Las Vegas, NV – Big news from the
World Series of Poker on Sunday night: statistician and writer
Nate Silver, best known as editor-in-chief of political analysis website
FiveThirtyEight, finished 2nd to poker pro
John Monnette in Event #16 – the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold'em Championship.
Silver pocketed
$151K for his 2nd-place performance, and Monnette took home $245K and his 4th gold bracelet.
At one point during heads-up play, Silver held a 2-to-1 chip lead over Monnette – roughly a 66% chance to win – but Monnette battled back for the victory.
FiveThirtyEight followers react
After the event, followers of Silver's popular website immediately began
questioning Nate's abilities and the
validity of the outcome.
“Listen, all I'm saying is that
the math doesn't add up,” claimed one man at the
Rio, oddly angrily. “You don't need to have a goddamn degree in statistics to know that
66% is bigger than 34%. It doesn't make any sense that he lost, and I frankly think it really reflects poorly on his math skills.”
A different man, also very angry, added “It makes me question if the whole thing
was even real to begin with! How do we know the cards weren't rigged? Were the chips even counted properly?
I WANT A RECOUNT!”
A third angry man overheard the second man and began a chant of “
RECOUNT! RECOUNT! RECOUNT!” before we informed him we were talking about a poker tournament and he settled down and left.
The original angry man continued, “Poker is all about playing the percentages, and
the percentages don't lie. You saw it. I saw it. Nate Silver had a 66% chance to win and John Monnette had a 34% chance to win.
Therefore, because 66% is bigger than 34%,
Nate was guaranteed to win the bracelet. I'm not saying whether any cheating went on or not, but I am saying something's up and
needs to be investigated. Because I know for damn sure, like I said –
66 is a bigger number than 34. You gonna dispute that?”
ALSO READ: Casino Employees Event Now Open To Anyone, But Be Prepared To Deal
Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets
Bet365 Review ⊕ Min Deposit: £5 ⊕ Expiry: 30 days ⊕ Min Odds: 1/5 (1.20)
Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply. The bonus code BET247 can be used during registration, but does not change the offer amount in any way. Registration Required.
Bet £10 and Get £30 In Free Bets
William Hill Review » ⊕ Min £10/€10/$10 stake ⊕ Expiry: 30 days ⊕ Min Odds: 1.5
18+. New customers using Promo code TOP30 only, Min £10/€10/$10 stake, min odds 1.5, free bets paid as 2 x £15/€15/$15, free bets credited after settlement of first qualifying bet, free bets will expire 30 days after the qualifying bet is settled, payment method/player/country restrictions apply.
DEPOSIT £10 GET £60 FREE PLAY
GG Poker Review » ⊕ Min Deposit: £10 ⊕ Limited period ⊕ $1 for ever $ in Rake
18+ GGPoker’s game currency is USD ($), other currencies such as GBP (£) are only used for illustrative purposes. Welcome Bonus and Honeymoon promotion for new players only over a limited period. Welcome Bonus only available to new players that make an initial deposit. Minimum deposit is $10/£10. £60 Free Play offer made up of $52.50 in free All-In Or Fold SNG tickets from Welcome Bonus and $2.50 in free tickets from Daily Freebie. Free tickets automatically credited to eligible players’ accounts over a 6 period. A 100% matched deposit bonus worth a maximum of $600 can be claimed by players selecting ‘Match Bonus’ when making their first deposit(s) over a limited period. Bonus cash is released at a rate of $1 for every $5 paid in net rake/tournament fees.