Poker: Skill game, or luck?

I LOVE poker. I play in a tournament weekly and have come away with hundreds of dollars from it. I'd play every day if I could find more games. And it never ceases to amaze me how much these kids who come into the bar to play seem to think that it is really a sport, or even a game of skill. Granted it does take a certain degree of skill and experience to play competently but this can be attained by almost anyone. Don't get me wrong, poker isn't roulette, craps, or blackjack. It isnt gambling. There is a great degree of subtlty involved and unlike games like blackjack there is not any "best" way to play, allowing players great freedom and creativity. But this can only carry you so far, as the winner is usually decided by the cards, which are completely random. Yes, you can watch the player react to the cards, look for tells, but in the end, I believe it to be more luck than anything. Rounders, while an excellent film, got the whole country's to give poker far too much credit.

Before you argue, think about this. If you took a great chess player and someone who just knew the basics of chess, and they sat down to play, who would win? I doubt that a chess novice could defeat a master even once after 100 consecutive games. THAT is a skill game. How about basketball? Soccer? Pool? A novice could never defeat a skillful player. But in poker, you can sit down with a total idiot and they can take you for all your chips, i don't care how good you are. go all in with aces, and they are dumb enough to call with JT, watch them score a flush, or straight, or a few pairs. It happens. A lot. Too much. Poker is the only nationally televised "sport" where the announcers are just as good as the lucky souls at the table. Where the people in the audience could take them on. Where Joe-Shmo watching the thing on ESPN could probably sit at that table. The beautiful women they have standing there, the ceremonious spilling of millions of dollars in cash on the table, the quick video biographies of lucky players before the commercial break, some acting humble, some arrogant, boasting their skills. It's ALL a farse. It's a scam. They're taking the public for a ride, making them believe that poker is a game of brains, sophistication, elegance. A REAL sport, one that takes skill, is played by people who either are born with prodigious skills or hone them through years of practice, often a combination of both. This is nothing like that.

 

Sorry but it's both a combination of skill and luck.


I used to really enjoy watching Casino Poker when it was exclusively on the travel channel a few years ago, but now that it's all-over the dial it's lost some of it's luster.



Hotwater

 

let me clarify - yes, there is some skill required. I stated that. But I think there is far more luck involved than players let on.

 

not really....... if you have bad cards you can win too..........

its not always luck.

 

getting good hands helps, no doubt about it, but a player who has nothing, and can act really well, may get a person who does have good cards to fold. its all about acting and skill, and reading other people. its not always having good cards. you have to be a great ACTOR!

 

is it a sport? hell NO!

 

100% agree. poker is not a sport

 

I always hate when its on espn. it upsets me like no other. and they have announcers for that shit.

 

i saw it on espn classic - they were showing classic poker games - you fucking kidding me haha

 

They even have power ranking like they do with football, with people like Phil Ivey, Men [The Master] Nguyen, and Chris (Jesus H Christ) Ferguson leading the way

What a joke



Hotwater

 

Poker is more luck than skill I think. And I 100% agree is not a fucken sport and how people can watch it is beyond me.