The Mindwar Chronicles, Part 3

MATHEW CRAWFORD NOV 19, 2023 READ

Years ago, in what seems like a past life at this point, I worked for the largest stock option trading firm at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. One of the senior staff was world backgammon champion (1998) Howard Ring. His playing group was the strongest in the world, and included at least two other world champions. Howard had a reputation as an exceptional gambler and gamesman. Once in a while he would sit down at the poker table that sat in the corner of the office where young traders and trainers would practice the art of reading opponents and making rapid decisions. When he did, he was more interested in radiating his skill than whatever he might win in a pot.

But he would never play in a way that the probabilities, to his understanding, did not dictate as optimal.