Chess, backgammon, poker, bridge, Mind Games

Chess, backgammon, poker, and bridge
The four great mind games


Games like bridge, poker, and chess are great for business. These games all use methods that can can be incorporated into the way you view and make business decisions. Chess in particular requires strategic decision-making, concentration, tactics, and evaluation.


Chess

A complete information game where you are playing against the board.  A game were the better player always win.  A small difference in skill make a huge difference on the scoreboard.  Chess is a game of pure skill, concentration, and strategies.  Chess requires strategic decision-making, concentration, tactics, and evaluation.  No luck involved here.

Garry Kasparov is maybe the most dominant chess player of all time.

http://www.businessinsider.com/29-executives-who-are-exceptional-at-chess-2012-7?op=1
http://gamblerspsychologykit.blogspot.ca/2012/11/can-psychology-of-chess-improve-your.html
http://chess.computerwebservices.net/
 http://whychess.com/node/2104




Backgammon

Just like chess, backgammon is a complete information game where you play against the board.  Backgammon is a tactical game of concentration, positional evaluation, and math.  The dice is the element of luck in the game.

The most notable player is the 3-times Backgammon World Champion and successful gambler Tim Holland.





Poker

It is a simple card game of hidden information who rewards attention and the reading of psychological situations.  An element of luck coming from the cards.  A game of skill and deception.

Currently, the best all-around poker player of the world is Phil Ivey.

http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-streets-best-poker-players-2011-6




Bridge

Like many card game, bridge is a game of hidden information.  Bridge is about remembering every card, probabilities, and communication.  Some luck involved here.

Someone could make a living as a pro bridge player by gambling 
high-stakes bridge and/or being a paid partner for people.

The best player in the world and probably the best player of all time is "Mr. Bridge" Bob Hamman

 http://www.businessinsider.com/best-bridge-players-on-wall-street-2011-7


So, apparently, unless you are a super grand master--chess is for fun and intellectual stimulation. Also, duplicate bridge is mostly "for fun". Backgammon is a game where you can be a pro and earn a living. Poker is a game where you can be a pro and usually earn even a better living than you usually can at Backgammon. :)

And in my view, Heads-Up Fixed Limit Hold' Em Poker is the best blend of them all. HULHE is the perfect Mind Game.



 http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/articles/a040617.htm






Originally published in: http://www.billionairegambler.com/2011/06/chess-backgammon-poker-and-bridge.html

Perfect Heads-Up Limit Hold' Em Strategy part 2

COMPARING THE PLAYING STYLE OF PHIL IVEY, ANDY BEAL, POLARIS, AND TEXAS HOLD' EM HEADS UP POKER "THE BRAIN" TO DEVICE YOUR OWN

At the highest level of excellence.  There is two obvious reasons that push you to excel in an particular activity. OBSESSION and/or PROFESSION.  So what is the fuel behind the success and the excellence of our four champions?

PROFESSION - Phil Ivey plays for a living.
OBSESSION - Andy Beal was obsessed with facing the bests to be the best.
OBSESSION - Polaris was created to beat the best pro players.
PROFESSION - Texas Hold' Em Heads Up Poker machine was manufactured to legally take the maximum amounts of money out of patrons's pockets.

As you can see in the four above examples.  Those who are mainly fueled by OBSESSION wants to be THE best in the world.  And those doing it as a PROFESSION are mainly interested in the money. 

Now that we know they main motivation.  Let's analyze their playing style and do a mix of it all to create The Ultimate Heads-Up Hold' Em Winning Strategy.

P.S. (Read the first part of this guide... The HULHE winning strategies of Phil Ivey, Andy Beal, Polaris, and Texas Hold' Em Heads Up Poker machine.)

First of all, as I see it. 
All four are hyper aggressive.
All but Ivey are specialized and exclusively play Heads Up Limit Hold' Em.  Phil Ivey is excellent in any form of poker.


All four take on all comers.
All four want to be the best in the world.
All four want to face the bests of the world.
No table selection and bum hunting here! 
 

Phil Ivey learned the game by playing it.
Andy Beal learned the game by studying it.
And Polaris and "The Brain"...  Well?  Are both robots.


Phil Ivey's style is purely exploitative.
Andy Beal is a machine.  Purely GTO (Game Theory Optimal), probabilities and mathematics.
Polaris, despite using the Nash Equilibrium as his default strategy, is exploitative.  Since his playing style is all about adaptation.
"The Brain" can't be exploitative so it is GTO defensive.  All about preventing itself to be exploited.


What is the main strength of each player / robot?  Just one word to describe each player/bot's main secret to win and be so excellent at HULHE.
Phil Ivey = his reads
Andy Beal = mathematics
Polaris = adaptation
"The Brain" = defense


CHANGING GEARS / UNPREDICTIBILITY

We don't know much about Phil Ivey and Andy Beal unpredictibility and different play modes.  This isn't the case with Polaris and "The Brain"

Polaris changes gear to adapt.
"The Brain" changes gear for defense.

Polaris have 5 strategies
"The Brain" have 3 "tag team fighters"

Polaris 5 different strategies
1- Polaris default strategy is Nash Equilibrium.  
2- Exploitative Counter Strategy
3- A compromise between the first 2???
4- A team of all strategies to learn which one to use during the game???
5- 


"The Brain" 3 tag-team fighters
1- Neutral net with optimal number of bluff.
2- A slightly different style.
3- To finish off a short-stacked opponent.  I like this one!
Aggression level might change randomly.

 

So, if we can do a melting of those four winning strategies.  What it would be like? 

I will call it the P.I.B.B. in hommage of our four HULHE gods.
P.I.B.B. stands for... 

Polaris-Ivey-Beal-Brain
or  if you prefer
Poker-International-Big-Boss



Now let's look at the

HULHE P.I.B.B. Winning Strategy aka P.I.B.B. Strategy

Pre-Flop (LOOSE AGGRESSIVE)

• Play nearly every hands

BUTTON (in position): 

• Raise almost 100% of the time

BIG BLIND (out of position): 

• Raise called button 75% of the time.
• Always raise (3-Betting) with Ax, Kx, Q3s+, Q6+, J8+, T7s+, T9+, 98s+, 22+. 

Or you can use the Polaris's 3-Betting strategy from the BB.

Flop

• Continuation Bet 100% of the time.

Turn

• Continuation Bet 100% of the time.
• 8-bet the turn with two pairs

River

• Check-call all the way down the river with any Ace-high hand.
• Call with K-high unless the board is scary.

Extreme Aggression
Be The Aggressor

Tag team fighters / different strategies (P.I.B.B.)

1- Extreme Aggression (default strategy) 

2- Finish off a short stacked opponent 

    Push or Fold when villain (or you) are 4BB

    (Ax, Kx, Qx, Jx, T8, T7s, 98s, 22+)


Guidelines

• You are the aggressor
• Leave after losing one buy-in
• Keep playing when winning
• Obsession with preventing tells

Now, after studying the playing style of my four heads up limit hold em icons, heros and idols.  I have enough information to devise my own strategy.  The Perfect Heads-Up Fixed Limit Hold' Em Strategy.   This will be the third part of this highly instructive guide.


PYGOD


For an analysis of the respective playing style of Polaris. Ivey. Beal. Brain. you have to see

Perfect Heads-Up Limit Hold' Em Strategy part 1

The bio, profile, in-dept playing style of each of our four marvels read the following.

• Polaris
• Ivey
• Beal
• Brain

Stay tuned for the 3rd and last part of this article. Where I will devise a more usable, realistic, and adaptative strategy. Everything you need to know to be a $ucce$$ful poker player from playing style to money management. 

DO NOT COPY AND PASTE MY WORK INTO YOUR WEBSITE WITHOUT GIVING ME THE CREDIT

HU FL SNG Blinds structure

Heads Up Fixed Limit Sit & Go (HU FL SNG)

Blinds structure for Regular and Turbo on PokerStars.com

1500 Chips to start

Regular (blinds augmentation every) 10 minutes

Turbo   (blinds augmentation every)  5 minutes

Below is the sheet I use to comparate the Blinds Structure of a Fixed Limit vs. No Limit HUSNG on PokerStars.com

Why you should play HU FL SNG

• Maybe long, but I think this duel, this game of chess, is worth playing. 

• In HU SNG you won't get eaten by the rake like in HU Cash.

• Contrary to No Limit Hold' Em, in Fixed Limit (FL) you don't have that much variance because when your opponent is bad your edge is HUGE. 

;-)

PokerStars Heads-Up FL Sit N Go

Buy-in, winning prize, and rake

hu fl sng on google

Heads-Up Fixed Limit Texas Hold' Em Poker

Why Heads-Up Fixed Limit Hold' Em Poker?

Far from being the most popular version of poker, Heads-Up Fixed Limit Hold' Em is, in my view, the ultimate form of poker.  Heads Up Limit Hold' Em is the purest form of poker you can get.  Here are my etymological explanations in three parts.



Heads-Up (HU / HUHU).  Heads-up poker is a pure mano a mano, hand to hand combat sport confrontation between two players eager to win the entire chips stack of their opponent.  As Jason Koon, a successful tournament player, would say: “Heads-Up the Purest Form of Poker”.  He is 110% right!  Since, without a shadow of doubt, heads-up is the most skilled form of poker in existence.

No full ring or 6 max poker game can challenge you as much as an heads-up poker game.  In heads-up poker, you can't hide.  Your profits as your mistakes will be amplified.  And for action junkies or simply those who prefers constant action over endless waiting.  Heads-up poker is THE game for you.  BUT if you expect to have any kind of success at heads-up poker.  YOU MUST do your homework.  You need to study and practise your craft.  Usually, in heads-up poker, the more skilled player got the edge and win most of the time.  If you don't believe me, just try to outplay Phil Ivey in an heads-up poker match.


Fixed Limit (L / FL).  In fixed limit, you can't eliminated by any unskilled all-in tilting maniac.  Less luck, more skill.  That's what any serious mind game is all about!  And that's what poker should be all about!  Fixed limit used to be THE way to play poker.  But since the 2003 "Chris Moneymaker" poker universal poker boom.  No-Limit seems to be the only hold'em game available online.  Due to his dramatic nature, no-limit is a lot more TV friendly than fixed limit will ever be.  To paraphrase German pokerstars high stakes HU FL HE online specialist “rUaBot”, fixed limit is a science and no-limit is an art. 


Texas Hold' Em (HE).  For hold'em my explanations are plain and simple.  Texas Hold' em is the poker to play right now.  Since 2003, thankx to Chris Moneymaker (an amateur player with an highly appropriated given name qualifying online for the world championship) winning 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Texas Hold' Em and online poker popularity litteraly exploded all around the world.   This world wide fascination for poker and Texas Hold' em in particular is called "The Moneymaker Effect".

Anyway, as poker living legend Doyle Brunson once said: "Texas Hold' Em is the Cadillac of Poker."  However, I'm not sure he included fixed limit hold'em in his claim.


Poker.  Simply because when you think of a professional gambler you see a poker player. When I think about a pro gambler I see an old riverboat gambler. Poker is the Ultimate Form of Gambling. However calling poker gambling is a travesty. Poker is a mind game, a game of skills. Poker isn't a stupid game of luck where no matter what you do the odds are stacked against you. Poker is a science, poker is an art, depending of your point of view.



Since there is unfortunately no book and no website fully dedicated to Heads-Up Fixed Limit Hold' Em Poker.  I wish that this blog will fill the void.  And ultimately, I wish that HU L HE will regain some popularity.  I need fish at the table!!!

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