Can you read people like Phil Hellmuth?
In today's Daily Rewind we see why Phil Hellmuth's reading abilities could be a myth and learn how basketball helped Jason Mercier win $10 million.
Fact or fiction?
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| Read my body |
Think you've got reading abilities like Phil Hellmuth? Then a recent quiz created by researchers at the University of Chicago is your chance to prove it.
Designed to test our ability to spot whether someone is lying or not - or as the New York Times puts it spotting "tells" like a "poker player" - the quiz features ten people who have been told to respond to a question either truthfully or untruthfully.
The motive behind the research was to see whether or not reading body language is an effective security measure in airports.
After completing the study, Dr. Epley from the University of Chicago said that people overestimate their abilities (ahem, Mr. Hellmuth) and that "reading people's expressions can give you a little information, but you get so much more just by talking to them".
To take the test click here and make sure you let us know your results. (Earlier today I managed a pitiful 6/10).
Basketball coaching made Jason millions
Apparently if you want to be as good as Jason Mercier you need to coach a high school basketball team.
According to a recent blog post by the PokerStars pro, being the manager of a team was good preparation for his poker career in "a number of ways".
Describing how it's possible to feel "helpless during a game" as a coach, Jason goes on to liken this to staying composed and not tilting at the poker table.
He also explains that making adjustments to the team, but ultimately relying on their form that day, is like the run of variance and that not focusing on a positive few results are things that have helped him rack up $10 million in live earnings.
Aside from lamenting on his basketball days, Jason wrote about his plans to play the forthcoming SCOOP festival whilst enjoying himself at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.
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| Coach Jason |
Jamie's golden performance
Jamie Gold might not have done a lot for his own image within the poker community, but his recent interview with US news channel WPBF certainly helped promote a positive image of the game to the general public.
Interviewed in relation to the Mega Millions lottery which currently has a top prize of $400 million, Jamie explains that gambling on the lottery isn't the same as "gambling" at the poker table.
Explaining odds and chance like a seasoned pro, Jamie actually comes across like a reasoned analyst rather than a foolhardy gambler; something which should certainly help the image of both poker players and poker.
Question of the Day
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With Gus Hansen nowhere to be seen last night it was Viktor Blom's turn to top the latest high stakes loss leaderboard. Despite playing just 276 hands, the Swedish pro managed to drop $236,755 and finish the day ahead of Phil Galfond and Kyle Ray.
Profiting from the latest Blom blow-up was Hac Dang. The US grinder found himself comfortably atop of the winners table yesterday after raking in a healthy $340,030. Also finishing in the black on Monday was Phil Ivey and 'proudlikeagoat'.
Daily Signoff
Continuing our look at first tweets from last week, we thought we'd finish today with a selection of opening lines from three recognisable poker names.
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 Daniel Smyth has been working in the poker industry for six years as both a player and writer. He currently has a costly penchant for PLO and provides daily content for PokerStrategy.com. You can learn more about Daniel by clicking here.
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