United States vs. North Korea in No-Limit Poker: Alligator Blood or Dead Money?

Abstract

Listen, heres the thing. If you cant spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker. This line from Mike McDermott,a high-stakes poker genius in the popular movie Rounders, highlights thefact that when playing no-limit poker, knowing your opponents is muchmore important than the strength of the cards you are dealt. In manyrespects, U.S.-North Korea confrontation over the past fifty-some yearsresembles no-limit poker play. The problem is that many in the U.S. nationalpolitical and defense circles do not see it; therefore allowing North Korea totake advantage of it and confront the superpower on an equal footing. Thelens of no-limit poker provides an attractive and easily understood tool foranalysis and explanation of the historical U.S.-North Korean confrontation.However, it does not provide a useful means for solving the confrontation.The United States must recognize the deficiency of the no-limit poker lensand find a more productive method for dealing with North Korea.