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If you play poker often, and you understand the game exactly because it is, you probably know that there are misconceptions among people with no direct experience. You've probably heard many of these erroneous points of view. In the event that you are like me, you spend a fair amount of time explaining to uninformed people precisely exactly what the game is and what it's not. For the benefit of all, the following post shall clear up several of the better common misconceptions.
Alternatively, if you never play poker, and your entire experience of the game is exactly what you read in print and find out in movies, you probably have several wrong ideas. That is to be expected. Please, allow me to enlighten you on a few points.
Poker just isn't casual. A lot of men and women think of the game as a mellow social pastime, where friends sit around drinking, laughing and whooping it up. The truth is, nothing is friendly about poker. You can be cordial with others at your table (and also you should be), though the game itself is vicious. Played properly, it really is a form of warfare. It's an aggressive battle for domination. I think of poker as "violence, without the violence."
A poker face isn't the main requirement to play. I can't tell you how often I hear this misconception. Virtually every time I mention poker to someone whose only exposure to the game will be the media, I hear some lame comment like, "Oh, you need to have a great poker face." No, a poker face, a steely-eyed gaze, just isn't the essence of skillful play. True, you don't want to be sending tells to your opponents, but the so-called poker face is widely misunderstood. The ability to create a poker face isn't going to make you a great player. Consider this: When you play via the internet, everybody has a poker face.
Winning at poker is not easy. Blame television because of this one. You generally see only the winners on television. People who win get the most exposure and are most often featured. The final table in a tournament, one example is is comprised solely of players who are winners. Very little attention is paid to individuals who lose, say nothing of the vast majority who bust out of tournaments without fanfare. Playing well takes a huge amount of study, discipline and practice. Succeeding at the game is far from automatic.
Women can play. The concept that poker is exclusively a man's game is another falsehood. Years ago, many well recognized authors wrote that women don't have the killer instinct essential to play well. Time has proven that theory wrong. At this time, women compete at every level, and lots of skilled women win in cash games and tournaments. The concept that poker is a man's game is laughable currently, and I wouldn't have included it among common misconceptions were it not for the fact that many still believe it.
Poker is just not a game of mathematics. In blackjack, for instance, you always have one best move at any moment. Your task is to determine what that move is. If you have 13 as well as the dealer is showing an ace, then you should hit. Which is always true, no matter who is seated at the table or what they are doing. Poker differs. You need to take other players into consideration, and the mathematically preferable move might not be wise. Top caliber players often debate what will be the best move in a particular situation. Poker cannot be reduced to mathematics because there are actually too many human factors.
Poker is a not game of luck. This is probably the most common misconception, which is dead wrong. Luck averages out. Over-time, all players receive the same portion of good hands and bad hands. The main difference is what players do with those hands. A great player will maximize the total amount won with good hands and minimize the amount lost with bad hands. The key element that separates winners from losers, over time, is not the cards dealt, though the decisions made. Stu Unger, three-time World Series of Poker champion, put it this way: "In cards, the luck always balances out. The excellent players will be going to win. Any player that thinks card playing is a game of luck, I will show you a fool. That is what the losers always say. The winners do not be worried about the short term; we play for the long-term."
Cheating is just not rampant. The prevalence of cheating is yet another incorrect impression held by many. In private backroom games, cheating does happen occasionally. But in modern casino cardrooms and high-profile tournaments, where most of today's professionals play, cheating is virtually nonexistent. (trusted online casino gambling agency (Highly recommended Resource site), on the contrary, is an alternative story. It is possible to cheat when playing on the net, because of the nature of the technology.) Although cheating is technically possible in some situations, and it does happen, it is not nearly the factor that lots of individuals suppose. If you are hesitant to play poker out of anxiety about being cheated, you are overreacting.
Poker isn't an addiction. No matter what the media might have you believe, the vast majority of poker enthusiasts play because they experience the game, not while they are hooked in certain way. Sure, a tiny portion of players do struggle with addiction, but they are people with an addictive personality, regardless of whether they play poker. We shouldn't blame poker for someone's compulsive behavior any more than we should blame sex for somebody being a rapist.
Poker is not sleazy. Nothing is even remotely "underbelly" concerning this beautiful game. A good many good and decent folks play for a wide variety of reasons, for example fun, challenge and personal betterment. Poker highlights the top of human interaction and calls into play the most honorable of human qualities, for example courage, sound reasoning and self-control. The game is a wonderful way to build character.
Poker isn't illegal. A lot of people with a functioning brain do not actually believe this, though the forces of misguided morality want you to assume that the game is against the law. It really is not. Poker just isn't connected with crime in any way. Nor is it controlled by the mob. Not is it dangerous. You don't need to be on the lookout for gangsters. Or gunplay. No, you do not need to carry a sidearm and shoot your way out of the casino to protect your loot. You've been watching too many movies.
These are a number of common misconceptions held by many in the public. If you encounter people who have these ideas, please set them straight. But be understanding; it's not their fault that they hold these incorrect points of view, that are passed off as fact everywhere in today's media. It rests with us, intelligent members of the poker-playing community, to spread the truth regarding the magnificent game of poker.
