Marquez leads PCA Day 4; deception, decisions and disability

pca-marquez-deception-decisions-disabilityDay 4 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure saw the field shrink from 48 to 22. Ana Marquez, who started the day in 11th place, is not just the only woman still alive, she’s also top of the overall chip count with 3.805m. Just a hair’s breadth behind her is comeback kid, Chris Moneymaker, with 3.765m. Dmitriy Stelmak is third with 3.34m and Day 3 chip leader Chris Oliver is fourth with 3.275m. Mike Sowers was ahead of the pack until the second last level, when a flurry of action dropped him to fifth place and 3.18m. Max Lehmanski, who started Day 4 with the second tallest stack, did not survive the day. Day 5 gets underway at noon local time in the Bahamas.

Noted online game designer Jenova Chen has criticized other designers in his industry for doing “lazy work.” In an interview on the Playstation blog, Chen is critical of multiplayer games that don’t “stimulate a social activity,” choosing instead to just “duct tape on some online technology” to a kid’s game like Capture The Flag. Chen contrasts this approach with games like chess and poker, which are “very relevant and useful. People still play poker. Why? Because the skill of deception is useful for real life … strategic thinking is useful. Brain training games, fitness games…these have relevance.”

That last note about brain training is echoed in a Washington Times piece, in which the always relevant Michelle Minton gets to know the ‘online poker players next door.’ Among the snapshots of Mr. & Mrs. Average Poker Player, Minton throws in a quote from Annie Duke on the old skill v. luck argument. “Poker is a decision-making exercise. If you’re a better decision-maker than your opponents on whether to bet, raise or fold or call, or how much you’re supposed to raise, that’s what it’s about. … If I’m better in making those decisions than you are, then I’m going to win.”

Finally, if they’re good enough decision makers to make poker a career, pro players may someday be able to claim medical disability payments based on a lifetime on the felts. New research shows that people required to maintain a ‘neutral disposition’ on the job – police officers, lawyers, social workers, etc. – pay a physical price for suppressing their true emotions. It seems that maintaining a ‘poker face’ is hard work and takes a heavy toll. Don’t believe us? Take a look at Doyle Brunson’s driver’s license some time – the guy’s actually 22 years old.