week that Bill Gustafik was not such a gentleman. I imagine the truth will eventually come out in the wash. Here was an interesting article in Inside Bay Area about the whole sordid affair with Gustafik and his wife:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_5711755

I can only speak from personal experience, of course. The guy was nice to me for the brief interaction I had with him. It's always interesting to see the truth that lies underneath.