Everyone knows that winning poker involves a lot of luck. What I like so much about it is that there is actually a very complex skill game buried underneath that luck element. The opportunities to see 5 community cards, the opponent’s face, and their betting behavior… plus the ability to cleverly affect your opponent’s decisions… provide enough traction for the game to remain a skill game over the long-term.

Even with that traction, how can I develop a strategy when there is so much randomness clouding my analysis of the game? Developing a strategy necessitates separating my “legitimate” wins from my “lucky” wins, and my “legitimate” losses from my “unlucky” losses. There is no clear line to separate them, it’s more of a blurry gray area. Plus… my strategy must change depending on who my opponents are. There is no universally optimal poker strategy which works against everyone. I thought Go was a tough game to learn… this is a whole different world.

I just found a Q&A with the president of the ad team behind the Ray Ban viral video I blogged about earlier. He talks mostly about their strategies and concerns.

A great book about communicating, negotiating, or mediating negotiation. Not an entertaining read, but highly practical. Probably useful for anyone anywhere 5/5 stars.

I was just listening to a Stanford linguistics lecture on iTunes U. The lecturer described the cable news political debates as a “Crips versus Bloods” style of discussion. In other words, each side is entirely focused on standing up for their gang and winning the war. I don’t usually watch those shows but when I do, I am shocked at how one-sided each person is. Nobody ever admits weakness, admits that they might be wrong, or agrees with anything the other side says. They are so focused on “winning” that all they do is try to differentiate themselves from their opponent, make themselves look good, and make their opponent look bad.

If there is anything I’ve learned from all these business books I’m reading, it’s that seeking agreement is a great goal to have with you at all times. Our political landscape is extremely polarized and I believe that it is a result of the gang-like debates we see all around us: in the media, or at the lunch table. People want to “win” rather than agree. Winning is always nice, but it’s not as great a victory as agreement. When you agree, there is no loser and everyone wins.