What Is POKER?

Lots of people, new to poker and already hooked alike, often tend to have a 'wrong' perception of what poker is everything about. In view of the complexity of the game and the credibility it has had in the past this is not an unusual observation. Some think poker is everything about bluffing, others think it is all about luck. Some may still see poker as a gaming game played by suspicious people in odd basements fulled of cigarette smoke and lit by flickering lights. Others might perceive poker as a simple means to make a fortune, 'cause 'hey, that man on TV could do it too, right?'.

 

Although poker for one individual may not be exactly what it is everything about for the various other and for this reason there will not be a 'appropriate' answer to the question postured, this write-up will give you more insight into what poker could be everything about.

 

Poker is:

 

Decisions, choices ...

 

Poker is a game of choices. And the much better the choices you make are, the higher will be the chance of you ending up as a winner. Therefore playing winning poker is all about making as numerous of the most correct choices as possible and at the exact same time causing mistakes by your challengers. David Sklansky, a well know poker author (-ity), defined an error in poker as making a various decision than you would have made had you understood the precise cards of your challenger.

 

Nevertheless, even if you would understand the exact cards of your challenger it won't always be clear what precisely 'the' right decision is. Besides his/her cards, you also have incomplete information about your opponent's reaction to your decision. Therefore a mistake in poker would be making a various choice than you would have made if you had actually known the exact cards and the specific reaction of your challenger; a different play than the 'ideal play'.

 

A game of skill.

 

Sometimes the optimal play is simply a mathematical exercise such as calling all-in on a draw with the proper odds to do so.

 

Various other times the ideal play will be an issue of limiting your challenger's variety of hands as much as possible based on the cards that are exposed, his response to your choices earlier in the hand and/or your opponents betting pattern in addition to a matter of anticipating on his/her reaction based on every little thing you learn about this person.

 

And this is the element of ability in poker.

 

To come as close as possible to the ideal play with every choice you make takes a great deal of discipline and patience, digestive tracts in some cases. It's an art. And they state it takes a life time to master.

 

A game of possibility.

 

Often the optimum play may lead to you getting some or all your cash in the pot while being ahead in the hand. Nonetheless, if there are cards left to be dealt your opponent could still be able to improve to the better hand, or 'draw out on you' as it is so eloquently called.

 

Various other times you get dealt a terrific hand just to be beaten by a very unlikely much better hand of your challenger.

 

Which's the aspect of chance in poker.

 

An element of the game you can't control and often is the figuring out factor. It can make the seasoned professional lose from the newbie; make the optimal play lead to an overall loss.

 

A game of skill and chance.

 

There is and constantly will be a discussion about whether poker should be deemed a game of possibility or as a game of skill. Definitely with concerns to poker regulation (paying taxes) it frequently comes down to this concern. Both aspects, ability and possibility, are clearly represented in poker. However which one has the upper hand? Isn't it possible to lessen the impact of chance on completion result with ability and playing design? Definitely the influence of possibility on results will be bigger for somebody totally void of any understanding of poker than for the professional player? And larger for someone taking the smallest edges than for someone playing more conservative? And how does it compare with for example stock trading and beginning a business? There may be numerous stock traders out there depending more on possibility and having more 'gamble in them' than a great deal of poker players.

 

Today's poker.

 

Poker today is as available as it can be. Millions of individuals play poker, either live or over the net. And it is brought to many more by TELEVISION. Obscure? Maybe in the sense that some of these poker players are clicking hours on end with their pajamas still on and the drapes still closed while other individuals are delighting in a warm afternoon.

 

So exactly what is poker everything about?

 

Is it all about cash? The cash certainly includes enjoyment and feeling to the game. If you think poker is all about money, then you probably would desire to win as much as possible. And isn't the only thing you can do to achieve this trying to make the finest choices as frequently as possible? About bluffing then? In view of the above, bluffing is nothing more than a device to make the ideal play and/or causing mistakes from your opponents, now or in future hands. Exactly what about luck? Sure, luck belongs to the game. However how can a game that takes a life time to master be everything about luck?