Poker in Sports Illustrated

[JTG51]

Poker really has hit the big time. There is an article about poker on TV in Sports Illustrated this week.

[Oski]

And look what's on the cover...women's soccer (It's pro league folded this week after the edition printed).

Actually, I am impressed as well.

Then again, Ive seen 10 page spreads in SI on jeopardy, bowling, darts and snake rustling.

[J.R.]

[ QUOTE ]
And look what's on the cover...women's soccer (It's pro league folded this week after the edition printed).

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps you should look again. /images/graemlins/blush.gif

[Oski]

Lol, The Bills. You wanna guess what's on NEXT week's cover?

[M.B.E.]

What did Sports Illustrated say about "Jeopardy!"?

Incidentally, decisions on daily-double wagering in "Jeopardy!" can be very interesting and are similar to some decisions in no-limit poker tournaments. By contrast, wagering decisions in the final-jeopardy round is more similar to decisions in a blackjack tournament.

And was the article on poker worth reading? It apparently isn't on the magazine's web site:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/magazine/cover/

[JoeU]

I think you need to bring the article the next time we play cards.

There was also the poker articke in Cigar Aficionado this month as well. They may post the article on-line.

Joe

[Oski]

[ QUOTE ]
What did Sports Illustrated say about "Jeopardy!"?


[/ QUOTE ]

That article appeared about 10 years ago. I just gave an overview of the game and the stress that the players go through before and duing the game. It also revealed how difficult it is just to get on the show, one has to pass a series of written tests, and prelim competitions.

I don't recall too much strategy (you have to check Sklansky on Quzshows, a.k.a Gameshows for Advanced Players). There was some intersting infomation about the types of subjects and sources contestants study to get ready for the game.

That's about it, it was a good article though.

[ElSapo]

Along this same line, I believe "Telling Lies and Getting Paid" has an interesting chapter on the correct strategy for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

[Homer]

Along this same line, I believe "Telling Lies and Getting Paid" has an interesting chapter on the correct strategy for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Would you believe that I was on that show? I guess I should have read that book as I only won $1000. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

-- Homer

[ElSapo]

Seriously? Do tell this story, please...

As for the strategy, as I recall it's correct but effectively doesn't work b/c of variance. I mean, you've really got one shot at the game, not like you can play again next week. So though the EV in some situations may call for a total guess, well... it's high in variance. Perhaps akin to when the lottery gets to be +EV but with such tremendous standard deviation that you'd have to play forever...

Forget all that though. Tell the story.

[lefty rosen]

They used to have articles on the World Series of Poker in the 1970's I remember reading these articles at the reference library, in their back issue stacks.....

[RockLobster]

Waiting with baited breath (is that the correct term?).

[Homer]

Let's see what I can remember...

I was on the show in January 1999, I believe. In order to get onto the show, you had to successfully get through two rounds of competition. Round One consisted of calling an 800 number and correctly answering three multiple choice questions. Players were eligible to try this once per day. If you passed Round One, you select a date in which you'd like to participate in Round Two. However, I don't believe everyone who completed Round One got to be in Round Two. I believe you just got entered into a lottery from which a certain amount of people were selected. Well, I was one of the lucky ones! In Round 2, you are asked 5 questions, which are in the format of the fastest finger question (you're given four things that you have to put into order). The top 10 players in Round Two got to be on the show. After I completed Round Two, I knew I had no chance of winning. However, I received a call from someone from the show, who stated that they were having everyone do it again because their system malfunctioned. So, I called again and the questions I got this time around happened to align with the small amount of knowledge in my head. About an hour after completing Round Two, I got a call from the show saying that I was in. The show was going to be taped in two days. Whoah, this is nuts! They asked me if I wanted to fly in or drive, and I said I'd like to be flown in since I had never been on a plane before. So, the next morning my Mom and I headed down to Philadelphia International Airport and took off on our long voyage to New York (okay, it was only a half-hour flight, if that). I was scared shitless as the plane we were in was very small, maybe a 20-seater (after having flown a few more times since then, it's safe to say that I am not a good flyer). So anyway, we got to the airport and oddly enough there was a chauffeur there holding a sign with my last name on it. My last name is not particularly common, so as my Mom and I walked by to hail a cab, I said in classic Simpsons fashion, "Hey that guy has the same last name as us!". Okay, just kidding, we hopped in and took our free lift to the hotel. Upon arrival, I had to go one of the other hotel rooms to meet some people who worked for the show, along with the other contestants. They gave us our per dium (which incidentally was not enough) and a sheet on which to write down our phone-a-friend names/phone numbers. I then headed back to my hotel room and made the necessary phone calls to get my 5 phone-a-friends. Unfortunately, since I didn't have much time to do this, I couldn't get all the people I wanted (i.e. - college professors). The next day we headed to the studio for taping. First, we met up with people working for the show to sign a bunch of forms and to be interviewed, so Regis would have stuff to talk to the contestants about. When all was said and done they had two things written on the card. One was that it was ironic that I hated flying but had just completed an internship with a company that made jet engines (I had just finished a summer internship with Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, CT). Secondly, they were going to mention that if I won it all, I planned to buy a winnebago and do a cross-country sports stadium tour over the next summer. Anyhoo, we got to have lunch after that, and then we headed down to the studio to check out the set. We got to do some practice fastest finger questions (I won like 2 out of 5 so I was feeling pretty good), got to meet the producer of the show, and got to sit in the hot seat (the most uncomfortable seat in the world, btw -- I almost fell out of the damn thing once I finally got into it) and do a few practice questions. Soon thereafter, the audience began to file in and we met Regis for about 1.2 seconds each. Upon meeting him I had two thoughts -- One, I think he's had some plastic surgery and two, he's not very tall. Then, just like that, the show started. Another player was still in the chair from the previous show and he lost rather quickly (though still won like 32,000 I think). Then, the fastest finger question was asked (btw, they ask it once then ask it again and display the answers, even though at home you only see them ask it once). I believe it was: Put the following shoe companies in order from oldest to newest -- Reebox, Converse, Nike, Adidas. I immediately thought Converse, Adidas, Reebox, Nike (I think, who knows) and punched in the four numbers and pressed OK. Ten seconds later I was standing up shaking Regis's hand as the next player on the hot seat. I was told that I had the second fastest time ever, at around 2.2 seconds. I then commented that I hope I don't suffer the same fate as the person who answered the fastest (she was on just a few days earlier and had answered in something ridiculous like .6 seconds -- unfortunately, she only won a grand, just like me. I guess that's what I get for making a comment like that). Anyhoo, that never showed up on the air because the edited out. They probably don't like contestants making fun of past contestants or something. I got the first question right, but don't remember what it was. The second one I completely choked on. I actually knew the answer when I watched it on TV later, and was wondering what the hell was wrong with me when it counted (probably something to do with being 19 and knowing the 20 million people are watching you, waiting for you to choke. As Otto said, "Don't choke, don't choke...ahh, I knew I was gonna choke!"). So, I used the ask the audience lifeline and like 99/100 people picked the correct answer. I felt like a tool, and rightfully so. The next question was about the Beatles, and next about the Simpsons. After easily answering these I was back on easy street, or so I thought. I had no idea what the answer was to the $2000 question (something to do with Garrison Keiller -- I don't know who the hell that is and probably never will), so I called a friend of fine and he said "Uhhh, I don't know." Damn it! Regis then called him dumb, but unfortunately that comment was edited out. That friend could really stand to have his ego bruised. So, I was forced to use the 50-50 on the $2000 question, sigh. I said "I think it's so and so", and I saw someone in the audience nod (thanks very much!) so I went with it and got it right. The $4000 asked where the tailhook scandal took place. Ironically, since I have no became a gambling addict, the answer was Vegas. I believe I said Washington (I was hoping at this level they were still going to make the answer obvious). So, that was that. I headed backstage and watched as the next guy also won only $1000. He came back with his smoking hot sister and she and I began to console him (hey, somebody console me already!). I found out about a month later that he had been invited back onto the show as the question that he lost on was deemed poorly phrased or something. He ended up winning $250,000. Yay for him! Now if only he would have sent half the cash and his hot sister over to my place! While sitting backstage I saw the producer and asked him if I could have one of the fake checks that they show you when you reach certain levels. He said sure and came back with a check with 1,000,000 written on it, crossed out, and 1,000 written in it's place. It's a nice little keepsake (I also have a T-shirt that says CONTESTANT in big letters on the back). Okay, I guess that's it. Probably much more than you wanted to hear, huh?

-- Homer

p.s. - Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I'm too lazy to read this over and fix them...

[felson]

[TimTimSalabim]

The show didn't start in the U.S. until September 1999. Other than that, I believe your story. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Homer]

Must have been January, 2000 then. Damn, I almost got away with it.

-- Homer

[eMarkM]

I think one of his main points on "Millionaire" strategy was this:

You have a 50/50 lifeline and are facing the 125K question and have no idea what the answer is. You can walk away with 64K. You have 32K guaranteed no matter what. Taking the 50/50, you've reduced the choices to a coin flip. Always guess in this spot. You're risking 32K to win 61K more on a 50/50 proposition, with a chance to win much more if you do guess correctly. Sure, you only have this one shot, but these odds are too good to pass up. But many contestants take the 64K rather than risk the guess.

[tiltboy]

Great story Homer. I didn't even mind the absence of paragraphs.

[Homer]

Great story Homer. I didn't even mind the absence of paragraphs.

It's hard to decide when to start a new paragraph when all you're doing is rambling. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

-- Homer

This is one rambling I enjoyed reading. /images/graemlins/cool.gif