Category: gaqme

Ed Thorp looks you in the eye and tells you he intends to live forever. And because he invented the first system ever proved to beat blackjack, because he helped build the first wearable computer, because he’s a former math and statistics professor who happens to run one of the most successful hedge funds in the country – 47.14 percent return in 1998 and better than 59 percent in the 12 months ended this April, with virtually no risk! – you figure if he lives that long he’s going to make a lot more money than he already has.

In 1962, Ed Thorp published Beat the Dealer, which proved mathematically what had only been suspected: that by keeping track of the cards that have been dealt, a blackjack player can produce a positive expected return – anywhere from 0.25 percent to 5 percent, depending on the number of decks and how deeply into them the dealer penetrates before shuffling. It’s tempting to think of a successful card counter as a very talented gambler, but a real card counter isn’t gambling at all; eventually a positive result will – not may, but will – be produced. A card counter removes the risk from the game and grinds out a profit. And a grind it is: Table-stakes limits and intimidating pit bosses render card counting better suited to those who actually enjoy the danger and secondhand smoke associated with casinos. Thorp made a fortune testing and refining his strategy, but his pens-in-the-pocket style never quite fit in with the glitz of the Vegas strip. More important, Thorp had begun to apply his thinking to a much bigger game of chance: the stock market.

“The overlap of interest between gambling and the stock market is very high. It’s an amazing …

Daniel Negreanu is having a good WSOP 2008. He has four cashes, including two final tables and his fourth WSOP bracelet. He’s made over $375,000 so far, and there are lots of events left. It appears that Kid Poker is back in the saddle again, making final tables and cashing big checks.

Many people think that Daniel Negreanu has been in a slump, but that’s not true. In 2004 his tournament results were insane. He won everywhere and looked like he would be the dominant force in the game. But that doesn’t happen in poker.

Daniel has still been winning his share of checks since 2004. He won over $700,000 in 2007, nearly $2M in 2006 and $460,000 in 2005. His skill level keeps him winning every year but when the cards are running for him as well, he’s unstoppable. Kid Poker is not back; he’s just on a roll again. He was never away.

Polaris 2, a poker playing machine, is plugged in and ready to go heads-up against some of the best poker pros in the world. Developed by the University of Alberta’s Computer Poker Research Group, Polaris is a series of computer programs created to beat amateur and pros alike. The new poker machine will be set up at this year’s Gaming Life Expo in Las Vegas this July.

The names of the poker pros enlisted to participate in this Man vs. Machine poker tournament have not yet been released, but last year’s participants included Phil Laak and Ali Eslami. Both pros managed to beat Polaris, but not by much.

“Against the current AI in Polaris 2, the average poker player would be completely dominated,” said Bryce Paradis, lead poker coach with Stoxpoker.com, the team representing Polaris. “The Polaris 2 …