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Students learn to tilt life's odds in their favor

January 24, 2012

During the 2012 January Term, Prof. William J. Miller and his class are exploring the strategic interaction between gamblers.

J-Term class digs into minds of gamblers

Drawing on the insights of a renowned sociologist and his own 25-plus years of studying gamblers, Prof. William J. Miller is dealing students an ace they can hold onto for the hand of life.

As the title of the January Term course implies, students in Strategic Interaction of Gambling in Popular Books and Film analyze movies and read about pool hustling, poker and other kinds of bets. But rest assured, moms and dads, what they learn about strategic interaction can be utilized in many other ways.

The class is centered on the writings of sociologist Erving Goffman. He taught that people wear different figurative "masks," tailoring what information they give — both verbally and nonverbally — to the specific setting. One of those masks, according to Prof. Miller, is worn when gambling.

Gamblers' skills extend beyond learning which hands to raise or fold. They learn to read people and the cues they give off, said Prof. Miller, who teaches sociology and criminal justice. If students can refine that skill and identify what messages they're giving others, Prof. Miller said they'll have a leg up on anything from a first date to a job interview.

"That is a transferable skill into your personal and professional life that you can carry with you forever," he said.

Although the public policy aspects of gambling have been thoroughly researched and debated, Prof. Miller said he's drawn to the strategic interplay between the gamblers themselves. A regular at the poker tables, he is attuned to those cues.

Often messages are relayed unintentionally, he said, such as when a fellow player divulges what he or she does for a living. That can indicate whether the player is conservative or risky with his bets, he said. He also remembered a hand in which he correctly determined an opponent was bluffing simply because the man's stacks of chips were disorganized.

This is the first offering of the Strategic Interaction course. Prof. Miller said he liked the idea of using a hobby that's popular in college circles to help students understand how to present themselves — even in their dealings with professors.