Poker makes us smarter?

As I was playing I realized that I use a lot of math and think a lot while playing, challenging my brain to think a lot more than when I'm not playing (or in school, of course). If a person plays enough and actually takes the time to think while at the table, how much does this constant stimulation of the mind affect us away from the table in situations where critical thinking and/or decision making are crucial?

[DCWildcat]

I doubt it heightens our overall intelligence. It does, as you pointed out, probably lead to a few things:

1) A more fit brain that "thinks harder." There is a difference between soft, shallow thinking and strong, penetrating thinking, and every human smart or not has this capacity. Unfortunately, in my opinion, some of us are conditioned against it (i.e., in households/religions/etc. demanding strict obedience).

2) More efficient thinking. You have to make all of your decisions in a relatively quick timeframe, especially when multitabling. In marginal situations, practice with mental checklists, rather than panic, become important.

3) Most importantly, it helps us become better critical thinkers. For one, it helps us identify mistakes better (plugging leaks, reviewing others' play). But more so--and this is huge--it teaches us the relative value of mistakes. Some mistakes are worse than others. Recognizing not only the existence of errors but the relative magnitude of those errors is crucial for critical thinking, and its absence is one of the easiest ways to sniff out dumb folk.

[Songwind]

I agree with DC - it probably doesn't make you smarter, but it hones various parts of your intelligence.

Another thing that it does that he didn't mention is it gives your pattern recognition skills a workout. Board reading, picking up behaviors from your opponents, and even keeping an eye on your own tilt factor are aspects of pattern recognition.

Actually, given how much pattern recognition is in your standard IQ test, it might make your IQ score higher. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[donkeyradish]

On the contrary I think my brain shuts down in several areas when playing. It becomes a robotic exercise.

What it hones is my ability to concentrate, not ability to think rationally IMHO.

Research has shown among senior citizens that people that play games, cards, do puzzles ,etc retain their mental faculties longer.

I know this sounds obvious, but I think anything that you learn to do makes you smarter. For people not used to thinking in a certain way, poker may change the way you analyze situations; you also learn to do the analysis quickly. How much that carries over to the rest of your life depends on the person, the effort they put into learning and carrying that skill set over, and what kind of situations you get into away from the table.