[duh]

> And the third and most important reason of course, is that your moves have to be backed up by appropriate bets using your table stakes, exposing you to real risks and rewards

This is the most important line of the article, in my opinion.

First step to learning how to play this game is setting goals for yourself which will expose you to real risk if you were to try to achieve them in earnest.

In the tech world the most common place this sort of game is played out is the recruiter/engineer relationship. Spineless developers are favorite targets for sociopath recruiters. Next time one of them calls you, treat it like a game in which you are trying to dominate him or her.

[DTrejo]

Are you saying the recruiters manipulate developers into working for them?

[duh]

Most of the time, yeah. The margins are massive. Most developers are terrible negotiators who roll over for $40-75/hour (and think they are getting a great deal), when recruiters and consulting firms routinely charge their clients $150+/hr on the back end. It's pretty easy to see why the word "loser" is used in the article to describe these people.

[gaius]

You can use this to your advantage in permanent roles where the recruiter's cut is a percentage of your starting salary.

[duh]

That's right, one of the first steps to becoming a ruthless sociopath is to align your interests with the right people. IT could learn a few things from the pro sports/entertainment worlds. A good engineer ("rockstar", as it were) can easily make their corporate overlords just as much money as a real rock star or pro athlete.