Physical poker

Interesting thoughts from Darius Wei:

Fencing is often referred to as a game of “physical chess.” I personally prefer “physical poker.” In chess, every player has access to the same information on the board. In poker the amount of information is limited and asymmetric; each player knows their own hand and the cards on the table, but does not have access to their opponents’ hands. Information is revealed over time with the turn of each card, and a seemingly-strong position can become weak very quickly.

Top poker players win far more consistently than luck would allow. They do so by clearly understanding their odds of success in any situation, controlling both strong and weak positions in a manner that allows them to minimize the former and profit from the latter. They fold a large number of hands so nobody can see what cards they would prefer to play. Occasionally they will bluff, betting aggressively on a weak hand to scare opponents into folding. Or they will slow-play, betting weakly on a strong hand to raise their opponents’ confidence and trap them into betting heavily.

Your goal as a fencer should be to control as many elements of the game as you can. You have some degree of influence over aspects of the game other than yourself: opponents, referees, and even the clock can be manipulated to one degree or another.

(from a foil training clinic handout: http://gallery.mailchimp.com/61027fc0feb381fe80b88101e/files/CFTC_Handout.pdf)