California State University, Fresno Spring 2008 Mathematics Lecture Series presents STEVE BLEILER Portland State University “Schooling, Implicit Collusion, and the Fundamental Theorem of Poker, or What to do when the Guppies are eating the Sharks.” Friday, February 29, 2008 from 4:00 to 5:00PM Alice Peters Auditorium (UBC) Ever notice in some good poker games how the weakest players seem to always come out on top, while the strong players do poorly and mutter about how lucky their opponents are? This is no accident! There are powerful game-theoretic principles at work here, ones that, on the surface at least, appear to contradict Sklansky's famous Fundamental Theorem of Poker. We'll review these principles, exploring a bit of mathematical game theory (which is really not so much about games as it is about making correct decisions) along the way. Then we'll investigate their application, and finally develop the strategic adjustments a good player must make in order to prevail over one's opponents in this environment. Professor Bleiler was classically trained as a low dimensional topologist, but has also produced books and papers concerning group theory, differential geometry, combinatorics, and most recently quantum computation and games. Since receiving his PhD in 1981 at the University of Oregon, Professor Bleiler has held positions at the Universities of Texas, Utah, British Columbia and Melbourne and has been at Portland State University since 1988. In 2003 he received the PNW region's Distinguished Teaching Award from the MAA and he holds a John Elliot Allen Award for Distinguished Teaching from PSU. Over the years Professor Bleiler has held many service positions in our various professional organizations, including a stint as an MSRI Trustee. He also currently serves as US project Director for the Cascade Topology Seminar, which has been regularly meeting now for over two decades. Poker-wise, Professor Bleiler is a 7-year competitor at the WSOP, and has played in the WSOP's Championship Event twice (having won $10K buy-in seats via live play and on-line), finishing both years in approximately the 60th percentile. Summers at PSU, he offers a senior/1st year grad course in the Mathematics of Poker and Dave Bachman of Pitzer College and he are in the process of writing a book on Mathematics and Poker that will be appearing soon in Springer's series Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics. For further information call (559) 278-4009 or e-mail [email protected]

STEVE BLEILER - California State University, Fresno · STEVE BLEILER Portland State University “Schooling, Implicit Collusion, and the Fundamental Theorem of Poker, or What to do

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California State University, Fresno

Spring 2008 Mathematics Lecture Series

presents

STEVE BLEILER Portland State University

“Schooling, Implicit Collusion, and the Fundamental

Theorem of Poker, or What to

do when the Guppies are eating the Sharks.”

Friday, February 29, 2008 from 4:00 to 5:00PM

Alice Peters Auditorium (UBC)

Ever notice in some good poker games how the weakest players seem to always come out on top,

while the strong players do poorly and mutter about how lucky their opponents are? This is no

accident! There are powerful game-theoretic principles at work here, ones that, on the surface at

least, appear to contradict Sklansky's famous Fundamental Theorem of Poker. We'll review these

principles, exploring a bit of mathematical game theory (which is really not so much about games

as it is about making correct decisions) along the way. Then we'll investigate their application,

and finally develop the strategic adjustments a good player must make in order to prevail over

one's opponents in this environment.

Professor Bleiler was classically trained as a low dimensional topologist, but has also produced books and papers

concerning group theory, differential geometry, combinatorics, and most recently quantum computation and games. Since receiving his PhD in 1981 at the University of Oregon, Professor Bleiler has held positions at the Universities of

Texas, Utah, British Columbia and Melbourne and has been at Portland State University since 1988. In 2003 he received the PNW region's Distinguished Teaching Award from the MAA and he holds a John Elliot Allen Award for

Distinguished Teaching from PSU. Over the years Professor Bleiler has held many service positions in our various professional organizations, including a stint as an MSRI Trustee. He also currently serves as US project Director for the

Cascade Topology Seminar, which has been regularly meeting now for over two decades.

Poker-wise, Professor Bleiler is a 7-year competitor at the WSOP, and has played in the WSOP's Championship Event

twice (having won $10K buy-in seats via live play and on-line), finishing both years in approximately the 60th percentile. Summers at PSU, he offers a senior/1st year grad course in the Mathematics of Poker and Dave Bachman of

Pitzer College and he are in the process of writing a book on Mathematics and Poker that will be appearing soon in Springer's series Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics.

For further information call (559) 278-4009 or e-mail [email protected]