Online Poker Study Finds Interesting Results

Poker News - January 13th, 2010 - Written By Bonnie

A recent study through Cornell University had targeted online poker. The findings were mildly controversial, if not entirely confusing. The study found that the more hands a player wins, the more they tend to lose.

Kyle Siler, a doctoral student in the field of sociology, analyzed 27 million hands from online poker rooms. His study found that it is more likely to win many hands through small stakes, but the player is more prone to large loses.

Siler had said that the findings "coincide[s] with observations in behavioral economics that people overweigh their frequent small games vis-a-vis occasional large losses, and vice versa." Simply put, streaks of small wins encourage the player to continue, but find that it still hurts when large losses over come their positive gains.

Siler also found that low stakes players tend to value small pairs, twos to sevens, over middle pairs, eights to jacks.

In order to conduct his study, Siler used the PokerTracker software while playing at low, medium, and high stakes tables of six-max Texas Hold'em. His study examined strategy, as well as how humans handle the doubt, risk, and uncertainty of the game.

"Riskiness may be profitable, especially in higher stakes games, but it also increases the variance and uncertainty of payoffs. Living one's life, calibrating multiple strategies, and managing a bankroll us particularly challenging when enduring wild and erratic swings in short-term luck and results."

Siler is a poker player himself, but has not said what Online Poker room he plays in.