19 replies to this topic

[jten21]

Do you guys agree that if someone is successful in making money in poker online or live that they are usually bright people in general? i'm not talking book smart, but the best poker players in the world have minds that work very quickly and very well. I think working on my game and getting better has made me a smarter person in general. i dont know i'm half in the bag but i think i halfway know what im trying to say here.

[Smasharoo]

I know lots of people who are winning players who can't read.

[jten21]

like i said....i'm not talking book smart.

[btlee]

my IQ jumped from 64 to 73!!!

[KOKON Steel]

To the OP: yes. Generally. If this weren't the case I'm 78% sure that Forrest Gump would have been 18 minutes longer and delved into Forrest's triple-bracelet win in the '88 WSOP in H.O.R.S.E, PL Holdem and Omaha hi/lo. Since this didn't happen, I think Zemekis is on the same page as me.To Smash: people who can't read, or never tried to learn?

[jten21]

just thought of something...dustin hoffman counting cards in "Rainman" yeah good card players are the smartest people ever.

[MilesZS]

jten21 said:

just thought of something...dustin hoffman counting cards in "Rainman"  yeah good card players are the smartest people ever.

Quite a difference between playing cards and counting cards. You're just jealous that you can't do either.

[Smasharoo]

Quite a difference between playing cards and counting cards. Quite a diffrence between high functioning autistic savants and stupid people.Also, it's a fucking movie.Let's not forget that little tid bit.

[KOKON Steel]

I wish I was an idiot-savant. As it stands, I'm just an idiot.

[MilesZS]

Smasharoo said:

Quite a difference between playing cards and counting cards.  Quite a diffrence between high functioning autistic savants and stupid people.Also, it's a censored movie.Let's not forget that little tid bit.

Not that there haven't been autistics who could count cards.Nonetheless, it really has no bearing on the discussion.

[jten21]

The responses trying to one up the previous posters are in a way proving my point. well i guess they dont prove poker players are smart...but at least it proves they think they are.

[econ_tim]

I guess the right way to go about this question would be to collect data. Not sure if the Current Population Survey has "poker player" as an occupation category, though. The army gives all soldiers a comprehensive intelligence test, so we could get data on soldiers winnings in poker games (I hear they play a lot) and see if it is correlated with AFQT scores.Just an idea...

[jten21]

with every response my thesis grows stronger...

[steve7stud]

I'm sure that I've talked about this before. But I would say that 5% of people that play poker are winning players. Now that online poker has become so huge, that number could be at 10%. But that still leaves 90% of the world out there who are losing players. Does that make them stupid? No, not in my opinion. People play poker for various reasons. The basic skills that a person needs to consistantly win at poker are: math, discipline, money management, game selection, talent, and reading ability. Most winning players understand this.If you personally feel like you are becoming more intelligent because of poker, that's great. But poker is a specific activity, that requires a specific set of skills.

[TheTorpedo]

This goes to a basic question on what is "talent" and the short answer is that there are differnt types of talent. You can be a telented world class violinist and not be able to do algebra etc etcSuccessful poker needs certain talents, is there a correlation to general IQ I assume yes but a mid level correlation only

[Spademan]

The real rainman, who the movie was based on, could count cards. He also retains vast amounts of information, about 90 percent of the incredible amount of material that he has read. And he's read tons.That aside, I knew a guy that, at random times during the day, would stick a finger in his arse and then smell it. He called it "checking the oil". He was a winning poker player.So, draw your own conclusions.

[princeof56k]

While I agree that none of the top players are idiots, I dont think that means they're brilliant. They've learned how to make the correct plays through a lot of hard work and repetition.I actually think that a lot of very smart people are long term losing players because they over think the game. They think they're smarter than the game itself causing them to make several bad decisions.But even an idiot who is very good at making systematic decisions can be taught to beat the micro NL games.

[grass Da 55]

no, i'm pretty sure we can name several famous poker players that wouldn't score too high on an I.Q. test.antonio esfandiari,now everyone find one of their own....this is gona be fun.

[HatTrick]

jten21 said:

with every response my thesis grows stronger...

Well, not this one.

[AgroPoker]

Smasharoo said:

Quite a difference between playing cards and counting cards. Quite a diffrence between high functioning autistic savants and stupid people.Also, it's a censored movie.Let's not forget that little tid bit.

lol