When you tune into Poker Night in America, a new cable TV show debuting this spring, keep an eye out for a guy who looks a little bit more like a computer science professor than a professional card shark. He’ll probably be wearing wire frame glasses and a huge grin, since playing poker with seasoned professionals has been Hopkins prof (and poker obsessive) Avi Rubin’s dream ever since he started getting serious about the game a few years ago.
“I have to say, I’m pretty excited about this,” Rubin told the Hopkins Hub. “It’s been a dream of mine to play with some of these guys whom I’ve seen on TV many times.” It’ll be a match to watch, for sure – how often do you see a poker player who correctly uses “whom”?
The show pits well-known poker stars (including Greg Merson, a Maryland native who wore an Orioles jersey when he won the World Series of Poker in 2012) against eager amateurs like Rubin. “I feel like a kid who dreams of playing in the NBA, and suddenly gets a chance to play ball with the big boys,” Rubin says. “But in poker, since there is also an element of luck, I actually have a chance of winning, or at least surviving.”
Will Rubin’s impressive mind for numbers and skill with probability and game theory help give him the edge he needs to come out on top? Guess we’ll have to wait until the show airs to find out…
