In a recent paper, a scientist has found a mathematical model that accurately describes texas hold ‘em tournament results. The primary predictive variable appears to be stack size. This is not surprising — one would expect that the larger one’s stack size at any given point in the match, the better one’s finish would be. The model also found that there is an optimal percentage of time that one should go all-in, and this optimal precentage is higher the fewer chips one has left. This is also not surprising, as players that are behind in a tournament need to double up in order to continue in the tournament. What is surprising is that the distribution that underlies the model is a fairly common one. I would not have expected that any model that attempted to describe something as complex and varied as a poker tournament would be seen in any other — much less many other — areas of nature.

I predict that you’ll have fun playing in the sit-and-gos and multi-table tournaments at Full Tilt Poker, where new players get a 100% match up to $600 on their first deposit.