Is poker gambling?

[Merovingian]

Luck is apparent in most any game out there to varying degrees, but at what point does a game become gambling and stop being one of skill?

Certainly Poker allows for more skill than a game such as roulette, however, perhaps less skill than a game like chess? Has Poker reached a point where it can be considered a game primarily skill?

Personally, I see skill as being an integral part of poker. The fact that consistent winners (professional players) exist, is reason enough to deem it a game primarily of skill.

Assuming that it *is* a game of skill, potentially a case could be made should the whole legislative move against online gambling start enforcing itself on a larger scale.

[TheRailbirds]

Poker is a form of gambling for the majority of poker players. If a player is deemed to be a losing player due to a lack of skill, he is certainly a gambler, not a poker player. Although poker can certainly mastered enought to turn a steady profit, if a person does not posses the necessary skills he may as well be playing in the pit.

mike
TheRailbirds

[Rosencrantz1]

It is a mistake to think that poker isn't gambling.

Why do you think gambling and skill are mutually exclusive?

Poker is ABSOLUTELY gambling. For everyone. Always. But just because it's gambling doesn't mean that there isn't skill, or that a skillful player can't be a consistent winner. There are many gambling games that involve far less skill -- or no skill. Poker, on the other hand, involves a high level of skill. But this doesn't mean that luck isn't part of the equation and it doesn't mean that it isn't gambling.


A skillful player will make many, many +EV moves while playing poker. Sometimes, he will still lose pots that he is favored to win -- bad luck. But, on average, over the long term, a +EV move will make him money.

[AlanBostick]

Poker is a game of skill. And, poker is a gambling game.

Knowing when to drive the betting hard because you're getting an overlay on every dollar you put into the pot is a skill. You're still gambling on whether or not you will have the best hand at the showdown.

[Merovingian]

On the contrary, I certainly don't think luck and skill are mutually exclusive traits in a game. My theory is that an amount of each is in all games, be it chess or dice. I do however, think that there are various and distinct amounts of each in the games. All games having a unique ratio of one to the other.

I mean to say, at what ratio of skill:luck does a game become one of skill or chance.

Sure, Poker certainly has elements of chance, and as you said there is also high level of skill. I am going past that it 'just has both', I am ascertaining wether one is more prevalent than the other. Also, if you can conclude that one is more apparent than the other, how much more does it have to be in order to make the particular game either chance or skill based?

You are saying poker is just a game of chance, that has elements of skill, I agree, however, surely one trait is dominant. If we can establish one as a dominant trait, how much more prevalent than the other does it have to be in order to associate the game with it?

[Merovingian]

The dealing of the cards and which ones will appear in your hand is 100% luck, however, the betting process would be almost 100% skill, as the amount you 'choose' to bet (or not bet) will have a direct result on how successful a player is, and unlike games such as roulette, the amount you bet can change the outcome. There is also the other aspect to the game of reading other players via tells etc.

The question could be is the aspect of the cards, or the aspects of bet decision and opponent analysis more integral to poker?

[uDevil]

The degree of skill involved isn't relevant. So long as the outcome is uncertain and there is something of value at stake, it is gambling.

So is poker gambling? You bet it is.

[HSB]

If you don't view poker as gambling then there is very little chance you can play it well.

[wegs the wegs]

Is investing in the stock market gambling?

Is playing poker much different than investing in the stock market?

[Freddy_Von]

[ QUOTE ]
Is investing in the stock market gambling?

Is playing poker much different than investing in the stock market?

[/ QUOTE ]

Poker is totally different then playing the stock market. First of all when playing the stock market...the market is the reason that your going to lose money and the decisions that are made in this world. You could lose all of your money in the stock market because you slept in one morning and didn't check the stocks. While poker you also control how much your willing to lose but the end result is totally random and you or anyone else has any control on what cards are going to be flipped. The stock market there are a board of directors or Alan Greenspan making the decisions that affect your money and it is very rarely random.