Trading is enough risk for me but I did go through some Blackjack and Poker game books.... Too scared to trade in a poker house, reason is I feel that knowledge from books are always the minimal background needed to do business with. Trading is not easy... poker should be hard too... Unless, someone's willing to pay for all the losses in the poker house
I'm also a shy chicken @ poker As for me I like to play just for fun with friends @ Monopoly but if it is for real money I don't like to play and prefer trading to lotto or poker or casino games because I'm sure I will have an hedge More seriously as to make comparison with financial markets, there is another game that is used for understanding financial market: it is an african game named "Calebasse". You can find a description on a ... hedge fund site in fact @ http://www.advantage-finance.com/eng/eng_indx.htm Because it is simpler than poker it is easier to grasp the underlying concept of risk and tactics related to probability. I will detail this in foods for thoughts thread perharps tomorrow.
I have been a holdem player since 1994. Much longer than I have been trading. I agree with the similarities and the practice that poker can provide for the trader(beginner or experienced). In holdem you are going to get a new hand every 1-3 minutes. Thus, a very quick way to practice discipline! I would reccommend as dottom says to learn the game and treat your bankroll like a business(trading account). Additionally, I think that the lower limit games more accurately mirror trading. Because at the lower limit games, the players tend to play basic strategy and fall apart from there(your edge). Whereas in the higher limit games, the players tend to be beyond basic strategy and it becomes "he thinks that I think he has these cards, so I'll raise him so that he thinks that I have these cards". My style of trading allows for it, so, I sometimes play poker online during the trading day while waiting for a trades to setup or pan out. I find that it keeps me focused on staying disciplined in both trading and poker. On losing trading days, poker provides a nice small hedge for me FWIW the site I play at is www.paradisepoker.com (i have no connectionwith this site). The software is free. You can play in 'play" money games for free as well. However, you will find that play money games, like paper trading is nothing like the real thing. Good luck! Kempo Note to Gann--Blackjack and poker are very different. In blackjack you are competing against the casino's edge. In poker you are trading against the smiling fish(sucker) sitting next to you, not the house. That is your edge.
Thanks for all the recomendations on poker, sites and books; have been trading for a while .. not intra-day but swing and position trading equities and options. I am an intuitive/ discretionary trader; want to overhaul and re-evaluate some of the weaker aspects of my "game" and hone some of the stronger ones. Poker (played jst a little in Vegas and college, never seriously), seems an excellent way to do this; and to incorporate recreation, enjoyment and challenge into trading practice/preparation. And after watching the world series the past couple years does every trader not wonder if maybe he/she could be sitting at that final table someday. <smile> . Besides it's cold in Chicago, and dark; but, in a couple months will be warm in Vegas. So poker groundwork now will provide an excellent incentive to pull away from my trading war room, and take a much needed holiday. b.t.w. anyone play much in Vegas? Also anyone from Chicago know of any poker games here? Please let me know. Thanks.
kempo I have been wondering about online poker. When I lived in California I spent most of my spare time in the poker clubs. I really miss it. I would love to play online but have a lot of doubts about it. It would be so easy for people to team up, etc. It would be to the sites advantage to run an honest game so I imagine they would take steps to prevent this sort of thing. Are you assigned to games randomly? Would appreciate your comments regarding cheating etc.
easyrider; You pick your own table. There are statistics shown for each table, such as, %players/flop, avg pot size and hands/hr. so, you can base your decisions on that. Also, you can keep notes on individual players and base table seating on that as well. As far as the ability to cheat by teaming up with somebody, I suppose that it would be hard to stop(or maybe they know how to stop it). As far as the house cheating(they are based in Costa Rica!), take a look at the number of people playing and IMHO, the money they can make off the rake would motivate them to run a clean ship and have it grow. I am making steady money playing the $.50/$1.00 thru $2.00/$4.00 tables. I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm pretty confidant that I'm not being cheated. I also noticed, that the players get really tough from $3/$6 on up. So, I just cap it @ the $2/$4 tables. kempo
Once looked into blackjack; company said you cannot have winnings placed on your credit card... that you must request a check. Is this true? If so, wonder if this hampers managing account monies? Thanks
Online poker is a good place to start but I would recommend a real poker club. Not only is it more fun, but it tests your psychology more (although if you are a systems trader, online poker is quite similar). There are also many, many people who have speculated on degree of bad beats, the distribution of cards, use of bots, and collusion among other players (e.g. you and I sit next to each other and play; or I play two different players at once at the same table- not often enough to be detected by their automated systems). I've logged thousands of hours online over the years at ParadisePoker and use PokerStat to track my play and I'm still not convinced the game is 100% fair. I definitely see anomalies in hand distribution and % of certain types of winning hands (straights, flushes) over regular table (comparing statistics, not empirical observations. Another excellent poker forum with some of the legends and great authors in the industry is at: www.twoplustwo.com. Lots of discussion about online poker there as well as on the rec.gambling.poker groups (groups.google.com or Usenet if you have a news reader).