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Poker is an extremely interesting game that I have been diving head first into ever since I cam home from college and had a bit of disposable income. Besides t
by webkike 8y ago
Poker is an extremely interesting game that I have been diving head first into ever since I cam home from college and had a bit of disposable income.
Besides the fact that it's a very fun game that bizarrely mirrors the real world economy in many ways, it's a great way to make new friends in a town. Unlike a lot of other games, poker is all about communication. It really fosters connections when you play with the same people a bunch.
If you're interested in getting into poker, avoid the casino cash games at all costs. Casinos take a rake or the pot - aka, transaction fees (oh wow, so you're expected winnings are the growth of the economy minus transaction fees? How economic!). If you're starting to play poker you'll want to see as many hands as cheaply as possible. Try free bar poker or local cash games and try to make your money last as long as possible. This means folding a lot of hands
It's interesting, because there is one thing that professional poker players love and hate a lot: gamblers. A gambler will go all in on an extremely stupid bet, such as a 45/55 heads up. Your EV is to lose with such bets but gamblers will play them anyway. And hell, once about every two times they'll win.
- jack_pp 8y agoCash games are actually lower variance. I wouldn't recommend the game to anyone in good faith, especially if they're competitive. It's a huge time and potential money sink
- himlion 8y agoAgreed on both counts. As an ex poker pro the easy money is long gone, apart from a few exceptions here and there.
- caro_douglos 8y ago+1 If you consider the hours of playing tournaments professionally it is a lot less than a programmer's take home.
- webkike 8y agoThanks for the info! I guess I just suck, I edited the post to reflect that. I don't think it's in bad faith to recommend people play poker recreationally either for free or for small amounts of money. Obviously there's a world of difference between playing a game every weekend for $40 buy ins versus spending $800 every week at the bicycle. On the same line of thinking, getting into street fighter is an incredibly rewarding experience! I wouldn't recommend anyone to jump in and dedicate their life savings to becoming a professional with no prior experience though. Edit: that being said, if you or your family has a history with addictive behavior, I'd urge extrmeme caution
- ssharp 8y agoWhere are you suggesting playing at, where no rake is charged? The point about cash games being "incredibly hard" is a bit off as well. Almost all casino's 1/2 NL games are beatable without playing the advanced of a game. I'd also say any professional player, who is a legit professional, understand the variance that comes with getting your money in as a 55% favorite. Having experienced two excessively lucrative places to play poker in my life (online early/mid 2000's and local "charity" games), the more gamblers, the better.
- webkike 8y agoI really didn't write enough on that! My point was to play free local bar poker or to play tournaments with a low entrance fee, or even just local cash games (which are required to not have a rake in order to be legal). I think the goal early on is to play as many games as cheaply as possible. And on the 55/45 - I'm referring to a classic Phill Helmuth tantrum.
- baza89 8y agoEx poker player here (never particurarly a good one but still a winning one). My first point is stress: Poker is extremely stressful - you have to think hard and deep to outsmart your opponents, you need to learn a lot (as mentioned in the article) and constantly improve. However what you make in a particular hour, day, week or month is never completely in your control. Certainly it can be fun to a beginner but being a pro and playing upwards of 5-6 hours a day is extremely tough while you try to make best decisions possible constantly and being constantly punished by luck is not entertaining at all, yet this will happen every day. It's quite easy to lose a couple of big hands in a row, having a losing day is give or take a coinflip and a loosing week is nothing special. If you only play live tournaments you will have loosing years! (just a matter of number of tourneys you can possibly play and the variance involved in tourneys [you can check the odds with some online variance calculators]). Hope that paints the picture of the bruising your psychology will endure even if you manage to get yourself to the level needed for making a decent living out of it as far as finaces go. Statistics also shows that vast majority of people are losers in this game via rake and other players being better. See for yourself by getting some hands database from online poker sites. Rake can even make certain games unplayeble for everyone! My second point is poker marketing: Yep, this is how marketing for poker works they sell you the image of (supposedly) successful pros making money and an image of a game of skill. (I mean a freaking scientist is telling you that you can make money, it's gotta be real!) -Even though most people lose money and are just gabmling. -Even though being a poker pro is an extremely difficult profession. -Even though it is not especially fun for anyone involved and is at best an emotional roller coaster. -At worst leads people to losing everything they have (like in any other form of gambling), or ending up in debt. And even winning pros turn to losing pros with time because others catch up to them. -Oh, and yes, as mentioned we can't actually know if this woman is making money since losses at live tourneys aren't tracked by poker results tracking sites. -Oh oh and major poker sites, including the one mentioned in the article, are raising the rake making even more people lose money, people who previously were winning and were considered professionals. To conclude, this is just a disguised marketing article for a gambling site, featuring a PR officer of the site. (english translation for "sponsored poker pro") It's just a gross misrepresentation of the reality aimed at serving the gabmling industry. Oh oh oh and AI did beat best poker players in the world. So professional online poker has no future really. Live then I guess? Well it's safe to say that there is no way to input chips stacks and bet sizes into a computer, that kind of device has not been invented yet! (And for those saying only HU by AI, wouldn't be so sure. Poker snowie was able to make money at 6-max midstakes, there are non AI poker solvers that are considered even better then it. Thus be sure that winter is coming for poker and that the non living will conquer poker, even before the magical living AI come in 2030 [if the prophecies are to be trusted])
- leesec 8y agoNot trying to be a jerk but I disagree with about everything here. Casino cash games are of the most profitable games, and certainly some of the most accessible, given that they typically run at consistent hours with usually a variety of tables/game times (depending on the size of casino). Expected winnings are not the growth the economy, they are based off your personal win rate in your personal player pool, established by playing a high number of hands. I agree you'll want to start by playing a lot of hands, but definitely do not just try to 'make your money last as long as possible'. I would recommend playing around a million hands online at the small stakes, using bank roll management, and working your way up that way. Develop strategies by reading some of the related content and adjusting it with your personal experience against your player pool. Professional poker players love 'gamblers', they make the world go round. Note: This is for people who want to get good at poker and maybe make some money off it. If you like to play just for fun, by all means do so at whatever stakes you enjoy. Poker is honestly a lot more fun if you are just trying to enjoy yourself and playing within your financial limits, and not trying to play optimally.