Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight Lesson Plan

Think for a moment about Geertz’s definition of "deep play". Apart from Balinese cockfighting, what other kinds of games or competitions which meet his description?

In "Deep Play", Geertz draws the titular concept from an essay by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham. In his own writing, the paradigmatic example of "deep play" was not cockfights specifically, but high-stakes gambling in general.

This example may serve for many students – Texas Hold'em could certainly be understood as "deep play" – but there are others which may not have anything to do with money. For fans of the Fast and Furious movie franchise, for example, there is street racing; for fans of boxing and...