Playing Poker on the Enterprise as an outsider is asking to get your ass kicked, between Riker, who somehow has skills (or luck), Data who can predict the odds and, were he so inclined, do a sleight of hand, Worf who has a Poker Face of Stone, LaForge who can see your body’s reactions with his VISOR, Deanna who’s an empath and can probably detect a surge in your emotions. Oh and Dr. Crusher but like Riker she’s skilled (or lucky).

I think Riker is a good player because he’s played a LOT, simply because he enjoyed it, and developed skill that way. Plus, he’s a good observer of people and has that balance of audacity and recognising how far he can push his luck that’s necessary for effective bluffing. He’s a good poker player for the same reasons he got to be the first officer of the Enterprise, basically.

Data, early on, can easily be fooled by a halfway decent bluff, but later gets the hang of it - and Danny I am incensed by your suggestion that he would ever use sleight of hand to cheat. To do trick shuffles and look cool, certainly, but nobody cheats on the ENTERPRISE. Unless they’re, like, Lore, or Kyle Riker, or some other asshole. GOD Kyle Riker is an asshole. (You know, I think TNG is the Star Trek in which we know more about the characters’ parents and how they affected or didn’t affect the way they turned out than any other. Riker has managed to become a lovely person despite losing his mother early, being raised by an emotionally unavailable asshole, and taking years to realise that he needed a beard to complete his face. Lwaxana Troi is embarrassing and overbearing but has a heart of gold and a fantastic wardrobe. Deanna inherited the heart of gold but has dubious taste in clothes herself. Worf was orphaned early but was lucky enough to have foster parents who were loving and supportive, even if they couldn’t understand everything he was going through. He’s kind of a shitty parent himself but I do think Sergey and Helena’s parenting prevented him becoming completely closed off, miserable and angry as a kid. Data is probably lucky he can’t remember being raised by his parents because, while his mother was a lovely person and ADORABLE, his father was a distinctly dubious individual with control issues and a spot of egomania. And Picard, well, Picard’s Maman taught him to keep calm and have a cup of tea, and it has served him well in many a crisis.)

I wonder if Deanna consciously shuts off or ignores her psychic impressions while playing poker to be fair to the other players, or if she figures that the skill level of the other players compared with her own means it’s just evening the odds.

Data would not use his abilities against the Enterprise crew but if’s stuck in a Sleazy Alien Casino Molded After A Cheesy Novel or in 19th Century San Francisco all bets are off. or better yet bet on gold.

Picard’s Maman has a heart of Gold but his relationship with his father as glimpsed in Tapestry and mentioned in Family left a sour taste. As I recall Papa Picard wanted Jean-Luc to cease this nonsense about Starfleet and concentrate on the winery business. Which is funny because Picard is instilled a strong sense of the family name with the Picards who fought with (or was it against) Nelson at Trafalgar, the first Picards on the Moon or Mars, basically the whole swashbuckling adventurer Picards. I wonder if Maman read him stories of the family deeds or maybe an uncle Robert wasn’t fond of. Then of course there’s Robert and the distance they had for so long….