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2003 TOP OF THE TABLE ANNUAL MEETING

THE POKER FACE: USING GAME THEORY TO MAXIMIZE RESULTS
Greg Dinkin

I think we all have one teacher whom we never forget. And, for me, that was Mr. Baker, seventhgrade English. Mr. Baker had two passions, literature and discipline, but not necessarily in that
order. But his idea of discipline wasnt detention, it was if you did something wrong, you didnt
think critically or understand his literature, he made you stand in the corner of the room for a
half-hour with your nose to the wall.
So, one day, we were reading a short story, and the main character, or protagonist, was Bill. The
only thing you need to know about Bill is he was the only man in the village who had a gun. He
had all his prestige, all his power, all his esteem from this gun. So, one day he goes out in the
jungle, and a wild animal attacks him and he goes to fire. Somehow his gun doesnt fire right,
and he manages, in a brilliant display of courage, to kill this animal with his bare hands. So he
goes back to the village. What does he tell everyone about what transpired? Well, thats what
Mr. Baker wanted to know. So we took a pause in the story and said, OK, what does Bill tell
everybody? Well, Chrissy raised her hand and said, Oh Mr. Baker, call on me. I know. Im
honest. I would go tell the truth. I dont tell lies. Well, at that point, Mr. Baker had that vein
popping out of his forehead. He didnt seem to like Chrissys answer. But Randy was like the
Arnold Horshack from Welcome Back, Kotter. Oh, Mr. Baker, call on me, call on me. He
said, I know. He said, Mr. Baker, Id go back there and tell them how brave I was. Id really
play it up. Add a little bit of polish to the story, make it seem like it was an even bigger animal.
Well, now Mr. Baker continued to talk, the spit started coming from his mouth. He was not
happy with Chrissys or Randys answer. And I was scared to death of this man, but I figured Id
give it a shot. So I raised my hand, I said, I, I, I, I, I, Id, Id, Id. And before I would finish,
Mr. Baker screams, the spit coming out of his mouth, the vein popping, I didnt ask you what
you would do Greg, I asked you what the character would do. So I find myself in the corner of
the room, my nose up there, thinking about it, with Mr. Bakers spit all over me.
I was in seventh grade, I didnt know what to think. But it wasnt until a few years later that I
started playing poker that I began to understand what Mr. Baker meant. The greatest lesson that I
learned from playing poker professionally is you have to see things through the eyes of others. If
you can walk in someones shoes, if you can walk in Bills shoes and say, he gets all his prestige,
all his power from having that gun, it becomes very obvious what he would do. And once you
can walk in someone elses shoes, it makes things much easier to get what you want.
So the topic of my speech is game theory. You may have seen A Beautiful Mind with John
Nash, who won a Nobel Prize for it. Perhaps the prisoners dilemma. It combines math and
psychology to make decisions based on games. The primary insight, and Ill say this over and
over again, is you must walk in the shoes of other people to see things from their perspective.

So why am I here? Unfortunately, were not going to get a chance to play poker. But Im going
to show you how to be a better communicator. How to be a better decision-maker. The No. 1
skill, walk in another persons shoes.
Now, there are some casinos in the Palm Springs area. I dont know if youve ventured out yet,
but if you want my advice on gambling, that will come at the end of my speech. Top secret
advice, stay tuned.
Anyone see the movie Rounders with Matt Damon and John Malkovich? Show of hands. If
you saw the movie, you know that when John Malkovich opened up his Oreo cookie and licked
the icing, he was bluffing. Its called a tell. And Matt Damon was able to figure that out. In
poker, you have all sorts of tells. Some people hold their breath if theyre bluffing. Some people
cant look at you. They may light a cigarette. Thats called a tell. Any sort of involuntary,
nonverbal cue, or verbal, even, that lets you know what theyre doing.
So the primary rule of tells is, weak is strong and strong is weak. In poker, if a person is betting
aggressively, looking at you acting very strong, what theyre trying to do is get you out of the pot
because theyre weak. They want you to fold. The person who bets and kind of looks away and
starts whistling acting weak is generally strong to suck you into the pot. And you see this
premise all the time in everyday life.
If a person says, Im going to sue you to high heaven, pretty safe bet he doesnt have an
attorney. And we all know about the guy who tells you hes making money hand over fist in the
market. Pretty good chance a margin call is right around the corner for him. Strong is weak
because, generally, if we feel weak about something, we overcompensate by acting strong.
So, as far as the art of tells go, when youre trying to learn about a prospect, a competitor, a
client, a co-worker, three things you need to understand. First of all, know the character.
Remember the story about Bill and Mr. Baker? People are very consistent. They have a
predictable pattern of behavior. If someone acts a certain way one time, theyre generally going
to act that way in the future. Secondly, know his or her motives. Do they have a reason to lie?
Prospects generally do. They want a better price. They want a better fee. Do they have a reason
to lie, is there a motive? Then lastly is actually tells. Body language, nonverbals, things like that.
When you combine all three, it allows you to get a better read on a person.
The answer to any situation in poker, in insurance, in dating, is always it depends. For all the
five-step processes and yes/no, black and white, rarely is the answer to any question set. Its
based on the circumstance. So Mike Caro, who wrote a book specifically on tells in poker, say
weak is strong and strong is weak. But Maya Angelou said, When someone tells you who they
are, believe them. Totally dissenting views, right? Well, whom do you believe? It depends. If
someone acts strong, does that mean weak? If someone acts strong, does that mean strong?
Another one of my favorite movies is a movie called Swingers with John Favreau and Vince
Vaughn. Two actors in their 20s, broke, decide to go to Vegas for the night. And they put on
suits, and theyre trying to act the high roller part. And Mike brings his last $300 with him.
Theyve got this plan to go in and act cool and get comped. So they go in, and the first table he

goes up to, a blackjack, is $100 minimum. So, at this point, he needs to save face, he bets $100.
Firsthand, what does he get? Eleven. What does Trent say, Youve got 11, what do you do on
11? Double down. You always double down on 11. You always split aces and eights, right?
Well, in this particular situation, for him to double down, that represents one-third of his life
savings. On the turn of a card. Well, what should he do? The answer to whether you double
down or not is, it depends. Yes, over time, mathematically your expected value is positive if you
double down, but in this particular case, do you really want to put another third of your life
savings on this card? Sure enough, he doubles down. This is Hollywood. Dealer makes 21, and
he loses.
But what you need to remember from that is there are no rules. When youre in a situation, you
need to adapt and take that it depends philosophy.
The fundamental attribution error, the biggest flaw, I think, when reading a person is to look at
one variable. My friend Doc, who has been playing poker for 25 years, graduated from Harvard
Medical School. The worst poker player Ive ever met. My friends and I send a limousine to
bring him to the game, but that doesnt make sense. He went to Harvard; hes a doctor. His
experience, shouldnt he be good in poker? No. People want to think that one attribute transfers
to another. It doesnt always work that way.
Bill Gates, during the comDesk convention in Las Vegas, was spotted playing $6 and $12 limit
Texas hold em at the Mirage. Based on that one bit of information, you would think that Bill
Gates isnt very rich. He was also losing. Based on that one piece of information, you would
think Bill Gates isnt very smart. Would that be a good read on Bill Gates? Poor and dumb.
Probably not. But we always want to look at one thing and think that transfers. The person who
cant look you in the eye. Well youve studied tells, youve studied buy-or-sells. A person who
cant look me in the eye must be lying. Well, then you go home and you look in the mirror and
you realize the last time you blew your nose, you missed a little something. That could be the
reason why they couldnt look you in the eye. Not because they were lying.
Very relevant to our last speaker is processing multiple variables. You watch CNBC, youre
going to have five experts giving you the reason why the stock market is going up or pick their
stock is going up. Another expert giving you five reasons why its going down. All these
variables when youre looking at especially the stock market. Fundamental analysis, technical
analysis, the economy, the political. Which one determines whether the market goes up? All of
them. Dinkins law of variables. For every expert opinion, theres a dissenting expert opinion.
The best decision-makers can take everything in.
What the heck is an FTE? I was working with this other group to give a speech. This woman
kept saying, Ive got 90 FTEs and 60 in San Diego. I had no idea what she was talking about. I
thought she meant fried tomatoes in eggplant. She actually meant full time employees, but I
didnt know because we get so caught up in our own industries, and especially in insurance.
From the welcome event from last night, Ive been listening to some of these conversations and
had no idea what you people were saying 401, 612b. We get so caught up in our own
language that we dont walk in the shoes of other people to try to understand from their

perspective. And we think, rather than saying, Im telling you something, you need to get it. The
approach should be: How can I present the information so that you do get it?
My high school basketball coach, the best advice he ever gave me was because I was very fancy.
You want a no-look and behind-the-back. If you throw a no-look pass and your teammate isnt
looking and drops it, whose fault is that? And what he told me is a good pass is one thats
received. And as a writer, if I write something, and someone doesnt understand it, you want to
just say: You dont get it. Whats your problem? The problem is in the messenger. A good pass
is one thats received. When youre communicating, we get so hung up on our own presentation
in what we want to say, we dont stop to say: Hey, is this person getting what were saying? It
comes back to the old adage, the customer is never wrong.
Mirror and matching. This, to me, is like Jedi mind stuff in terms of mirroring and matching.
You see a couple in bar, you say theyre vibing each other. You see people getting along, what is
that? Well, when people are actually getting along and have chemistry, you hear that term, their
movements and their body language everything actually starts to mirror each other.
Well, in a sales situation, in a business situation, you can actually create that vibe by mirroring
another persons behavior. In fact, last night at dinner, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Bill
Irvin. I made fun of him the whole night. It was great. He makes fun of people, I made fun of
him. Did I just say his name wrong? Dale Irvin. So much for that joke. Hell get me for it.
He makes fun of people. I made fun of him. I wrote a book with Amarillo Slim, a great cowboy.
For a year, I just spoke in cowboy talk. Let me tell you, Im closer to that boy than 19 is to 20.
And we developed a comfort level because we mirrored each others behavior. He spoke in a
certain way, a certain set of language, and by mirroring that we developed this close relationship.
Hes going to get me for that, Dale, huh?
In a sales situation. No means no in New York. In LA, yes means no. Oh, I love your
screenplay, its great. That means youre not getting a return phone call. And I find even in
business, if Im dealing with people in New York, right to the point. They dont want to mess
around. If Im dealing with people in the Midwest I realize Im generalizing because I do take
an it depends approach but, generally speaking, Ill speak slower, Ill develop more rapport.
The vocabulary and acronyms, weve talked about that. A case of what? Insurance people use the
word case. Case of beer? Case of peanuts? We think our language is everybody elses, but
walk in the other persons shoes.
And then in terms of visuals or charts, emotion and feelings. In sales, youve heard, what do you
call it, buyer styles or personality types. Whatever your personality type is or your buyer style is,
you will sell most effectively to a person with a similar buying style. So if youre highly
analytical and into charts and graphs and your prospect is the same way, you will probably sell
that person. The problem is, if youre very emotional and thats how you sell, and theyre
analytical, thats where you have a problem.
Well, at some level, youve got to stick with what works for you. The other side of it is walk in
their shoes, and find out how they need to be sold and how they need to be talked to. Because if

someone tries to sell me a car, I dont want to look under the hood. Youre wasting your time. In
that situation, Im looking more not at the actual car itself, but the emotion of it. The numbers,
things like that. So part of it is your presentation and part of it is understanding your buyer.
Best example of mirroring and matching. My friend Matt wanted to be stockbroker. Thats all he
wanted to do. And he had an interview set up with Merrill Lynch, and he managed to dupe them
into an interview in spite of the fact that their requirement was you had to be a college graduate.
And he wasnt a college graduate. And it was baggage for him. So I said, Matt, what do you
think the guy from Merrill Lynch cares about? He said, He cares if I went to college or not.
No he doesnt. He cares about one thing. Making money. Whats the terminology in that
business for people who make money? Producers. So Matt walked into that meeting and used the
word producer at least a dozen times.
I want to be the biggest producer in the office. I want to make money. Im going to produce.
Im going to be a big producer. Im going to be the biggest producer. I want to make money for
you. Use it 12 times, I guarantee he will never ask if you went to college or not. Guarantee it.
Sure enough. Because Matts problem was he was concerned that he didnt go to college. That
was his own issue. The guy from Merrill Lynch didnt care. He wanted someone to say, Ill run
through a wall, Ill make 500 cold calls a day and I will be the biggest producer in your office.
Well, Matt used the word producer a dozen times, and he got the job. Hes currently being
investigated by the SEC, but he got the job.
In a selling situation, we think people ask questions because they want more information.
Boloney. Questions are a trap. My best friend is a photographer. A customer says, Do you shoot
digital? Well, believe me, that person is asking that question for a reason. When they ask if you
shoot digital, its either because they want digital or they dont. So how do you answer that
question? How do you know? You dont, so you reverse. Do you shoot digital? Oh, thats a
good question, why do you ask? Well, the reason I ask is my best friend, Sally, just had a
wedding, and they shot digital and they ruined everything. It was the worst pictures I ever saw.
So, do you shoot digital? Brians answer is going to change. Hes a film guy, no digital for him.
Now, if Brian only did digital, of course, hey its not a qualified prospect. He needs to send her
on her way. But, generally speaking, if someone is asking you a question, theyre trying to trap
you. And what you can do is reverse and get more information. Or theyre trying to test you.
Im a literary agent. I was talking to an author and the author said, and I was with my business
partner Frank, and the author said, Frank, who do you think should write the foreword? And
Im sitting there going, Frank, reverse, reverse, reverse. Because the guy, when he said it, he
couldnt wait to tell you who he thought should write the foreword. So Im going, reverse,
reverse, reverse. And Frank said, Well, I think Terry McMillan would be a good choice. And
he said, Whom do you think? And the guy said Tom Brokaw. He didnt wait a half-second. He
thought Tom Brokaw. Now, if he asked me and said, Greg, who do you think should write the
foreword? Its a trap or hes trying to eliminate me. So what am I going to do? Going to reverse.
Dave, great question. Who do you think should write the foreword? Well, I think Tom
Brokaw would be a good choice. I agree. In this case, I agree. Tom Brokaw would be great.
Dave, if we can get Tom Brokaw, I think hed be a great choice.

So, when someone asks you a difficult question, one thing you can do is reverse. Another
technique is a third-party story, something I call feel, felt, found. Its a great question. I
understand how you feel, other prospects have felt the same way. What they found was And
that allows you to use an example from a third party to address their question.
The third thing you do, with nothing wrong, saying, I dont know the answer, but Ill find out.
And what I find, whenever I leave a meeting, I leave with an agenda. You had these three
questions. When I get back to my office, Im going to do this, this and this. Generally I use a lot
of e-mail. When that person gets back to their office, the e-mail is sitting in their inbox. And I
find theres no better way to establish trust than to make a promise and keep a promise right off
the bat.
Well, Mr. Baker was a great teacher. Miss Stein was also one of my not-so-favorite teachers.
And whenever I had a question in fourth grade, Id raise my hand, and Miss Stein would just
point to the sign on the wall. Drove me crazy. And the sign said, Its worth reading. If you wait
for people to finish speaking before you interrupt, 90 percent of the time your question will be
answered by the time they finish speaking. I didnt like that when I was in fourth grade. But Ill
tell you, Miss Stein was right. And especially type A, aggressive personality salespeople we
want to sell. These are the benefits. This is what we have. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Give our
presentation. What we dont do is stop to actually listen to what the person is saying.
Eric Seidel was a top poker player. Very stingy on advice. Hes a top player, doesnt want to tell
people his secrets. Finally, I was nagging him for advice, he said, Ill give you one piece of
advice: Be aware.
So from Miss Stein and Eric Seidel, be aware means listening. Be aware means watching
your environment, watching for tells, watching for nonverbals. Be aware.
Before I get to my top-secret advice on gambling, I just want to impart a little wisdom from
Warren Buffet. Youve seen it. If youve been playing poker for a half-hour and you still dont
know who the patsy is, youre the patsy. So before youre ready to test your skills, keep that in
mind.
OK, my final words of wisdom for all you would-be gamblers out there. It comes from Steve
Winn, the godfather of Las Vegas. Built the Mirage, built Bellagios, building a new hotel. And
really took Vegas into the 21st century. So if you want to make money in the casino, according
to Steve Winn, own one. Thank you.

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to the use of any new sales material with your clients.