Like my last blog post about my investments in the stock market, I have ventured into a new broad hobby or what some may label as a profession. This time, it is poker and I do not at all condone or suggest that anyone goes and starts gambling as I refrain from playing with actual money but it is fun and can be a life skill for some. I am sure many of you have heard about the card game, but here is a brief summary for those who have not: A player bets that the value of his or her hand (random two cards) is greater than that of the hands held by others. Each subsequent player must either match or raise the bet or “fold”. The pot (“money”) is eventually won by either the player with the best hand when it comes to a showdown or the only player left when everyone else has folded. 
How My Poker Journey Began:
Roughly a month ago I was truly introduced to the game of poker after hearing for years sporadic mentions of it. The reason for my indulgence occurred because members of the lacrosse team began playing, playing with Josefine and her family, and finally the biggest culprit of them all; the mobile game World Series of Poker (WSOP). My record for each is surprisingly positive, bankrupting several teammates during our pasta party on Tuesday, bankrupting Josefine, and on the road to a billion chips in World Series of Poker again all with solely chips and no literal buy-in. Although all of this recent winning is inadvertently going to my head yet I have never gone against any poker master such as Frank Su. I have learned that he runs the “Poker” Club for a reason; do not mess with him.
Why Do I See Poker As a Life Skill?
I do believe that becoming educated on the game or at least the basics is a life skill. Compare it to the sarcastic theory that one needs to be good at golf to work in business or finance. Sitting with co-workers, friends/family or even strangers can all spontaneously call for a poker match. It is a universal strategy game that has higher stakes if you please take it there. Be smart and limit any spending on gambling in the future because as we all know it can tend to be quite ignorant. Although, the game also exercises the strategic practice of one’s risk management, analysis skills, and self-composure. Analyzing, budgeting, and executing a process in a timely manner is an applicable tool across life. Evaluation and decision-making are vital, with almost every waking moment requiring a decision from person to person. Yes, I do understand I may be bringing things slightly out of proportion as some may just call it gambling, but, these are legitimate benefits.
What I Have Learned Thus Far:
First of all, I now realize why casinos make so much money as these games they have manipulated and promoted worldwide are extremely addictive and misleading. The science behind poker or any form of gambling is a whole separate scientific discussion but there are countless sources expressing the addictive nature of the hobby. Just listing the first reliable source found where The Scientific American states “research to date shows that pathological gamblers and drug addicts share many of the same genetic predispositions for impulsivity and reward seeking. Just as substance addicts require increasingly strong hits to get high, compulsive gamblers pursue ever riskier ventures.” This is clearly a troubling fact and the casinos can be compared to drug dealers taking advantage of their users simply for the money and with no concern for their well-being.
Besides the addictive aspects of the game, poker can still be a fun game while psychological components are thrown left and right among players. Being able to pick up on subtle mannerisms, facial expressions, or habits that one may reveal during a game can increase your social awareness and ability to read a person. Seeing if someone is bluffing about anything through those subtleties can be translated into seeing fact from fiction in one’s speech. Alongside the other benefits of improving a multitude of skills, poker is not as shallow as it may appear on the surface.
All in all, I do not recommend gambling unless it is recreational and for educational purposes only. Thanks for listening to my TED talk.
Hi Alex,
Nice blog! A lot of the information you’ve included in this blog are very accurate, and I do agree with you that betting money is not a healthy lifestyle because (1) most people are losing players, (2) it’s a huge time sink, luring you with the potential of profit at the cost of valuable time and energy that can be better invested in other things, such as work, and (3) it messes with your mind, creating an illusion that making money is easy and dopamine bursts that lead to addiction.
For beginners in Texas Hold’em, I would definitely not recommend playing with money because Texas Hold’em is a game of skill. Unlike beginners in golf, who could instantly realize that they lose to pros because they’re bad at golfing, beginners in Texas Hold’em are more likely to blame their losses on luck when they actually just played bad. It’s so common for Texas Hold’em beginners to be exploited in cash game tables, and these beginners won’t even realize that they’re being exploited before they lose everything.
However, I do agree that Texas Hold’em is such an interesting game. It has so much real-life applications in fields like economics, game theory, statistics, and advanced decision-making in general. If you’re interested in these things, I would recommend studying up some Texas Hold’em theories by reading some books.
Overall, my advice for you is to avoid betting money and learn some Texas Hold’em theories if you are interested.
Good luck,
Frank
Alexander James Taylor, what another masterpiece of writing. I’m so glad you got into Texas Hold’em, as it’s one of my favorite games/activities. You picked it up very quickly, so kudos to you for that. And yes, while you did bankrupt me that one time, I bankrupted you after that so we’re even. Although you’re ahead of me in WSOP right now, so I have to get on that. I do believe that knowing at least the basics of Texas Hold’em is important, as it’s a popular game and a fun pastime for group gatherings. Knowing how to read people’s facial expressions to determine what type of hand they have can translate into other life situations. Additionally, if you’re really serious about Texas Hold’em and start analyzing the math behind it, it can increase your mental math skills. This also applies if you’re counting cards in blackjack. Thanks for the TED talk and I know that you nor I would ever ever ever gamble. What even is that?
Hi Alex, this was a great post. I do agree with the benefits you stated about Texas Hold’em, and how it is kind of like a life skill. You see many celebrities that have learned it too, just for the fun of it, because it is a fun enjoyable game that they may play in their free time. To name some examples, Mr. Beast, Kevin Hart, Magnus Carlsen, etc. Now, Texas Hold’em didn’t necessarily get them famous, but this kind of shows that Texas Texas Hold’em is a universal game that everyone should probably learn at least once in their lifetime. As long as they don’t get addicted like you mentioned, it’s a great game to test their social awareness and strategic thinking.