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