True Poker Minds

This news article correctly shows the mind of a true poker player:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2008/jun/16/poker

No card sharp of any age should be stupid enough to play roulette. But this month, at the Victoria Casino in London (British poker's HQ), there are poker shrewdies round the wheel every night between midnight and 1am. Why? Because - damaged like all casinos by the smoking ban - the Vic is offering a crazy June promotion, where the number corresponding to the date (today it will be 16) is paid out, for that "happy hour", at 40-1.

The odds of it coming are 36-1. The offered price is usually 35-1. To pay better than true odds is revolutionary, and inadvisable for a casino. Smart poker players are in there every night, betting the relevant number as many times as possible. It's an interesting symbol of what good poker is all about: taking odds in your favour, bending chance under your will, and accepting that it might still beat you anyway. If you bet the "happy" number for £5 each time over 100 spins of the wheel, you could lose up to £500 and win up to £20,000. But you should win £50. It's like betting the full pot if your hand is any better than 2-1. Roulette is too dangerous to recommend, even during this June madness, but let it be a poker lesson in taking the beneficial price: if you lose anyway, you've still done the right thing.