Poker is Good for You

[jason1990]

There seem to be several negative reactions to this article throughout the forums. It may be that those who react positively are less likely to comment. So let me post my thoughts in an attempt to balance the negativity.

I thought this was an excellent article. (Typos should be fixed, though.) I actually sat down to write an article with this exact same theme two years ago. I got busy with other things and never finished it. The present article is substantially better than anything I could have come up with.

At its core, poker is just a game. It is a recreational competition between human beings. I believe such games, of all forms, are important for us as a people, because they provide an environment in which we can learn important lessons that can be carried over into the more serious competitions that constitute our life. Poker can teach us some very unique lessons that most other games cannot. For example, in poker it is possible to make all the right decisions and still have negative results in the short run. This phenomenon is so obviously ubiquitous in life in general, and yet many people are unable to deal with it properly. In life, we tend to think in terms of the following dichotomy: either a situation is governed by chance, or it is governed by our decisions. In the former case, it hardly matters what we do. In the latter case, it is important for us to make the right decisions. In poker, we see that this is a false dichotomy. In the short run, chance is the ruler. It is the dominant force in dictating the immediate outcome of things. And yet it is the farthest thing from the truth to say that our decisions hardly matter. In fact, it is just the opposite. Habitual bad decisions will ruin us. A successful poker player must constantly have his eye on the long run and be ever vigilant against bad habits whose effects may not be seen for a long time. Many people would benefit greatly from learning this lesson and carrying it over into the broader range of activities in their life.

I play poker in order to strive toward mastering the game. My goal is to constantly learn and improve. Not only do I strive toward mastering the strategy of the game, but I also strive toward mastering myself and my emotions. The lessons I learn as I travel this path are extremely important to me in other areas of my life.

I realize, however, that I am probably in the minority. Most people here, it seems, view poker and their reasons for playing poker very differently. Here are some quotes:

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Quote 1: Telling the world that poker is good for you is just BS. Poker is only good for those that can win.

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This poster clearly does not agree with me that the goal of playing poker is to strive toward mastering the game and mastering yourself. Perhaps for this poster, the goal of poker is simply to make a lot of money.

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Quote 2: In it's simplest form -- the goal [of poker] is to prey on the weak. Is that ok?

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This poster does not agree with me, either. He believes the goal is not only to make a lot of money, but to make it from weak people in a predatory fashion.

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Quote 3: Pokerstars plans to start a school to teach the fish. I think this is the worst possible idea, educate the fish....nice. They say on the website they are going to have forums, blogs, rankings, lessons from pros, videos, etc. Greg Raymer, Barry Greenstein, Joe hachem, etc are going to be teaching it.

I e-mailed them saying how bad i think the idea is and how much im agaisnt them teaching the fish.I hope everyone will too.

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For this poster, learning to master the game is important, but it is not the goal. It is simply a means toward the goal, which is to make a lot of money. To further the true goal (making money), we should in fact try to prevent others from learning about the game. Many people replied to this poster and disagreed, saying that Stars' school is not a bad idea. However, most of them argued that the school will not really teach people the game, but instead teach them only enough to give them a false sense of security. Therefore, the pool of losers will not be lessened, and we can continue to make a lot of money.

Sklansky and Schoonmaker have said that their article is not intended for the 2+2 readership. But I think it should be. Granted, many 2+2 members, in the course of their study, have learned the lessons described in the article. But many, perhaps most, do not focus enough on the intrinsic value of these lessons. These lessons are what poker is all about. It is not about preying on the weak, or making lots of money, unless you choose to make it about that.

From Dead Poets Society:
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Now, devotees may argue that one sport or game is inherently better than another. For me, sport is actually a chance for us to have other human beings push us to excel.

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