jdl22
02-27-2005, 08:50 PM
I enjoyed the article and I found it informative especially for winning players whose goal is simply to maximise earn. For these players the idea of denial is clearly relevant.
For the losing players I'm not so sure. I think many players know that they are losing players and play for entertainment. It's much more fun to call and hit an inside straight than it is to fold when you are getting 5:1. Similarly it is fun to bet on 17 and have the ball stop in the 17 slot. Not only is it fun, but for these -EV gamblers it is worth the money given up in expectation. There is clear evidence of this on these forums, two threads that come to mind are a recent thread in the internet forum by a player that likes to get high and play like a maniac and a thread by Al Capone Junior discussing playing Craps for fun.
On a similar note the article says [ QUOTE ]
Because denial has little relationship to knowledge, merely providing information has hardly any impact on people's behavior. Those doctors had all the information, and they were trained to understand it, but they denied reality and foolishly believed, "Smoking won't kill me."
[/ QUOTE ]
I think most of the doctors don't think that "smoking won't kill [them]" but they simply don't care. They have weighed the pros and cons of smoking and have decided that it is worth the increased risk.
Just as there certainly are some doctors that have convinced themselves that they won't die of lung cancer there surely are some players that think they are good and are not. None the less there also plenty of people engaging in -EV behavior, they are aware of it and simply want to continue.
In fact my article about one explanation for this should appear next month.
For the losing players I'm not so sure. I think many players know that they are losing players and play for entertainment. It's much more fun to call and hit an inside straight than it is to fold when you are getting 5:1. Similarly it is fun to bet on 17 and have the ball stop in the 17 slot. Not only is it fun, but for these -EV gamblers it is worth the money given up in expectation. There is clear evidence of this on these forums, two threads that come to mind are a recent thread in the internet forum by a player that likes to get high and play like a maniac and a thread by Al Capone Junior discussing playing Craps for fun.
On a similar note the article says [ QUOTE ]
Because denial has little relationship to knowledge, merely providing information has hardly any impact on people's behavior. Those doctors had all the information, and they were trained to understand it, but they denied reality and foolishly believed, "Smoking won't kill me."
[/ QUOTE ]
I think most of the doctors don't think that "smoking won't kill [them]" but they simply don't care. They have weighed the pros and cons of smoking and have decided that it is worth the increased risk.
Just as there certainly are some doctors that have convinced themselves that they won't die of lung cancer there surely are some players that think they are good and are not. None the less there also plenty of people engaging in -EV behavior, they are aware of it and simply want to continue.
In fact my article about one explanation for this should appear next month.