Online Poker: Why We Play

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If my memory serves me correctly The Engineer requested an article some time ago about why we play. I finally got around to a draft. Suggestions for improvement appreciated.

Special thanks to a poster who wrote a great piece several years ago. His was in sections: 1. Poker as slot machine 2. Poker as Combat 3. Poker as Puzzle...etc.

Thanks to the Save the Family Websites...They have been a true inspiration. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


I would like to add a short section on political action like supporting the bills in congress, but its getting late...



Online Poker: Why We Play

It is estimated that over 70 million Americans play poker at least once a year. Much of poker’s recent surge in popularity is due to televised poker and the Internet, but a good deal of poker’s amazing popularity has to do with the game itself. Part I discusses a few of the reasons poker is a popular game. Part II discusses some of the advantage of playing poker online.

Part I: Poker

We Play Because We Can Win in the Long Run
Poker is very different than most other forms of gambling. In most other forms of gambling gamblers play against the casino (house). The casino always has an edge, so in the long run they are going to win and the gamblers lose. In poker you play against other players. You can win at poker in the long run, since you are playing against other players and simply need to be better than the average player you play against.

We Play to Have Control and our Decisions Matter
You have a great deal more control in poker than most other forms of gambling. On any given hand you may have as many as twenty decisions to make. You must decide whether to bet, check, call or fold on every betting round of the hands you decide to play. In no limit forms of poker you also decide how much to bet or raise.

In poker your decisions matter. Good players win in the long run simply because they make better decisions than their losing opponents. For example, an expert might fold a full house knowing he is beaten, where a poor player has to call simply because he has a full house.

We Play Because Poker Combines the Perfect Mix of Skill, Strategy, Psychology and Short-Term Luck
Poker combines the perfect combination of skill, strategy, psychology and short-term luck. Playing winning poker is both an art and science and thus appeals to both the logical and creative types. A combination of problem solving, calculating odds and logical analysis are needed to play the game successfully. To move up the skill later players must study their opponents, and make adjustments based on each opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

The best players do not play poker according to some simple basic strategy. They are constantly observing their opponents and adjusting their play according to how their opponents play. At the same time their opponents are studying them. This makes for an interesting cat and mouse game as the better players are constantly trying to out think and out play each other.

On any given day the worst player can defeat the best players in the world. Amateurs can sit right beside pros and have a chance to win. It is the short term luck factor that keeps the game exciting. Who wants to play a game of chess where the best player almost always wins?

We Play Because We are Constantly Learning and Improving
Poker has an endless learning curve. Even the world’s best players talk about learning something new every time they play. Experts often disagree on the best way to play a hand. So much goes into the play of a hand that players are often considering over half a dozen factors/criteria. Over one hundred books are available to help a player learn the basics and finer points of the game. Continually learning and improving as a player is one of the most rewarding aspects of the game.

We Play as an Act of Self-Expression
Each player will develop a style of play that is unique. No two players play exactly alike. The game also gives individuals an outlet for their alter ego. For example, a conservative accountant can come home from work, take off his suit and play a wild and aggressive style of poker.

Part II: Online Poker

We Play Online Poker Because of the Great Game Selection
On the larger Internet sites you can have over 50,000 players playing from all over the world. This gives every player at almost every level a huge choice of games, limits and tables. During primetime a player might have several thousand games to choose from at almost any limit they desire. A player at a card room or casino might have only one or two tables to choose from, if any.

We Play Online because We Don’t have to Wait
With so many tables to choose from you can usually be in a game within fifteen minutes. Driving to a card room or casino with only a few tables to choose from you often have to wait 1-2 hours to get in a game.

On the Internet you can play several tables at a time. The average online table deals over twice as many hands an hour as a live game. If you are playing three tables at a time you can play over six times as many hands in an hour than a live game. This alleviates a common problem a lot of players have, playing too many low quality starting hands out of boredom. For most successful players, waiting for quality starting hands is a big part of their success. Since you are getting many more hands to play, you don’t have to wait as long to find a good hand to play.

We Play Online to Learn How to Play
Most beginning players are intimidated to step into a card room. Playing online allows beginners to play for fun or for only a few dollars in micro-limit games as they are learning and developing confidence. In land based casinos you need at least a few hundred dollars to have enough to comfortably sit in even the smallest games, and you could easily be broke in a few hours. On the Internet $50-100 could last you months while you are learning the game.

We Play Online to Save Money
Driving a hundred mile round trip at the IRS rate of 50 cents a mile is $50. Most Internet sites charge $3 per hand or less. The cardrooms in Northern California charge $4 per hand plus $1 jackpot and it is customary to tip the dealer at least $1 for a total of $6 per hand. So winning twenty hands saves $60 plus the $50 saves the online player a total of $110.

We Play Online so We Can Relax for an Hour or Two After Work
Getting in a poker game online takes only a few minutes and saves the time, trouble and expense of driving. Since you have so little invested you can play for a few minutes or a few hours and quit. After driving to a card room or casino and waiting to get in a game most people feel obligated to play for many hours to have made the trip worth wild. The large majority of online poker players unwind after work by playing poker for a few hours a few days a week on the Internet.

We Play Online because We Want to Save Gas and Reduce Global Warming
The President has asked us to drive less. How are we supposed to do that without interesting and exciting things to do at home? Driving (or flying) to a casino wastes gas, time, and money. It also causes traffic, pollution, and global warming. Online gambling can do its small part to lower gasoline consumption, traffic, pollution and lesson global warming.

We Play Online to Save Lives
Many people drink when they gamble. Drunken driving deaths rose to 17,941 in 2006, the highest level in 14 years. Do you want your friends and family on the road with someone who has been drinking and gambling all day and/or night? With online gambling people who choose to drink and gamble can do so in the safety and comfort of their homes without endangering themselves and others.

We Play Online for the Children
Let’s face it. Many people, including parents, are going to develop a gambling problem with or without online gambling. I once rented a room from a mother of two wonderful elementary school age kids before online gambling existed. The mom would go out gambling 4-5 nights a week. She had a problem quitting when she was losing, so two or three times a week she would not be home when her kids got up to go to school. The kids were very sad that their mom had not come home and they had to get ready for school by themselves. She had a gambling problem and was obviously not mother of the year candidate, but at least if she had been playing online she would have been home with her kids.

We Play for the Shut-ins and Physically Handicapped
Shut-ins and Physically Handicapped generally have severely limited entertainment options. Online poker allows them the opportunity to play and interact with people from all over the world in a form of entertainment that can be fun, challenging and profitable.