[Article] Is Playing Poker ReallyGambling?

[Rekwob]

poker is gambling, and everyone hugely overestimates the edge even big winners have over other players

[PunterSThompson]

2/3 * 1 + 1/3 * -1 = 1/3 on your money.

Regarding the main question, the issue to me is one of semantics. When people say gamble they often take it to mean (in part) 'a game in which you expect to eventually lose', even though it's meaning really implies risk but says nothing about EV.

Regards, Punter

[paulcouto]

i want to hear more about the article of why u cant win in the long run because of the rake. anyone have a link?

i like to call texas holdem and other forms of poker, "educated gambling" or "selective pai gow".

[NotFadeAway]

[ QUOTE ]

However, there are certain factors to be observed - Odd, amount to bet, tendency of player, betting pattern, the amount of time an opponent take on certain hand, facial expression, shoulder level, eyes movement, the way they talk, and much more!...It is also true that you can lose the money even with these perfect observation skills. However, in a long term, professional players will generate tremendous income from these edge.


[/ QUOTE ]
What's this talk about observations and tells? Don't you know poker is meant to be played online?

[the_casino_kid]

[ QUOTE ]

Actually poker is a scam in most cases right now due to the high rake fees imposed at most sites. What i'm saying is after all the rake is paid only the sites are really winning.

And its true.

[/ QUOTE ]

your a moron, i beat the rake just fine.... maybe your just a [censored] player..

[Oblivious]

i really dont understand the significance of calling poker a "skill game." as if it makes it more healthy. poker and cards in general are legal in california because they are considered "skill games" and are some how partitioned from gambling. i really dont understand the distinction. are skill games those that require you to process info and make a critical decision? certainly you do this in blackjack, taking a -ev, so is blackjack a skill game or a gambling game? obviously its both, unless you want to redefine skill games as those where you make a decision and can have +ev. but then the gambling distinction is one of ev, not decision making.

anyway, back to op. yes poker is gambling because youre winning or losing money based on random events (ie the shuffle of cards). same is true with dice. just dont try to claim that its not gambling because its a skill game, because then you sound like an intellecture retarted moran.

[justscott]

Theres a rake?

[ChipWrecked]

Probably get flamed for quoting Gary Carson but I remember this quote from a long time ago in RGP:

You bet money on the turn of a card. That's gambling.

[gobbluth77]

It all depends on the definition of "gambling." When most people consider gambling, they only see an act of wagering money on something with an uncertain outcome. If you have any chance to lose your money, its gambling. But is it really gambling if you take an edge over and over and over again? If you flip a coin that somehow comes up heads 51% of the time and bet x amt of money on heads over a million times, is that really gambling? You know for a fact that you will be a winner. That's not gambling, that's just being smart. If you know beyond all doubt that you will be a winner, is that gambling? That's all poker is to winning players, taking advantage of +EV situations over and over again. Done correctly over enough trials, you will win. Is that really "gambling"?

[lamgabejambo]

This is why there is recreational poker for fun and gambling. Then there is professional playing which requires a lot of practice to be good enough to take advantage of those who plays recreationaly. I consider this higher form of poker call business. You don't see the pros getting drunk do you? It's because this is their "business" to entertain those who play for fun.