Nashing in: Why poker players think like economists

 Nashing in: Why are poker players thinking like economists?


How can competition regulators predict what a merger between companies will do to consumers' prices? How can governments and tech giants design auctions that allocate online advertising space, telecommunications spectrum, or emissions trading permits? The answer lies in game theory modeling of firm behaviour.


Game theory is the study and analysis of situations where the best decision (or "strategy") between alternatives is dependent on the choices made orally by others. Although not all situations are this way, choosing what breakfast to eat is a decision that you make. This interdependence is common in real life games, hence the name "game theory". A penalty-taker in football might decide whether to shoot right, left, or straight down the middle depending on where she believes the goalkeeper will be diving. The same principle is common in economic situations. Firms may want to cut their competitors' prices slightly, for instance.


A Nash equilibrium is a game theory concept that analyzes these situations. It was named after John Nash who won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Russell Crowe starred as Nash in A Beautiful Mind. A Nash equilibrium describes a stable environment in which all participants make the best choices given their rivals' choices. In the case of merger models that competition regulators use, a Nash equilibrium would mean that all firms choose the prices that maximize their profits relative to the prices selected by other firms. The game theory and Nash equilibrium, which are fundamental to modern microeconomics, underpin how economists think about interdependent decisions.


Poker game theory:

Because poker is an obvious fit for game theory, the decision about when and how much you bet on depends not only on your own cards, but also on the cards of your opponents. This will also depend upon how your opponents plan to play the cards. John von Neumann (one of Nash's predecessors) tried to apply game theory in poker back in 1944.


However, poker players continued to ignore game theory for 60 years. While they had some knowledge of probabilities and odds, the majority relied on their practical experience to determine rules. They had a strong "feel" for poker, a command of body language, psychology, and other intangibles. The 2006 movie Casino Royale features James Bond saying, "In poker, it's not about playing your hand. You play the man across the table." How to Join an Online Poker Tournament

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