How to Play Poker...

VON NEUMANN, John (1903-1957). Two autograph letters signed ("John von Neumann") to Howard Blakeslee, the Institute for Advanced Study, School of Mathematics, Princeton, New Jersey, 22 August and 1 September, 1941. Appealing and very rare autograph letters by John von Neumann, one of the 20th centuries greatest mathematicians and additionally a key figure in the history of both game theory and computing. Von Neumann, who was soon to join the war effort with his work for the Manhattan Project, takes a break to be interviewed for an Associated Press article profiling him and focusing on poker. The article itself describes the circumstances best: "One of the world's ranking mathematicians, Prof. John von Neumann, of the Institute for Advanced Study, has found some mathematical rules that are useful in playing poker. / He is one of Einstein's colleagues. He is 38, born in Hungary, a naturalized American citizen, and knows the game himself. / His poker mathematics, done as recreation, are far from complete, but give answers to three questions that puzzle every poker player. The questions are when to bet high, when low and when to bluff." The letters present here are first a note from von Neumann to the journalist Howard Blakeslee, transmitting a handwritten draft which re-writes several sentences in the draft article; and second a full-page letter clarifying several mathematical points and agreeing to some simplifications. Von Neumann also includes, in his own hand, a data table of the frequencies of various hands of stud poker, both with 52 cards and when low value cards are excluded. He also provides the solutions for the top half, third and quarter of poker hands in both scenarios. The first letter is two pages, rectos only, one 12mo cover sheet on Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) stationery, one quarto sheet, plus four-page carbon typescript with a few autograph corrections. The second letter is two pages, quarto, rectos only, one page on IAS stationery and the second a sheet of graph paper with poker data table. [ WITH :] Small archive of retained copies and related correspondence to Howard Blakeslee, relating to the present article.

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