[vypremik]

I started playing bridge when I was about ten years old and I have always enjoyed it. But I don't really look at it as the same type of game. Some notable differences:

1) Bridge is played with the entire deck. You need to keep track of the cards played and can always know what remains.

Poker is player with only a few cards and you can never know which cards are in play and out of play.

2) Bridge is a game of knowledge. Not only does the betting system reveal a lot about players hands, but one of the hands is fully exposed for all players to see.

Poker is a game of incomplete knowledge and best guesses.

3) Bridge has "correct" plays. There are certain plays you are supposed to make at certain times. If you fail to make the expected plays, you are thought of as a bad player. Although there is some variety, most decent players will play most hands almost the same way.

Poker can be played in many ways and won many ways

4) There is no unexpected or additional information in bridge after the deal. The hands are set. You can usually determine who is strongest and they will usually win the hand. There are no "bad beats" on the last card.

You can have a dominant hand in poker, you can be 98% to win with only one card left, you can play your hand perfectly, you can be the best player in the world - but when that last card comes, you can still lose to a bad beat.

5) Have you ever seen a bridge player bluff? Can you imagine what my partner would do to me if I overbet my opponents and claimed to have a good hand when I was sitting on trash? Bluffing has no place in bridge.

All poker players bluff - or at least they should.

Basically, poker is built to be a money game. I don't think it would work otherwise. There needs to be a threat of loss for the game to work.

If I have a chance to be top dog on the point chart and only have a 2% chance of doing it, I will probably take the chance if I have nothing to lose. If I have to put money on my 2% chance, it ain't happening.

Take away the risk of loss (and the monetary rewards), you take away the spirit of poker.

So, to make a long answer short - No.