Earlier this year, we ran a story about how researchers tested monkey poker players to see if they possessed any skills on the felt. Interestingly enough, the Wolfgang Köhler Primate Research Center discovered that monkeys actually have the ability to figure out what other poker players are thinking. It appears as if monkey gambling is in full effect again since the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics put various primates through some interesting studies.

Rather than playing poker, this time the apes were gambling for pieces of fruit while choosing from upside-down cups that had been shuffled. This has been a popular game for centuries among humans, but until now, few realized that monkeys could play it too.

The primates could either play the game in hopes of picking the correct cup and winning a large piece of fruit, or they could take a guaranteed piece of fruit instead. When there were fewer cups on the table, most of the apes gambled to win a large piece of fruit. However, when researchers added a lot more cups to the game, which lowered the monkeys’ odds of winning, they wisely took the guaranteed piece of fruit.

The only exception to the latter is when the gambled fruit prize was so much larger than the guaranteed fruit that the apes couldn’t resist; this showed they have a strong ability to know when a big prize outweighs taking lowered odds.

It’s pretty incredible to see that monkeys have the ability to comprehend the complex thought process that humans go through when making gambling decisions. Furthermore, primates are the only form of life that can do this besides humans. And the way I’ve seen some humans play poker, monkeys might even make better gambling decisions.

With just a few days left in 2011, this seems like the appropriate time to do one of those cheesy ‘best poker stories of the year’ posts. So without further delay, here are some of the top stories that went down in the poker world this past year.

Erik Seidel obliterates the competition – For decades, Erik Seidel has been one of the premier poker players in the world, having got his start in the 80′s when poker wasn’t even cool. Even still, few could have foreseen the domination he would show in 2011 after winning several major poker tournament titles along with $6.5 million. Seidel’s unbelievable year, which included an Aussie Millions $250k High Roller win, an LA Poker Classic title, the NBC Heads-Up Championship crown, a Five Diamond Classic High Roller title, and numerous other near-wins might be the best year ever for a tournament player.

Phil Hellmuth’s Comeback – In a day and age where poker strategy is available to pretty every schmuck, it seems as if every amateur and semi-professional grinder has become an expert. And the recent assessment of Phil Hellmuth by these “experts” is that the game has passed him by. But suddenly, it was like Hellmuth heard these naysayers, and experienced a career revival at the 2011 WSOP. He finished second in three high-profile championship events, and restored his reputation in the process. Unfortunately, bracelet #12 still eludes him.

Triple Crown Winners – It’s tough enough winning one major poker tournament title…let alone a WSOP, WPT and EPT title (triple crown). Before this year, only Roland De Wolfe and Gavin Griffin had managed to win poker’s triple crown. However, both Bertrand Grospellier and Jake Cody managed to join this elite club after completing the last leg of the journey. Grospellier won the $10k Seven Card Stud Championship, while Cody won the WSOP Heads-Up Championship in 2011.

Welcome Epic Poker League – At first, I thought the Epic Poker League was a terrible idea because part of the allure of poker is that amateurs, in theory, can rise to become pros. And the EPL takes a totally different approach because only 200 professional players are invited to compete in the league, much like golf’s PGA. So far, the EPL is proving me wrong, and had a pretty successful initial year.

Pius Heinz wins 2011 WSOP Main Event – Few would’ve put their money on 22-year-old Pius Heinz to win the 2011 WSOP Main Event since he came onto the final table with the second smallest chip stack. However, Heinz showed plenty of resolve as he maneuvered through the final nine players, and onto the $8.7 million top prize after defeating Martin Staszko heads-up.