Betting against David Sklansky in an Intelligence Test for 25K

Is David Sklansky more intelligent than the world's best poker players? Would you bet on it?

Link (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3458961&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1&PHPSESSID=)
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"Wow, that's a big call. There's a notable lack of WSOP bracelets, especially recent ones. The fact that he wrote an excellent book analysing poker doesn't make him the most intelligent poker player. And it's not even close.

But that's beside the point. Great story."

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First I hope everyone realizes that WASN"T me.

As to your other point let me know when you want to pick anyone who has more bracelets than me to take the GRE Aptitude Test against me for a bet of 25K. You choose from among a hundred or so players. You can also choose whether we compete on only the math or the combined score. You can also choose whether we have the full time allotted on the math or any other fraction of YOUR choice. And if you don't choose Chris Ferguson I'll lay 6to 5.

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The conditions of the bet appear to be:

- GRE General Aptitude Test (http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=e1b42d3631df4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCR D&vgnextchannel=5416e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f951 90RCRD) against David Sklansky
- The opponent must have at least 4 WSOP bracelets.
- 25K, laying 6:5 if I don't pick Chris Ferguson
- You can pick just the math section, or total score.

He claims there are around 100 players who fit these criteria, I count 25 (http://www.pokertips.org/wsop/REPEATWINNERS)

Does anyone take this bet? Who's a worthy candidate?

[AJo Go All In]

i think the best bet would be chris ferguson even money, but i wouldn't take it

[Jordan Olsommer]

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Does anyone take this bet? Who's a worthy candidate?

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None of them except Jesus Ferguson, it would seem.

Although I would lay money on any of the following propositions:

- Sklansky vs. Hellmuth, Chair-throwing contest (distance in meters)
- Sklansky vs. Scotty Nguyen, Number of Times Participant Can Say "Baby" In One Minute
- Sklansky vs. Stu Ungar, Who is Less Alive? [I'd be willing to lay up to 10-to-1 on this one]
- Sklansky vs. TJ Cloutier, Sumo Wrestling (best of three)
- Sklansky vs. Phil Ivey, Overall Blackness (to be determined by a panel of blackness experts)

But the bet, as stated, doesn't seem all that great - if you had the pick of the litter of anybody on the tournament trail (or possibly anybody who has won >= 1 bracelet), I'm sure you could find some savant for whom the contest wouldn't even be close. As stated, though, I reckon the only one worth putting your money on would be Ferguson.

[MaxPower]

The GRE isn't an intelligence test and I'm sure Sklansky knows that. I would guess Sklansky could beat almost all of those 25 since most of them are out of practice in solving the type of problems on the test.

[TheWorstPlayer]

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I would guess Sklansky could beat almost all of those 25 since most of them are out of practice in solving the type of problems on the test...

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...whereas David sits around doing GRE-type problems all day long.

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The GRE isn't an intelligence test and I'm sure Sklansky knows that. I would guess Sklansky could beat almost all of those 25 since most of them are out of practice in solving the type of problems on the test.

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I agree, it's strongly biased toward math skills and acquired verbal reasoning, both of which are well developed as a poker author. I said as much in the other thread. Still, surely one of these players has enough of these to take him on /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

[Ghazban]

The GRE math portion was a joke; I aced it without studying, preparing, or not being hungover when I was applying to grad schools. I'd be very surprised if DS couldn't ace it almost every single time, too, thereby making him more or less unbeatable.

Maybe the GRE has gotten tougher in the past 5 years....

[slickpoppa]

The GRE math test is a bad test to use because it is too easy to get a perfect score.

[slickpoppa]

He doesn't have more bracelets that Sklansky, but I would take Chip Reese in that bet.

[TheWorstPlayer]

How many bracelets does Greenstein have? And to the poster who said he would take Chip Reese...if you weren't limited by the fact that they had to have at least 4 bracelets, you would take CHIP REESE? Is that the smartest person you can think of?!

[miami32]

I would take David out of the group of people you listed any day of the week. Jen Harman has no college education I believe and either way I would still take David even if she did. Howard Lederer has no math backround as well and I'm pretty sure he is out of practice. Andy Bloch imo would have to be your best chance and I would still take David. Hell, I would back David and still offer you 6:5 and give you two oppenents to pick.

[slickpoppa]

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How many bracelets does Greenstein have? And to the poster who said he would take Chip Reese...if you weren't limited by the fact that they had to have at least 4 bracelets, you would take CHIP REESE? Is that the smartest person you can think of?!

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No, he is not the smartest person I could think of, but I choose him in the spirit of choosing within the elite poker players other than Ferguson. If I could pick anyone who has played poker at some point, I could obviously come up with someone smarter.

[MaxPower]

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I would guess Sklansky could beat almost all of those 25 since most of them are out of practice in solving the type of problems on the test...

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...whereas David sits around doing GRE-type problems all day long.

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I would not be suprised if he did. Not all day long, but a lot more than most people. Then again, I don't know him at all.

[cwsiggy]

I'll take Lederer in a general knowledge test, but not math.

[Daliman]

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I'll take Lederer in a general knowledge test, but not math.

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Even though he is known as the Professor of poker, that is more for demeanor than anything else. Yes, he's brilliant and educated, but there are hundreds of poker players just as brilliant and educated that just don't happen to be as successful as him.

[goofball]

I wouldn't take that bet. I would only take that bet if I could choose out of all semi-professional or more poker players, and if I won in case of a push.

[BluffTHIS!]

*IF* I took this bet, which I probably wouldn't because I don't like taking prop bets from anyone without renegotiating the terms, then I would pick Barry Greenstein and choose the combined test and stipulate that the math time allotted be as small as possible. This is because although David is very articulate, his spelling and grammar often leave much to be desired, and the analytical writing portion mentions that standard components of english are a part of the grading, even keeping in mind that David would take more care in that test than in posting here. Even so, the bet would probably be close to even.

[BarronVangorToth]

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i think the best bet would be chris ferguson even money, but i wouldn't take it

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If I *had* to make the bet, I would pick Chris Ferguson ... but I'm not even sure I'd do that, as part of this is beating David - and it's very possible that both will get perfect scores, and tie <> beating.

Barron Vangor Toth
BarronVangorToth.com

[noggindoc]

why not actually use an IQ test?

Jen Harman was studying to be a doctor before she dropped out of university to become a pro. Chip Reese graduated from Dartmouth and was accepted to grad school (law) before he became a pro. Barry Greenstein almost has (does have?) a PHD in math.

Given my pick of any 'name' pros, I'd probably pick Paul Phillips, Barry Greenstein or Perry Friedman to go up against Sklansky.

[ChromePony]

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The GRE math portion was a joke; I aced it without studying, preparing, or not being hungover when I was applying to grad schools. I'd be very surprised if DS couldn't ace it almost every single time, too, thereby making him more or less unbeatable.

Maybe the GRE has gotten tougher in the past 5 years....

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Im getting ready to take the GREs now and the math is pretty comperable to SATs, Im confident that DS could ace it just about everytime, probably Jesus too. Most of those players are probably so out of touch with words that they would struggle with the verbal section since it basically tests vocabulary, so I cant see anyone stepping to the well versed author there either.

For a far more interesting challange how bout this one (http://math.scu.edu/putnam/):

Jesus v Sklansky
I wouldnt mind seeing how this would turn out, but my money is still on DS.

edit: Greenstein too

[NYplayer]

This is a setup. Sklansky tutors students studying for the GRE to make some extra cash. Huge edge just from the practice with these types of problems.

[Dave Mac]

applemen?