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It’s easy to mistake poker for a pure game of chance. To the uninitiated, it’s a group of players waiting for the right cards to be pulled at random out of a deck of 52. Without the right cards happening to be dealt, some reason, you can’t win consistently.
Furthermore, a lot of people think of online poker specifically as being distinctly different from other video games –– because of the element of chance. When you jump into a Call Of Duty multiplayer contest for instance, there’s no debating that the player with the most skill usually gets the most kills; when you play FIFA, the most experienced players will know all the tricks, and will typically dominate. In online poker however, there’s a perception that even the most successful players can be tripped up by bad luck or a weak hand.
While this is true to some extent, most experienced players know how to deal with a streak of bad luck. And there are some reasons behind the idea that poker is fundamentally more of a game of skill.
- There’s a lot of math
Poker players spend a lot of time doing mathematical calculations in their heads. It isn’t explicitly a part of the game, though it’s usually pretty easy to spot a player who’s aware of the numbers compared to one who isn’t.
Skilled players utilize math to gain the best possible advantage during a game. As a piece on Poker.org rightly states, knowing how to calculate the odds is “an important part of playing winning poker.” It doesn’t “solve” the game, as some might hope, but it does give players a fundamental, fact-based understanding of how likely they might be to earn a certain hand, or win a bet in a particular situation. These are unmistakably significant advantages in any game.
- Understanding the Rules
If you want to find success in poker, you also need to understand the rules. That may not sound like a “skill,” but honestly, there a lot to keep track of~ Most importantly, you need to memorize all of the different kinds of hands, and how they interact with each other. If you were to play poker purely based on luck, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t know when to call, fold or check, because you wouldn’t know what to look out for, or you wouldn’t understand the sequence of the game. Knowing the rules inside and out helps you to make quick decisions, and often gives you an advantage over less experienced or knowledgeable players.
- Social Reading
As much as poker is about focusing on math and rules, there’s also an important element of social interaction. Every player is constantly trying to figure out the others; there are cryptic comments, sneaky bluffs, and all sorts of other signals exchanged. Figuring out what kind of hand your opponent may have can turn the tide in a game.
Granted, much of this side of the game is specific to in-person poker. Years ago in fact, an article on BrainBlogger.com even cited studies indicating that lots of players are inclined to make decisions based on quick assessments of facial expressions. Even so however, there’s always an element of trying to solve opponents, even in the online game. Good players spot patterns, learn tendencies, and ultimately give themselves edges –– however slight –– against regular opponents.
- Dealing with Loss
Another key skill for any experienced poker player is the ability to accept losses. Even with luck on your side, it’s still possible to lose in a poker game, especially if you are up against someone more skilled than you. Dealing with loss in these instance is a learned skill, however, and one that ultimately makes someone harder to beat in the long run. If you can move on from a difficult outcome, you’ll be better able to win the next hand or game.
Ultimately, even the most successful pros will acknowledge that chance plays a role in poker. But given all of the above, it’s reasonable to argue that it is more a game of skill in the end.
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