Obvious observations and the Scientific Method

I haven't posted in a while after the Absolute thread started going downhill because of all the accusations that are thrown around without basis, and I thought there are a few things that need to be remembered that could help prevent further drama from occuring.

Poker is a math based game that has odds and probabilities, which means it is very simple to apply the principles of the scientific method to compare with the accepted values of odds and probabilities for every variation of poker. A while back someone had a large volume of hands recorded and the accepted percentages that those hands were supposed to win, versus the recorded winning percentages of the collected data. The results were very very similar. That thread should be stickied. If not then we should make another one. You can't argue with the figures.

Another easily forgotten fact is not everyone wins at poker. And there is more to it than paying your dues and gaining experience. You have to learn from your experiences and analyze hand after hand and sometimes even whole tournaments to advance not only your knowledge of the game, but your skill. And thats something people don't stop to think about.

Finally, the last point I will try to make is about the whole Absolute thing. Yes there was foul play involved, and it was glaringly obvious in the statistics that there was something wrong with the numbers which led to this whole shebang. People compiled hands and exchanged figures and the numbers were all out of whack, and look where it got them. Alot further than pointing fingers and rigged posts ever got anyone else lol.

I think we should sticky that old thread and the official absolute thread as a reminder of what happened and as a reminder of how statistics in poker can be a powerful tool.

Here perhaps is the thread that you alluded to.