Pokernomics

I've always been fascinated with trying to figure out why people act the way they act. Over the last year or so, I've read a lot about evolutionary psychology and other approaches to behavioral sciences that have blown my mind again and again.

I've mentioned Freakonomics a few times recently on this blog. I liked the book because it was mainly about asking why people act the way they act, but I found it particularly interesting because it was written by an economist. I think that when I first studied economics in high school I saw it as an exciting way to analyze people's actions, but after 4 years of college study with endless plotting of utility functions, currency conversions and lifeless textbooks, I think I forgot why I liked it in the first place. I turned down a fellowship to study economics at Johns Hopkins because I couldn't remember why I wanted to study it. Freakonomics reminded me.

I recently learned that Steven Levitt is running a project to study poker, Freakonomics style. Check it out.

I just sent them the letter below. I listed this blog as a point of contact. I'm amused that if they check this out, my recent posts will mostly be profane rants about how much I hate Comcast. Maybe they'll skip past that to some of my quasi-intelligent discussions of more relevant subjects.

I've been in contact with Dana Chandler about the Pokernomics project. I'm very interested in this research, and I have a database of over 100,000 hands that I am willing to donate.

Every hand of poker is a series of risk/reward decisions and an often confusing combination of strategies in response to incentives. Adding to the confusion, existing poker literature has been authored by poker players who could have mixed motives in revealing their secrets. Maybe conventional wisdom about optimal strategies is wrong. It is easy to see why poker is a great target for Freakonomical study.

The decision to play poker professionally is also an interesting one. Reading the chapter of Freakonomics about drug dealers, I couldn't help but think what a similar analysis of the poker world would find. With poker skyrocketing in popularity, lots of bright young minds are quitting their jobs or dropping out of school to hit the felt. Why are they choosing poker? Why not the corporate world and academia? Will they be successful with poker? Do they live with their parents?

In addition to donating my hand histories, I'd like to offer myself as a resource for this project. Working in the corporate world, I saw how big projects are always taking advantage of contributions from loosely labeled "subject matter experts." I'm reluctant to call myself a professional poker player, but I've been scratching a living off of poker winnings since I quit my job in March of this year. I used to be a student of economics (I completed my undergrad with a double degree in Finance and Economics and was offered a fellowship to the Economics Ph.D. program at the Johns Hopkins University), so I'd love any opportunity to contribute to a project that combines my academic field with my recently adopted profession.

I see in the FAQ that the project is fully staffed, but if I there is something I can offer - insights into the poker world, specific hand analysis, ideas for investigation, my own poker stories or anything else, please feel free to contact me.