Why Every Gamer Should Know Poker

Why Every Gamer Should Know Poker

Video games are one of the biggest stories of 2017, whether you see it very often in the headlines or not. Not only are consoles like the Nintendo Switch selling in enormous volumes (Switch sales have topped 10 million at the time of this writing), we’re seeing the burgeoning eSports leagues and well more than half of all smartphone users play video games every day.

All of the innovation, the incredible graphics, and the enormous amounts of money floating around can make classic games like chess and poker seem like they’re being left in the dust. But today is also a golden age for both of these games. American chess players have rarely been better, and online casino games have brought poker to a new generation of players who may never sit down at a real poker table.

The Online Casino is a School of Gaming Fundamentals

There is no more fundamental game than poker, at least as it pertains to game theory. Poker has been adapted into hundreds of other card games, and its unique blend of luck, logic, and skill have informed the evolution of countless other game types. Poker is a game mechanic of perfect balance. Here’s why you should know it if you’re a gamer of any sort.

1. Poker Teaches the Perfect Gaming Mind. In any good game, players are using skill to combat situations that involve certain actions which are out of their control. In poker this comes in to forms of player behaviors and the random action of the cards. Modern video games use a lot of random action. Any gamer who wants to be good needs to have a sense for how to behave in fast paced situations, where a variety of unknowns become actual in unpredictable patterns. There is no better school for this than the poker table.
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3. Poker Teaches Self Awareness. Getting out while you’re ahead is one of the most important elements of many games. In poker, you can be way ahead, then lose everything you’ve got on the next hand. As they say, there are plenty of people in the country club who got out too early. There’s no one in the country club who got out too late. It takes self awareness to know how and when to get out while you’re ahead. Poker teaches this.
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5. Poker Breeds Confidence. Poker, even more than internet multiplayer games, is a social game. Nowhere else are you watching the actions and tells of other players more than in poker. By learning to read people, you’ll develop a confidence and insight that translates to games of almost every type. Games are, at their heart, social. People who exceed at the social aspect can conquer all when this social awareness is combined with real skill.

Poker is one of the great games, and people will be playing it for centuries to come. There are many reasons why poker should be of interest to every gamer, because learning it will help you become better at your other games of choice.