Is poker a game

[pookyman]

Look I think Moneymaker proved that it is just a game, when he whipped all the so called pros, and professors, etc. The single biggest factor in every tournament I ever played in was luck. You can make all the right reads, and statistical plays you want, but somewhere along the way you have to get lucky.

 

[MicheleW]

Like they say .. luck is a part of the game, but you'll never win a tournament with strictly luck. You need to make all the right moves - one mistake can take you out. One mis-step can cripple you fast.

Moneymaker to me is not an acceptional player - he needs many more years of play to become that. I do think he may have baffled many of the pros with his "online play" at a live table. Many young online players do that to the pros but you don't see alot of the young online players win consistently. And to make a living at poker, you need to be a consistent winner. JMO

 

[Jesus Lederer]

Look I think Moneymaker proved that it is just a game, when he whipped all the so called pros, and professors, etc. The single biggest factor in every tournament I ever played in was luck. You can make all the right reads, and statistical plays you want, but somewhere along the way you have to get lucky.

I don´t agree with you. I know that Moneymaker is an amateur, but he uses stuff like hand odds, pot odds, implied odds, position, stack size, recognizing players styles, their tells, etc. Maybe not like a pro, but i think he uses that stuff at the moment to make a decision.
I know that to win a tourney you need luck, but if you make the right reads and play a solid poker, you will finish in the top places (or in the money) too often. That makes a pro: playing a solid and consistant poker so you can finish at the top places and make a living with the game.
For example, you can quote Moneymaker and Raymer as the example of the opposite, but i can tell you for example that in that 2 wsop Main Event Dan Harrington placed 4th and 3rd. Or in the last year´s WSOP Lederer made 7 final tables. Also Negreanu played a solid poker along the Series. I can tell you the examples of Phil Hellmuth, Johny Chan and Doyle Brunson, who had won 9 WSOP titles. Or T.J Cloutier, who has won more than 50 major tournaments.
Yes, in a tourney you need luck to win, but the 1st place is not the only place that makes you a good player, specially if you won 1 tourney and nothing else.
As you said, poker is just a game, but all the games need skills and practice, and i also think that on every game the luck is a factor.
But as i said before, if you wanna play not using the mathematical factor, it´s your choice, and if you enjoy playing like that and you have fun, then it´s all right.

 

[Poker Player 100]

Its not all luck.


But yes you must agree that luck sometimes happens

 

[bubbasbestbabe]

If I think my hand has even the slightest hint of conncting with something I will play for the flop then decide what i want to do. Everybody talks about odds and percentages but most forget this is a game of chance and you sometimes need that little something, that breathe of Lady Luck on your neck. That's why the 7/2 offsuit will sometimes beat the AA

 

[twizzybop]

With the exception of the few that actually make their living playing poker, it's a game for the rest of us. Was playing a Maui SNG last night on Noble and I lost on pocket pairs in the first few hands. Hung around won a few hands but was getting a bit short on chips. Hadn't had a hand in about 20 minutes when I got J-T suited (spades) which looked good at the time. Called the big blind and the flop came Q-T-8 with 1 spade. I now had a gutshot straight draw, longshot flush draw, and middle pair. I checked and a player raised about the pot. I was tired of folding, and due for a catch, so I called. Anyway, I tripped tens on the river and beat his queens and eights. The guy started to freak and blame me for everything wrong with poker. He started to quote odds, etc. I ignored him for the most part (other than telling him "I won, you didn't, get over it").

My question is this: Do you folks really sit there with charts and tables to analyze every situation?
Yes and it is called reading the board, knowing your position, your opponents, what cards they like to bet with, and odds % of getting your particular hand. It all does work when it is actually applied.

I have never read a poker book, memorized an odds table or anything like that. I just look at every hand, the situation I'm in, and make what I think is the best play. If I was playing for a living I'd probably be a bit more scientific; however, I play for the enjoyment. When a sport (or a game) becomes work - I'll pass.
Then if it isn't a game please why are we keeping score?? You don't want to keep score then by all means stay at home at the table games where you can play for free.


Yes, I'd rather win than lose. Yes, I have made deposits at multiple sites so I'm risking my money. Yes, I don't like my pocket aces or kings losing. Yes, I have sucked out on the river. Yes, I've been sucked out by the river. In short, I'm gambling - sometimes I win and sometimes I don't.

Sounds counter productive, double standard when you SAY "I play for the enjoyment. When a sport (or a game) becomes work - I'll pass. "

If you can't take the game for what it is, a game of chance, and accept the outcomes - I suggest you find another pasttime...

Ummm luck comes and goes but knowledge stays forever. Skillfull knowledgable players will always beat the chancefull luck players.

Yet there is one thing some skillfull knowlegable players foget. That everyone has thier own style of playing. Yours is and I am just guessing that you are a loose player who plays every hand possible because you crave the action.

So yes there are players like me who strive to become better at what we do and yes there are players like you that just play the game cause you enjoy playing the game no matter the outcome of the game.

So I say keep enjoying the game, I will to. I just want to strive at becoming better at the game. So when someone like me questions why you did this or did that. Say "I enjoy playing my way".

 

[Kenzie 96]

Its a game. Jesus after you download Absolute let me know how many times it locks up your computer. I gave up & deleted them.

 

[newjerseykid99]

hell isnt it a sport now a days

 

[ChadBo21]

Poker is definantly a game of chance. I don't read poker books. There is a little skill involved but I think it's the luck of the cards.

 

[bsavy]

yes, poker is a game, but definitely not a sport