Gambling Articles

February 13, 2010 - Yet Another Las Vegas Casino Timeline is available.

February 1, 2010 - Commentary on "Bayes' Bluff: Opponent Modeling in Poker" - Published in the February issue of the TwoPlusTwo Online Magazine.

Last time around I discussed a paper on optimal strategies for poker from the University of Alberta's Computer Poker Research Group (CPRG). This month I examine a paper from the same group on the issue of opponent modeling. It is titled, "Bayes' Bluff: Opponent Modeling in Poker". ...

January 22, 2010 - The updated list of the worst Las Vegas casino parking garages is available again. Enjoy.

December 27, 2009 - The Future of Binion's A commentary speculating on the future of Binion's after the closing of their hotel rooms.

December 1, 2009 - Commentary on "Approximating Game-Theoretic Optimal Strategies for Full-Scale Poker" - Published in the December issue of the TwoPlusTwo Online Magazine.

Over the last decade or so, the research group that has pushed furthest the frontiers of computer poker is the Computer Poker Research Group (CPRG) at the University of Alberta. The most visible member of the group is the lead author of the paper I will discuss in this month's column, Darse Billings. ...

November 13, 2009 - Considering CityCenter A commentary by Nick Christenson on the effect on Las Vegas of CityCenter.

November 1, 2009 - Echelon: A Dream Deferred A commentary by Nick Christenson on the shutting down of the Las Vegas Echelon construction project.

October 3, 2009 - Commentary on "The Endgame in Poker" - Published in the October issue of the TwoPlusTwo Online Magazine.

It's well known among those who follow tournament poker that Chris "Jesus" Ferguson won the main event at the World Series of Poker in 2000. What's not quite as well known is that in the previous year he was awarded his PhD in computer science from UCLA. Of course, it can't be a huge surprise that "Jesus" would obtain an advanced degree from UCLA, as his father, Thomas, teaches in the Mathematics department of the same school. Both have a professional interest in the branch of mathematics known as game theory, so it's not too surprising that they might collaborate on a paper titled The Endgame in Poker. ...

August 1, 2009 - Commentary on "Poker Superstars: Skill or Luck" - Originally published in the August issue of the August 2009 issue of the TwoPlusTwo Online Magazine.

A poker player's results during a limited time interval, such as a cash game session or single tournament, will be partially due to skill and partially due to luck. Over short time intervals, we expect results to be dominated by luck. Over time intervals that are sufficiently long, we expect skill to dominate results. For tournament poker, how many results do we need before we can be confident in saying that the poker players who have had the best results are the best tournament players? ...

June 1, 2009 - Commentary on "Abstraction Methods for Game Theoretic Poker" - Originally published in the June 2009 issue of the TwoPlusTwo Online Magazine.

In recent years, researchers in the fields of mathematics and computer science have been investigating better strategies for playing poker. In fact, I will make the prediction that going forward a majority of new breakthroughs in poker strategy will be accomplished on the basis of a combination of advanced mathematics and computer simulation. ...