It’s a question that’s been asked thousands of times through-out the history of poker and while many people offer various answers, I don’t have an answer for you today. I do however have a few more questions.

1/ Suppose I held a hat and placed ten pieces of paper inside. On nine I wrote your name and on one I wrote mine. I gave this hat to an unsuspecting random person and bet you $1000 that they would pull my name out before yours. Would you accept this bet?

(everyone please continue)

2/ Now suppose I held the same hat, but this time I instead wrote your name on 7 pieces of paper and my name on 3. I again give the hat to an unsuspecting random individual and bet you $1000 they would pull my name out of the hat before yours. Would you accept this bet?

(everyone except Phil Hellmuth and Simon Davis please continue)

Wow, you little gamblers! lol.. ok, let’s take it a step further.

3/ This time before any names are placed in the hat, we will both be taken to a private room and given an IQ test. Neither of us will know the other persons results, but our awesome unsuspecting random citizen will. Whoever scores highest on the IQ test will have 7 names placed in the hat and the other person will have 3 names. Before taking the IQ test I want to bet you $1000 that my name will be pulled out of the hat before yours. Would you accept this bet?

(Kevin Clark, MENSA members and ‘Cereus’ poker professionals please continue)

What if you accepted the bet and lost?

Did you have a higher IQ and simply get unlucky during the draw or did you have a lower IQ and lose because you only had 3 names in the hat?

If you lost would you bet me another $1000 to redraw?

How about if you won?

Did you just get lucky the first time or are you the most intelligent person in the world?

Are we gambling?

Disclaimer: It has not been proven that IQ and poker ability are co-related. No animals were harmed in the production of this blog.