Pool Player vs. Golfer vs. Chess Player

[Shaman]

The pool player is good enough to routinely run 6 balls in an open table 9-ball game and has had a couple of local pool club titles under his belt. The golfer has a handicap of +2 and has had a few amateur titles in his golf club. The chess player is rated 1,700. All three are reasonably balanced emotionally.

Assume that all three had a grade of B+ in Algebra and Geometry, and average IQ. None of them has played poker in his entire life.

You gave all three a copy of Gambling Theory and Other Topics, Getting the Best of It, Theory of Poker, and Small Stakes Holdem. Who would become a winning online 3-6 holdem player sooner? And how soon is soon?

And who is most likely to become a 1BB/hour per table player? How soon?

[chief444]

I like this one. My money's on the Chess player. With the pool player being the biggest underdog of the three.

I'm not sure what geometry has to do with poker. The cards are all rectangular.

[Hellmouth]

[ QUOTE ]
The pool player is good enough to routinely run 6 balls in an open table 9-ball game and has had a couple of local pool club titles under his belt. The golfer has a handicap of +2 and has had a few amateur titles in his golf club. The chess player is rated 1,700. All three are reasonably balanced emotionally.

Assume that all three had a grade of B+ in Algebra and Geometry, and average IQ. None of them has played poker in his entire life.

You gave all three a copy of Gambling Theory and Other Topics, Getting the Best of It, Theory of Poker, and Small Stakes Holdem. Who would become a winning online 3-6 holdem player sooner? And how soon is soon?

And who is most likely to become a 1BB/hour per table player? How soon?

[/ QUOTE ]

What is with all the questions? Are you trying to form an elite army of underpaid, underage, poker players? A little insight might make all of these posts a litte more tolerable.

Greg

[Hellmouth]

By the way, most of the questions you are asking are subjective and you are more than likely going to get information that is not very accurate.

Greg

[mcflog]

I say the golfer. Most chess players I know, are too intent on playing to such an exact method that they would not deal well with the variance and uncontrolled factors of poker(ie. making a proper decision and still losing). The pool players I don't really have a stong opinion on. I think the golfer has the best of it in this situation beause of the strategy and mental tasks to get to that level, plus golfers tend to have a little more gamble in them. For whatever reason golfers seem to take to poker and poker players seem to take to golf so.... As for how long it would take I'll let you know, I'm not quite a +2 yet(getting close though)on the golf, but I feel like the poker is coming along very nicely.

And yes as a golfer I'm biased so take it for what it's worth.

[chief444]

I suck at golf and poker. Maybe I should try chess and pool for a while.

[TripleH68]

[ QUOTE ]
I suck at golf and poker. Maybe I should try chess and pool for a while.

[/ QUOTE ]

ha ha ha ha. if you want to try pool look me up and bring a roll of $20s.

[chief444]

Mtdoak took my entire roll of $20's playing 3/6 Tuesday. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Benman]

I played some no-limit poker with a FIDE chess master (approx. 2250) for about a year in a home game. He was exactly as you describe--able to think carefully about the game, but totally uncreativey and unable to comprehend variance or losing. He was a big whiner an at best a small winner. That's just one guy, though, so make what you will of it.

[sinfulslick18]

I doubt Bobby Fischer could play a good game of poker. And if he lost we would not see him again for another 20 years.

-sinful

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
The pool player is good enough to routinely run 6 balls in an open table 9-ball game and has had a couple of local pool club titles under his belt. The golfer has a handicap of +2 and has had a few amateur titles in his golf club. The chess player is rated 1,700. All three are reasonably balanced emotionally.

Assume that all three had a grade of B+ in Algebra and Geometry, and average IQ. None of them has played poker in his entire life.

You gave all three a copy of Gambling Theory and Other Topics, Getting the Best of It, Theory of Poker, and Small Stakes Holdem. Who would become a winning online 3-6 holdem player sooner? And how soon is soon?

And who is most likely to become a 1BB/hour per table player? How soon?

[/ QUOTE ]

My money's on the chess player.

The pool player is a close second, and I would have made him the favorite if you asked who would be a winning mid/high stakes player sooner, especially in live play.

scrub

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The pool player is good enough to routinely run 6 balls in an open table 9-ball game and has had a couple of local pool club titles under his belt. The golfer has a handicap of +2 and has had a few amateur titles in his golf club. The chess player is rated 1,700. All three are reasonably balanced emotionally.

Assume that all three had a grade of B+ in Algebra and Geometry, and average IQ. None of them has played poker in his entire life.

You gave all three a copy of Gambling Theory and Other Topics, Getting the Best of It, Theory of Poker, and Small Stakes Holdem. Who would become a winning online 3-6 holdem player sooner? And how soon is soon?

And who is most likely to become a 1BB/hour per table player? How soon?

[/ QUOTE ]

My money's on the chess player.

The pool player is a close second, and I would have made him the favorite if you asked who would be a winning mid/high stakes player sooner, especially in live play.

scrub

[/ QUOTE ]

The highly rated chess players I've played with have played much better than the other chess players discussed in this thread.

The high level pool players have played better, though, in the sense that they tend to be a bit more creative and have better discipline.

scrub

[Jersey Nick]

A priest, a rabbi and a guy with a duck on his head walk into a bar. Shaman hands them each a copy of Gambling Theory and Other Topics, Getting the Best of It, Theory of Poker, and Small Stakes Holdem. Who would become drunk first?

The duck, of course.

But almost seriously Sha, the pool player is a lock. Any good pool player worth his salt already has a leg up from prior gambling experience.

[BigEndian]

I know a chess player who was rated 1800+ at one point and plays poker. He's decent, but hasn't advanced very far. I think he doesn't like the grind and lack of definition at the end.

I know a pool player who isn't very good at all. I can't get him to play poker.

My golf game sucks. But so do the cart girls when you tip them $50.

- Jim

[Jersey Nick]

[ QUOTE ]
What is with all the questions? Are you trying to form an elite army of underpaid, underage, poker players? A little insight might make all of these posts a litte more tolerable.
Greg

[/ QUOTE ]

Greg may be onto something, Sha. What are you looking for with all of these wacky hypothetical questions? Do you just like the way it looks when we reply to your posts?

[giant sand]

As a chess player who played at a standard of 1900 at my best, I've found poker (which I've been playing for 10 months) requires the same concentration levels as chess, as well as sound strategical thinking.

Chess players will tend to play uncreatively because in chess a single mistake can make all the difference, whereas in poker 'mistakes' can be made to define table image - something a concept chess players are likely to find difficult to grasp

I'm not sure about golf, but a pool hustler is likley to adapt well to poker, as both games have elements of gambling, and a pool hustler will know all about changing gears. I believe Amarillo Slim was a pool hustler before he took up poker seriously

[Garbonzo]

Chess, by far, and it's not close. Especially if they play alot of speed chess. They have much practice studying there arses off.

[Alexthegreat]

Practice and study should not come into the picture that much, as all 3 will have studied and practiced their games a great deal

Golf is a game played mostly against yourself and what other players do has little to no impact on your game...I would think they would have a hard time adjusting and changing gears, etc. etc.

Chess players are probably better suited to the game, but I think it would be very hard for them to play creatively...I could see a chess player being very good at low limit poker, where the play is pretty much always the same...But then again, Dan Harrington was apparently a pretty highly ranked chess player before he found hold'em

A pool player would have the easiest time acclimating himself as a poker player...He has gambled before, is used to the pressure of money being involved, will be able to adjust his game to the circumstances and, like chess players, is able to think many steps ahead of his next move....


So, yeah, Pool player, by a longshot

[kross]

I say pool player, and here's why:

Pool players know you can play perfectly and still lose. In 9-ball, you can break like King Kong's big brother, but if you don't make a ball, you'll probably lose that game. Or if some of the balls end up in clusters, and you have to play a safety. The other player proceeds to get lucky and kick the ball in and run out. The ability to know you played perfectly and still lost is a skill that translates well to poker.

Pool players know it's all about the long run. They understand short-term variance. No good pool player will play a single game for a large amount of cash. They will play many games. The more, the better. This is another skill that translates well to poker.

Pool players also have pretty good game selection skills. They usually don't want to "gamble". They will only put their money on the line if they think (sometimes incorrectly) that they are the clear favorite. Obviously this is a very important skill in poker.

-- Kevin

[Bremen]

[ QUOTE ]
Chess players will tend to play uncreatively because in chess a single mistake can make all the difference, whereas in poker 'mistakes' can be made to define table image - something a concept chess players are likely to find difficult to grasp

[/ QUOTE ]
I play the French almost exclusively vs e4. Needless to say I know all about making a mistake to define table image ;0) Btw I have about a 1700 rating and was actually a winning player with my first $50 party deposit (at NL hold'em SNGs, eventually busted it thinking I was better than I was though, lived learned)