Slim’s Rule
Look around the table. If you don’t see a sucker, get up, because you’re the sucker.
Source: Poker champion Thomas Austin Preston Jr., a.k.a. 'Amarillo Slim', in Jon Winokur, Friendly Advice 1991
Financial wizard Warren E. Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., cited another version of this rule in a letter to shareholders: “As they say in poker ‘If you’ve been in the game thirty minutes and don’t know who the patsy is you’re the patsy’” (New York Times, August 17th 1991). He used the rule to illustrate his contention that investors who base their decisions on movements of stock prices rather than analysis of fundamental values are likely to get in trouble. Note: Berkshire Hathaway shares have the highest list price of any stock on the Wall Street exchange.
Poker players may also want to consider another tidbit of Amarillo Slim’s wisdom: “If you’re going to bluff make it a big one”.
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