The psychologist Ellen Langer once had subjects engage in a betting game against either a self-assured, well-dressed opponent or a shy and badly dressed opponent (in Langers delightful phrasing, the dapper or the schnook condition), and she found that her subjects bet far more aggressively when they played against the schnook. They looked at their awkward opponent and thought, Im better than he is. Yet the game was pure chance: all the players did was draw cards at random from a deck, and see who had the high hand.
