5/8/07posted by Gene @ 6:53 AM

You would think that people who read the Freakonomics blog would be more analytical and discerning than the usual hysterical mobs one often sees in the blogosphere. And, I guess, in large part they probably are. But to read the comment thread of Stephen J. Dubner's post about the skill vs. luck debate in poker is to depress oneself. One commenter who obviously knows nothing about poker, the online gaming industry, or human nature dominates the thread with sub-moronic statements and accusations that insult the intelligence.

Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, who wrote of course wrote the best-selling Freakonomics, actually have a site called Pokernomics, which I'd heard of before but never investigated. They asked poker players to send them their hand-histories (they give instructions on how to send them your PokerTracker databases) so they could build up a massive collection of hands for analysis.

There was one problem--the hands they received came overwhelmingly from winning poker players. This makes sense, as winning players are likely to keep track of their play (such record-keeping helps explain WHY they're winners) and successful players are also more willing to share info on their stellar play than those who lose. So Levitt asked specifically for LOSING players to send their hand history databases so he'd have that data to work with. If, by some terrible twist of fate, you happen to be a losing poker player and you'd like to make some small contribution to the game (beyond, uh, the money you've lost) then consider sending your data to the Pokernomics site. It's all for the greater good.

Use the red button to download your free online poker game

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