Bridge... wait, who plays bridge?

[Palantir]

^ I just started. I downloaded "Chess at ICC" available on iOS. This app is awesome.

[RichardGibbons]

I used to be OK at chess.  I beat a master in a tournament at one point.  But I'm pretty mediocre now.

[yadayada]

Used to play poker. To people who played both, how comparable is it? How much bigger or smaller is the luck factor?

[serendibz]

Used to play poker. To people who played both, how comparable is it? How much bigger or smaller is the luck factor?

 

The variance in poker is very high. Just by purely looking at results of any single session, you can't really conclude who is the better poker player whereas for bridge it is much closer to chess, ie it is relatively clear who is the better player based on short term results.

[infinitee00]

I had a couple of uncles who were phenomenal Bridge players, and even though I was intrigued and fascinated by the game, for some reason I never gravitated towards it. I played Chess in middle and high school pretty seriously but then haven't played much since (abt 20 yrs ago). One of my memorable games ( I lost after ~80 moves after coming under time pressure and making some horrible end game mistakes) was with a guy who went on to become a successful GM  :)

 

I also used to play online poker regularly ( both cash and tournament games, although micro/small stakes) on Full Tilt and other online sites but then more responsibility at work and my investing 'hobby', left very little time for poker. Luckily, I pulled out most of my winnings around Sept/Oct 2010 - few months before Black Friday - and did not leave too much money in my accounts. Frankly, I found the inclusion of poker in the UIGEA act of 2006 pretty idiotic and regressive, but that's just my biased opinion !

 

Given the profile of board members, I am sure there are some really good poker and chess players on this board. I would be keen on playing  friendly chess or poker games with board members, if they can be arranged somehow.

[yadayada]

you did it for a living? I played cash games for a few years. But kind of burned out with it now (the swings are v stressfull and wear on you eventually), and looking for a fun replacement game.

[infinitee00]

you did it for a living? I played cash games for a few years. But kind of burned out with it now (the swings are v stressfull and wear on you eventually), and looking for a fun replacement game.

 

No not for a living - just a hobby. Although, I wouldn't say that it did not cross my mind !

 

Yeah, the swings can be quite stressful. When I first started playing online poker, I was a 'noob' and lost my entire bankroll twice ( part of it due to bad bankroll management). But, then started reading books, working harder, posting/reading different hands on two plus two forum and got better at it. I won back everything I lost and then some, so overall was lucky to come out ahead (although it was not a straight line and had a couple of 20-30% downswings that were quite stressful).

 

After 2010, I slowed down considerably, because 1) More responsibility at work and I realized that my hourly profit was still peanuts compared to my day job hourly rate. So, I needed to play higher stakes to ever make a dent in my net worth - not something I was willing to do at the time 2) Discovered Ben Graham and value investing in 2009-2010 and realized that I could do better than the mutual funds I was paying fess/commissions to invest my money. Also found the process fascinating - quite like reading a mystery novel - and was hooked. I still enjoy playing poker with friends but I doubt I will take it up as seriously as before.

 

Don't wan't to hijack this thread but I am always interested in hearing about the experience of other poker playing board members and what lessons they took from poker and applied successfully to investing. For me, other than variance, it was bankroll management, the concept of expected value and waiting for the fat pitch.

 

 

[yadayada]

Well one thing it taught me is how ridicilously biased people are, including myself. Either you become more biased, or less biased. But its a constant fight, and if your not actively challenging it, then you will become more biased over time. That book by Kahneman explains this really well imo. Learned this the cheap and fast way through poker. You really gotta admit quickly your wrong when you are, or lady luck will kill of your bankroll.

 

To expand on that, there are different stages in learning. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence

You could probably add a fifth between unconscious and conscious competence. Seemingly conscious competence. Lets say you need a check list of 30 things to effectively determine if something is a good investment (pulling that out of my ass). Alot of people get stuck when they know 15 things. They think, they know alot compared to people that know nothing and get lazy. Their subconscious brain lures their conscious brain into not learning more to conserve energy basicly. If you know what ebitda means, and you know how to read all the financial statements, its really easy to think that you know enough already. That is why guys like Buffett are so succesfull, they are always convinced they dont know enough.  Same thing goes for poker, but there you are quickly punished if you start to think this way. This could take alot longer with investing.

 

Also desensitized me to money a bit. I wont get too stressed out if my positions are worth 20k$ less the next day. And there are loads of idiots in every field. A disturbing amount really. But you probably learn that if you operate in any competitive field for a while. And it is mostly because of laziness really. Knowing this helps to be a bit more confident being a contrarian.

[writser]

Also desensitized me to money a bit.

 

Definitely this. Not sure if it's a good thing :)