I think last night’s debate showed that the obvious answer is Barrak Obama. Sorry for another only mildly poker related post so soon, but I would be remiss if I did not use my one and only bullhorn to a mass audience in an election as important as this.

Last night’s debate really showed how little emotional control John McCain really has. When you’re behind, in anything, the worst thing you can do is lose your cool. You can’t start acting all erattic on the poker table or in politics just because you’re taking some lumps.

Unfortunately for McCain, that is exactly what happened to him. He had fallen way behind over the course of the last few weeks. A combination of a crumbling economy and poor debate showings as well as myriad other factors gave Obama the boost he needed. On top of that, mere hours before last night’s debate, CNN revised their electoral map putting Virginia leaning toward the Obama camp; that was unthinkable for a republican in the recent past. Check out the link here. There’s even a slick little interactive map to tool around with

All that led to a belligerent, angry McCain. Obama, with his calm demeanor, just let him stomp and fume. He reasonably shot down McCains emotionally charged, ad hominem attacks. And with every relaxed retort, you could see the fluster on Johnny’s face. If I was at the table with him, I’d be check raising every round. All I can say is that McCain might do well to check out my post on the dangers of going on tilt. He’s already behind and a bad tilt now would clinch a victory for Obama

You can check out the debate here and judge for yourself.

or maybe their poker players simply aren’t as good.

A Mathematics professor in The Netherlands is arguing the status of poker under Dutch law according to this article. The Dutch Betting and Gaming Act recognizes poker as a “game of chance” on par with other casino games. It is not clearly stated in the article what difference this would make, but it seems obvious that its status would change in some way, legally, by moving it from the roulette category to that of chess.

Professor Ben Van der Genugten along with Peter Borm used a simple formula which they believe shows poker’s inherent skill.

Skill = Learning Effect/(Learning Effect + Chance Effect)

Learning Effect is the difference between an experienced player and an inexperienced one. In games of chance, the Skill value is zero. There is no difference between any two players ability to win, leaving a dividend of zero. According to this formula, poker scores a 0.4 which is better than fantasy sports.

Not much else is said about the ratings but it is an interesting development and could potentially have effects on poker’s legal status as a game in other coutries if a precedent is set in the land of wooden shoes.

This concept is another important aspect of poker; indeed, it’s crucial for any game that is to be taken seriously. The nature of poker, however, gives it even more weight. Everyone interacts with the metagame to some extent, though the very best players are conciously aware of it and understand its ins and outs as well as the game of poker itself. I have said many times before, these are the things that interest me most in any competitive situation. Poker is so rife with them, that I suspect it is the reason I like it so much.

But, this is a term some people may not be familiar with. As the title of this post suggests, it is derived from the greek (yes that is the only link to the movie 300, I just thought it was a funny pic to throw up there). “Meta” can be translated as “beyond”. It is usually used in English to indicate an abstraction of some sort, or to talk “about” something on a higher level than the subject itself. So, to talk about the metagame of poker is not to make reference to chips, hand values, betting, etc…. It is intended to refer to the broader arena of the game’s play.

Some examples might make this more clear. These are some meta concerns that most people are aware of, though they may not have realized that they could be classified as such; and, therefore, better understood.

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