What does poker mean to you?

Sounds like an easy question, right? But it isn’t … promised! I was thinking about such a blog for a while and decided to finally put all different ideas together that have been spinning through my head and that I also noticed on the tables a lot lately.

If we look down at poker through the eyes of the politicians worldwide, the majority would say that poker is illegal gambling and should be forbidden. In Germany for example it is classified that way and still, many play online – we can even see poker on a daily basis in TV, on a sports channel. You can take the UIGEA and the geo-blocking in Kentucky, but those people don’t really want poker to be popular … do they really know how many taxes they lose by banning it? Because all the poker sites go to other countries where they get awesome deals with taxes etc. . If you really want them to understand what poker is all about, you need to go much deeper and understand all the aspects of the game – for an outsider that has never played that card game before in his life or has only seen it on TV, I would even agree that you can consider it as gambling. Look at “High Stakes Poker” and all those stars they play some really strange hands – when you try to learn poker from TV, you might be prepared for the mass Freerolls at Pokerstars or FullTilt. But you will barely get in depth strategies and learn how to play this game properly, the players on those formats mostly know each other very good and make their decisions upon the experience.

Why is poker that popular all over the world? The majority does not play because they really believe to become a millionaire and the next Chris Moneymaker, although I am pretty sure many have similar dreams. But for many others, poker is also a socializing tool and they are able to meet other players from all around the world and just play some cards. They don’t want to become rich through poker and enjoy a few hours a week to see some familiar faces online on the tables and enjoy the banter on the tables and the competition to beat them. It does not mean that they don’t get out and forget about their real life and screw up with their friends and the family. They are not automatically addicted and forget about their personal responsibilities such as work and many more, but the politicians want us to believe that and also want to suggest that image of addiction. In Germany, the official statement claiming that online poker is legal is the prevention of people from addiction … but as long as they get the taxes on cigarettes and the national lotteries, those 2 other “risky hobbies” stay clean. It should still be upon each person whether they want to play or not and don’t get patronized by the state they are living in, I think that is written down in almost each constitution. Let’s get back to the socializing aspect, I know a lot of people that found new friends and even the love of their life through online poker. Poker is like a unique language worldwide because we all play with the same cards, we may not always understand our opponents because of the different nationalities and languages, but we will always be able to speak through the cards and earn the respect for playing decent and skilled poker.

But how do you gain that skill and the ability to play decent poker? Well this is based on the progress and the willingness to learn all the time more and more theory of this complex game and in the same time also notice the different aspects on the tables. Poker is not just pure math and also not pure luck, it is a card game where you need logical skills, psychology and math as well. Luck will always be a part of this game, but you can minimize the percentage with your ability to learn new things and study articles about game strategies. It is easy to start with and get the basics in your head, but it takes a lifetime to master. If you are playing online poker, many just think that it is enough to know the starting hand charts and the values of the hands combined with the click on the all in button – “I have to go all in because JJ loses so much on here” said a player with a 2000 stack and blinds 15-30. Great play, well at least he did not lose to an ace rag, but still a wasted spot to make more chips and it is always upon each player on how they play the hands to win or lose. Many try to blame the online RNG = random number generator and criticize the opponents as donks because they called with some random crap hands. Funnily enough, most of the times it comes along with the term freeroll in the same sentence – so just to clarify: freerolls are for beginners and you should not expect that the overall skill is the same like the WSOP! It is free money and if you are going to start somewhere to build your bankroll and don’t want to deposit, freerolls are mostly the best way. You will need a lot of stamina and patience to survive in those games and win a few bucks. You will see a lot of crazy moves and please don’t consider that as real poker, you could also play on the playmoney tables and would not learn much more than just playing premium cards. But poker is much more than just pushing buttons, it is about knowing and using your table image and advanced strategies like 3-betting and check-raising. You can try it in a freeroll, but you will barely see an effect because most of the players don’t even try to pay attention at those plays. It is always your personal decision on the tables that will finally define your result and sometimes you need to gamble to win - “no guts, no glory” it says and you need “the balls” top call. Sometimes it is better to slowplay and let your opponents hit their draw because they can’t beat your nuts, in other hands it is not good to keep the betting low and let your opponent his the draws. Then you get called a donkey because you stayed in the hand and called down on a flushdraw – the question here is: Was it so cheap that the opponent had the odds and outs to call? Should you have bet more on the flop or turn to make your opponent fold? Well it is always wise to say that afterwards, but the good players keep those things in mind and try to figure out what cards the opponent can have. It is hard to describe, but as a poker player you have to multitask all the time and think about your table image, your hand strength, the odds and outs and also the possible draws and made hands the opponent might have. Those mind strings don’t come over night and it takes a lot of experience on the tables and thousands of hands played. If you see the pros live on TV, you just think “hey that looks pretty easy, I can do that too” but the reality is far away from that.

You can call it a feeling or the killer instinct and you can’t learn that from the books. It’s a natural gift and you need to be good in math and logical thinking to keep you in the run. As more and more players log into the online poker rooms each time, it gets more and more technical and at the same time also more and more a mind game and the player with the best instincts and a balanced mindset will have the best theoretical chances to win. That’s one of the reasons why you will find the same names on top of the leaderboards and tournament results in the major games. Sure, at online poker you can also win a lot by multitabling and using tracking programs to get you up to date statistics from the tables and help you to find the best solution for each hand. But those programs will never take out the human emotions and they are part of the game, without em it would be really boring and if we would all play with emotions, there will barely be any major tilt moments or bad plays by the instinct. Also, the helping tools at the computer make it pretty easy to be competitive in the internet by playing poker, but the transition might be hard for those mostly “young guns” to find their way in the major live tournaments and have the same success there. The factor of luck is a bit higher at online poker than at live poker, because you have to add other influences like body language and eye contact there. Also players feel very comfortable in their chair in front of the computer or laptop and don’t really need to take care what they wear, but at the official live tournaments there is a special etiquette and you can’t just sit there in your underwear. When you play the first time live, it might be hard to keep up the concentration and also pay attention to your body language and your eyes. First time you look down at pocket aces, you might grin and make a big smile and that would not be very profitable for your poker face and image on the table. Many older and experienced live poker players also like to tease those internet players with their hoodies and sunglasses and try to influence them with a few words “hey son, do you know …”. The factor luck is lower here and the psychology and player reads gain more importance than at online poker – online you can only try to make reads on time-tells and betting-tells but this may lead to a predefined opinion and the opponent might want you to get this certain read to outplay you. Generally I would say that online poker is 60-70% skill and 30-40% luck, at live poker I would rate the skill much higher but that’s basically based on the higher thrill and the opportunity to look in the eyes of your opponent and try to figure out whether he is bluffing or not - the body language is very important here too. One major difference is also the fact that you can’t play in multiple tournaments at a casino and also won’t be able to play on more than one table and on different softwares. You will have to control your emotions and don’t give away too many tells on the tables, which can be difficult when you have never played live in a big game as you are usually used to sit in front of your computer and don’t need to care about your face and body language.

Do I think that poker is a sport? No, not really. Of course it has some aspects on different sports and the competition is very similar, you can also have the same stress and burn calories during a long and hard battle in one session online or for example at one major live tournament. You need to be mentally strong to survive the long tournaments and stay focused all the time, because in a tournament it is just one single mistake it takes and you might be out and hit the rail. I might compare poker with chess as it is also a strategic mind game where you need to stay focused and have a certain game strategy and already think forward to the next possible 4-5 moves. You can look in the face of your opponent or play against a computer as well, like the grand masters do regularly to test their skills. You can also play it online and have to take it very serious, but opposed to poker you can barely win millions by playing it live or online. The skill and training is the most important aspect and the logical thinking becomes one of the major keys to win. This should also be important for poker and it’s up to each player on how serious he / she takes that game and how the preparation is. There is a lot of basic stuff in poker books and they are good to start with and get in touch with this game, when you get more experienced and try to play on higher limits, you can also share your experiences at online poker forums and read the articles about advanced strategies there. Well, some are just there for the passwords to the private freerolls, but those players don’t really want to improve their game and just play the same trot all the time.
Of course we should also not forget the business part of poker, it is not only a mind game, you can also win big as a player and as affiliate. You need to sign up the right players under your tracker that play a lot and generate a lot of rake and the poker sites will be happy to give you a good deal on the rakeback and bonus races including privates games and much more. For the poker sites it is also a good deal to give away VIP deals and special support, the cashflow on the internet in the so called gambling industry and day by day, billions of dollars and massive profits are generated. High value players can also earn a player’s contract and get paid for playing online and representing the poker site on the major live tournaments worldwide. It is a good publicity and the poker sites also go international and try to find more names from different nationalities, they spend millions of dollars on promotions and TV adverts. I have the utmost respect for all poker players that earn a living for themselves and their family, because they have the pressure to win at poker and have to play even more focused – a downswing may cause a lot of problems for their daily life. Also the pro’s have a high responsibility in the press and interviews and of course also in the tournaments itself. They have a lot of additional clauses in the contracts and what sponsor they may represent etc, their behavior has to be accordingly and they can’t just abuse other players on the tables (well unless they know each other very good and can stand a joke lol). As you can see, the whole poker business is much more complex than you mostly thought and there are a lot of influences onto this card game. It is not just pure gambling like Roulette or Blackjack or Slots in the casinos, it really saddens me that most of the politicians and more than half of the online poker players look or act like it would be simple gambling. This game has a lot to offer if you want to, but you have to take it as serious as you think you can afford and how much effort you want to put into that card game.

Always remember, it is not the RNG at the online poker tables that decide about your win or not, even a pair of Aces is just one pair preflop and can lose against any 2 cards – the way you play each hand decides about your success and sometimes it does pay off to lay down a big hand when you think you may be ahead preflop, but just can’t risk your tournament life and better ensure a placing in the money to ensure a bit of cash. You need to have a lot of patience and the willingness to learn more about your game, as well as look skeptically at your own game and also accept some bad plays. If you realize that and want to improve your game, it is the first step to become a good player. You can’t learn the killer instinct as this is basically a feeling that each person should find for themselves. But with playing a lot and gaining experiences, you will be able to cut down that gap. There is a small lesson in each hand that you play and you might not notice that or don’t really pay attention to it, but every suckout and bad beat will give you some information about your own game and about your opponents. You can always blame others for a bad play but you have to look at your own game as well – if you stay focused and get beaten by a bad run of cards or bad luck, but put your money in with the better hand and feel comfortable, stick to it! There is always another game and you will see that it pays off in the long run if you try to improve your game and take a lesson out of each tournament or hand at the cash game tables.

So now it is your choice, how would you explain poker to others and what does poker mean to you, what role does it play in your life? Nobody will have the same opinion, because we all made different experiences so far at the poker tables – may it be live or online – we all have our bad beats and bragging rights and it is up to each own, how he or she handles em. But we all share that card game and love it … or hate it at times, that doesn’t mean that we are addicted. But we fell in love with that game and some are luckier than others. Pick your choice and show, what you think of poker, how would you describe it to persons that have never played poker in their life before?

P.S. I don’t do short stories!

P.P.S. I would like to have series answers and not just “yes I agree” or “no, that guy is talking total crap”, I want you to explain it in a few sentences and really show what you think of poker!