Raise Your Game

Introducing “The Professional”

February 23, 2016 by The Professional

I’ve been playing poker for 16 years, with seven of them spent as a professional player. I enjoy card, video, and board games alike, and I’d describe my playing style as relentless. During my professional years, I played in several World Series of Poker tournaments, winning a gold bracelet in...

Gaming

If You’re Reading This, You Probably Didn’t Win the Powerball

February 8, 2016 by Todd

The buzz may be over, but let's take a look at what your odds were of winning the largest Powerball prize drawing to date anyway. The estimated jackpot was $1.5 Billion, which is more than the GDP of Djibouti (and 25 other countries). The problem with playing in a lottery...

Sports

Overtime: The Unconventional Decision to Kick

January 21, 2016 by Al

On December 27, 2015, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets were tied 20-20 after regulation and were headed to overtime. The Patriots won the coin toss and elected to kick off rather than receive the ball first. The decision startled the broadcasters, and most of America for...

Sports

Trading Win Percentage for a “Friendly Loss”

January 12, 2016 by Marc

On December 20, 2015, the New York Giants were set to face the undefeated Carolina Panthers. The game had huge implications for the Giants’ season – with just 3 games remaining in the season, they came into it tied with the Eagles and Redskins for the best record in the...

Poker

Pay Attention: Why Details Matter in No-Limit Holdem

January 5, 2016 by Scott

Here is the situation: At a nine handed NL Holdem Table, you are holding (A♦ T♦) in the Big Blind (BB) and you choose to call a pre-flop raise from a player who opened under the gun (UTG). The flop comes (K♦ 7 ♥ 4♦), giving you the nut flush...

Sports

A Volatility-based Drafting Strategy for Fantasy Football

December 22, 2015 by Ricky

At SIG, one of our main goals is to maximize expected value (EV) on a daily basis. In fantasy football (and all fantasy sports for that matter), the goal is the same, draft players that give us the most expected points. But I propose that there is another variable to...

Poker

Playing Poker with Your Hand Face-Up

December 7, 2015 by Jerrod

If you’re unfamiliar, check out a brief primer on the Stud 8 rules. Playing poker with your hand face-up is not very much fun. If you don’t believe it…try it and see! Or think of playing against an opponent whose hand is face-up. Wouldn’t that be fun (and very profitable)? In...

Gaming

Fighting Games & Trading: The Game within the Game

November 23, 2015 by Chris

At SIG, we most often compare trading to games of imperfect information, such as poker, where players possess different sets of information. This is in contrast to games of perfect information, such as chess, where players know everything about an opponent’s position and can respond sequentially to each of the...

Sports

The ‘Critical’ Decision of the 2015 World Series of Baseball – in Hindsight

November 12, 2015 by Al

The New York Mets recently lost Game 5 of the 2015 World Series to the Kansas City Royals. The Mets were actually leading 2-0 heading into the 9th inning. Their star pitcher, Matt Harvey, had pitched brilliantly for the previous 8 innings. At this point, the Mets’ manager, Terry Collins,...

Gaming

Board Games: More than Monopoly and Poker

November 5, 2015 by Jon

While poker is a great activity to hone some of the quantitative and psychological skills necessary to be a great trader, there are many other games that provide a deeper element of strategic thinking that we can also relate to trading. At SIG, we attract all sorts of gamers, including...