No matter which angle one takes when looking at any problem in the current age, game theory frequently has the answer. Both football and poker are in essence zero-sum games, which, in layman’s terms, means one’s gain in a given situation is exactly balanced by the losses of the other party. Since the nature of the game of both poker and football is essentially the same, this article will make an attempt to analyse the parallels and disparities between strategies for both disciplines. Quite frankly a lot of people who are drawn to football have a tendency to enjoy frequenting this website in order to have a bit of poker fun!
Most people are familiar with the general concepts of game theory and many will have a basic understanding about famous theories like the Prisoner’s Dilemma. In any case, the main objective for a non-cooperative situation is to find and employ the strategy that cannot be exploited, meaning no player can benefit from deviating from that particular strategy. To give an extreme example from our beloved sport, in May 1977 the final round of the First Division was played and although two out of the customary three relegates were already determined, the last one was still wide open. Namely Sunderland, Bristol, and Coventry were the three contestants, the latter two of which, as faith would have it, happened to be playing against one another on that crucial day.
According to most accounts of that match, there was a lot of passion from both sides, as one would expect from a game in which stakes are that high. This is why people enjoy playing poker on platforms like this. However, one peculiarity changed all that; because the Coventry-Bristol game ran late, the news that Sunderland had lost reached Highfield Road and both teams were certain to stay in the First Division if they drew. As one would expect, that is exactly how it played out. Neither team had any incentive to attack anymore as it could open up their defence and risk getting a goal against, which would almost certainly imply relegation. The point of this digression is that none of the teams had anything to gain from deviating from the strategy of ‘playing the game out’. The attentive reader will notice that in this particular scenario ceased to be a zero-sum game for the final stage of this match, but despite this idiosyncrasy it is still a great example of a strategy equilibrium.
Great short video that captures the intensity of the Coventry-Bristol City match delightfully
The case of poker is an exceptionally interesting one. Despite all computing power of the current age, No Limit Texas Hold’em cannot be solved from a game theoretical perspective, which is likely the best indicator of how complicated the game really is. Just like in football, any given situation is the result of an almost endless number of factors which have to be incorporated in choosing the best course of action. It is this unpredictability that makes online poker games like Pkv Games for example so popular.
In both disciplines, however, playing the equilibrium strategy is not necessarily the one with the highest payoff. This holds true exactly because of the fact that there are countless factors determining the optimal strategy – it implies the other player is very unlikely to be playing the equilibrium strategy either, and hence there is an incentive to deviate, exploiting the suboptimal strategy of the other player.
In football, an exploitative strategy could be something as simple as switching your fast-paced star winger to the other side of the pitch to match him up with the poorest defender of the other team, but could be as elaborate as switching your formation altogether because it capitalises better on your opponents’ weaknesses. In poker strategy terms, the deficiencies are commonly referred to as ‘leaks’ and they shape the appropriate counter strategy against such frailties.
When combining all these factors, it leads one to wonder what the equilibrium strategy for football looks like. The sport invariably has evolved a lot in its tactical aspects, as can be easily examined in the shifting that took place with respect to the most commonly employed formations. Some teams prosper playing an attractive, attacking style of football, as in the case for Barcelona. However, this is not a guarantee for success, as can be seen in the case of Arsenal. Wenger deserves credit for his philosophy of attractive football but it has not exactly resulted in a lot of sportive accomplishments.
Reassessing strategic options, Arsene?
On the other side of the coin we have managers like Jose Mourinho; conservative and often accused of resorting to ‘park-the-bus’ schemes when deemed necessary by the good man. As unfortunate as it is for the objective spectator, said tactics have resulted in numerous prizes, including two Champions League victories. He holds no secrets about his strategy to try and draw when playing away against the direct competitors for the title, and try to win the home match.
A parallel could be drawn to the concept of position in poker; being last to act on future streets has tremendous value and, conversely, being first to act is a major disadvantage in any given hand. This disparity is large to such an extent that whenever two similarly-skilled poker players play a hypothetical infinite amount of hands against each other, the match would undoubtedly result in both players winning money when in position, and losing when out of position. Trying to minimise the loss in hands played out of position and trying to maximise the winnings in position is therefore not very dissimilar from Mourinho’s home-and-away strategy. Feel free to take these useful tips online with sites like Viking Casino, feel free to send us some chips as a tip for all the info though!
Jose Mourinho’s tactics led people to create many memes from images like the one above.
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In conclusion, there are many similarities between strategies for a sport like football and a card game like poker, rooted in the fact that both have the zero-sum nature inherent in the disciplines. It is therefore not surprising that many professional players turn to poker as their pastime. Although neither has been solved indefinitely from a game theoretical perspective, it is safe to conclude that it is not necessary to do so for now. For the moment, in both poker and football playing exploitatively by adjusting to your opponent will likely yield the highest payoffs since nobody is employing the equilibrium strategy perfectly.
