Friday, December 14, 2007

High Stakes for Poker as a Learning Tool

Posting this NYTimes article on behalf of MB.

"A Harvard Law School professor and a group of his students formed an organization this fall — the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society — dedicated to demonstrating that poker has educational benefits. They argue that the game, which is probability-based and requires risk assessment, situational analysis and a gift for reading people, can be an effective teaching tool, whether for middle school math or in business and law classes."

Road trip to Bellagio University next spring...

3 comments:

royalbacon said...

I would totally agree with this assessment, actually.

Additionally, I think poker has taught me how to handle when things don’t go my way -- able to accept the loss and to move on quickly to the next thing.

Ryan said...

Yeah, this is why I'm fine with teaching my kids to play poker when some would view that as inappropriate or even dangerous (in terms of inadvertently raising compulsive gamblers).

With my daughter learning how to count coins in school, playing poker with her using change instead of chips has been a direct learning tool for her. Plus all those things in the article, too.

As for "encouraging gambling" in my kids, I look at it as an opportunity to train them on the difference between playing poker and, say, playing slot machines, and the importance of bankroll management. It's an opportunity to make sure they *don't* become compulsive gamblers.

Sushi Cowboy said...

"I think poker has taught me how to handle when things don’t go my way..."

"At one point this afternoon I was saying, out loud, very slowly, at my computer screen, 'Nobody is going to fold. Do not raise with nothing. Nobody is going to fold. Do not raise with nothing.'
...
The thrill of the gamble is much greater for me online. Jason was sitting on my shoulder the whole time. I found myself in a number of hands, talking to the screen again, saying 'Why am I even IN this hand. To get that lone 3? Christ!' and then hitting the call button.
...
I need somebody to loan my $500. That way I could apply Ferguson's rules and buy in at a table where money actually means something."

Just kidding! ;)