I really liked this NOVA documentary, and I hope you do too.
Science of Bad Financial Decisions
Ten Ways To Spot A Liar
Unskilled and Unaware of It
A recent article in the New York Times caught my eye. It discusses a paper in cognitive psychology titled "Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties of Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-assessments."
According to the paper, there are two types of people in the world:
those who have enough experience to know they're making a mistake, and
those who don't have that much experience yet. In this world-view, the
amateur player makes a mistake but also fails to realize that it was a
mistake.
The Most Important Poker Skill
This is a response to the article over at Suited Aces of the same name.
Danny always believed that he had some poker skill, but not what it takes to beat the highest stakes games. Now that he plays high stakes poker, Danny asks, "Why was I wrong? Why did I feel like I didn't have the potential to be the best? Besides the obvious underinflated self esteem, a lot of it had to do with misguided views on what it takes to be a good poker player."
Do Downswings Prepare Us For Future Losses?
As poker players, we're conditioned to deal with losses of different sizes. We have to lose pots without tilting. We have to lose games without tilting. We have to lose ten games or twenty games in a row without tilting. If, ten years down the road, my house were to burn down, I think I would just be like "whatever, that's just bad luck" and move on with my life. However, I get the feeling that a loss of this size would make many people very distraught. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments.
Poker: The Carrot and the Stick
In poker, it's important to think of where we want our opponent to go, and then make the move that gets them there. Ask before every decision, what am I trying to accomplish? What am I trying to avoid? And, what bet or line should I take to accomplish this?
Why Do Fish Still Play Poker During a Recession?
As professional gamblers, we provide a service. Weaker players put their $100 in a game with us, not because they expect to win, but because they expect to have fun. By ensuring the fish have more fun, we can ensure that we get more rematches.
Recovering from Tilt
Why do we tilt, and what can we do to fix it? Tilt is obviously a highly incongruous phenomenon, so while this works for me, it may not work for everyone's kind of tilt. Additionally, there are several books out there on this topic, and I've never read any of them, so I may just be repeating something that's already been said elsewhere. Let me know if this is the case.
Testosterone #1 Factor in Risk Orientation
It is well-established that women are more risk averse than men. Now, we know the reason why. According to new research published in the Proceedings for the National Academy Sciences, men and women with similar levels of testosterone have similar risk aversion.