Cyclical Luck

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Zedd:

I believe what happens is that many of these authors just don't understand how to play well. Put another way, they don't grasp the concepts that seperates the mediocre players from the experts.

But this creates a problem for them since they believe they are experts, yet don't do very well. This is especially true in loose games where they know their opponents are playing poorly yet their results are not very good. Thus, they look for other reasons to explain their results, and we see much of the nonsense that appears in the literature.

To give a specific example, in the 21st Century Edition of HPFAP there is what has become known as the "Ten-Nine Play" in the section on loose games. This strategy has been much debated on these forums and it is difficult for many players to grasp. However, it is correct.

Best wishes,
Mason