Poker as a Skill Game: Rational vs Irrational Behaviors

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how rational and irrational behaviors influence outcomes in poker, highlighting their impact on game classification and player performance in a stylized Texas Hold'em setting.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of rational versus irrational player behaviors and their effects on poker outcomes and classification.

Findings

Rational and irrational behaviors significantly affect challenge outcomes.

Behavioral differences influence poker's classification as skill or gambling.

Irrational players perform differently than rational players in tournament settings.

Abstract

In many countries poker is one of the most popular card games. Although each variant of poker has its own rules, all involve the use of money to make the challenge meaningful. Nowadays, in the collective consciousness, some variants of poker are referred to as games of skill, others as gambling. A poker table can be viewed as a psychology lab, where human behavior can be observed and quantified. This work provides a preliminary analysis of the role of rationality in poker games, using a stylized version of Texas Hold'em. In particular, we compare the performance of two different kinds of players, i.e., rational vs irrational players, during a poker tournament. Results show that these behaviors (i.e., rationality and irrationality) affect both the outcomes of challenges and the way poker should be classified.