Need help with a science project topic.

[Bremen]

Um, do you really want to use gambling results for a 10th grade science project? There is a legal aspect and you could very well wind up with teachers thinking you have a gambling problem. You could use someone else's hand histories...

As for the variables, starting hand selection seems like a good one to me. With profit being the dependent one. A non player control group as well.

[TheSheath]

i am going to figure out which limit is better to play by comparing the style of the players, the profits being made, and other factors for some reason i cant think of them even tho i just had them in my head 2 minutes ago.

the the independent i thought would be the changing of the limits, the dependent would be the rate of winnings the control would be the .2/.4 limit and i would compare the .5/.10 to the .2/.4 limit. the constant is a hard one tho b/c in cards what stays the same? the game stays the same (texas holdem) so that could be it right?

now i dont' know how good my word is but i read up on poker (ssh, super system, these forums) so for 50 dollars in a pokerstars account playing .2/.4 limits and some .5/.10 limits would last a thousand some hands if i play well enough right?

also i should probably play like 500 .2/.4 and compare that to 500 .5/.10 hands correct?? of does it not really matter b/c overall they even out b/c like 100 profitable .2/.4 hands is like 25 profitable .5/.10 hands right?

thank you very much. i think this is going to be a lot of fun.

o and the whole 10th grade gambling thing - my teacher is pretty cool so i doubt i will have a problem doing this but if for some reason he says no than i guess its back to testing plants lol.

[LokiV]

500 hands is a pretty low sample I think. Increase it to 1000-2000 or more if you can.

[J.A.Sucker]

I don't think that you'll learn anything about poker and psychology from playing limits that small. More likely, you'll see that people's actions are pretty random, because, frankly, the players all suck. You may be better off sweating high-limit games and trying to get hand histories from them (I don't know if you can actually do this) - it'll be a much more interesting sample for you. Good luck on your project.

One thing to think about: science is a much more general thing than you seem to think it is. It's just simply taking a careful, systematic approach to try to answer why something happens in the world. This could be something like chemistry, but it could also be something like your poker experiment. These projects always teach you something, and that's really what it's all about.

[Zeno]

You would do well to reread J.A. Sucker's post and take his advice. The poker project could be interesting but you have practicality limits that may hamper your project that I think you need to consider - Time, money, sample size to name a few.

Also, science is not a constricting thought process - it is one that is engaging, open-ended and constantly expanding, and the most profound things are found in the seemingly simple or the everyday as J. A. Sucker so eloquently explained.

Ever seen a Mastodon’s tooth? What causes the inner glow in a fire opal? How many different animals do you swallow when you drink a glass of water from a tap compared to a slurp out of a mountain stream?

You are missing out on much more than know. Just something to think about.

-Zeno

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]
you seem to know what you are talking about.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I think that you could say that JASucker knows what he's talking about when it comes to science. JAS's background [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Dov]

You could try running 200 hands at each limit using the following betting patterns:

1. Play every hand.
Check and call all hands to showdown

2. Play every hand
Bet and raise every hand to showdown or no callers

Correlate the results and try to postulate reasons for them.

If nothing else, you'll learn the value of being aggressive at the table. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[JoeC]

Hah, I was actually just about to make a "you must be a science major" comment... I guess that pretty much answers the question.

[J.A.Sucker]

I also play a lot of poker, and pay my rent with it. I have thought a lot about the game, but frankly, it's just not the most interesting thing in the world, though I do make a lot of money playing. Science is unfairly maligned by many people as being stuffy and boring. This is complete bull, and a function of bad teachers in pre-college education, IMO. As Zeno pointed out, science is about doing whatever you really want, and studying it however you really want. What could be less stuffy and boring than taking a problem that YOU care about, and trying to figure out what the hell's going on?

[LokiV]

Agreed Sucker, science rules!

If he needs high limit games, someone who plays high limit could volunteer to give him hand histories. Unless they're afraid he will share their super secret techniques.

I would never want to turn this into a job, and it certainly isn't for the money..... but it does pay rent...... anyway, that's all.