Why Do You Play Poker?

[grandgnu]

Most of the time I'm tempted to say "I don't play for fun, and I don't care about the challenge, I want to win money, plain and simple"

And that will likely apply even more as I go semi-pro later this Fall. But I think I play for a combination of the three.


Please select from all three the % out of 100% that you attribute to each

[grandgnu]

bump

[grandgnu]

again

[toots]

You left out some categories:

1) Want to look cool like the dudes on TV
2) Because all my friends are doing it; it's part of peer pressure

And, "Why do you play poker?"

If you only play NL Hold 'Em, you're not a poker player. You're just another person on the bandwagon, screaming "me, too" from under your backwards cap and shades.

If you also play limit, then you're a Hold 'Em player, but probably not a real poker player.

If you play/can consistently make money at two or more flavors of poker (incl stud, razz, omaha, draw, tdl, etc), you're a poker player. But I think that most of the recent crop of NL WPT wannabes hardly qualify for "poker player."

(Yes, I was intending to piss people off, but maybe it'll keep the poll current.)

[grandgnu]

[ QUOTE ]
You left out some categories:

1) Want to look cool like the dudes on TV
2) Because all my friends are doing it; it's part of peer pressure

And, "Why do you play poker?"

If you only play NL Hold 'Em, you're not a poker player. You're just another person on the bandwagon, screaming "me, too" from under your backwards cap and shades.

If you also play limit, then you're a Hold 'Em player, but probably not a real poker player.

If you play/can consistently make money at two or more flavors of poker (incl stud, razz, omaha, draw, tdl, etc), you're a poker player. But I think that most of the recent crop of NL WPT wannabes hardly qualify for "poker player."

(Yes, I was intending to piss people off, but maybe it'll keep the poll current.)

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh heh, Toots, a woman after my own heart. We both tend to agree that Hold 'Em is poker for monekys with half a brain.

It's a good game, but if it's all you play, then you really need to branch out. I still regard 7-stud as THE game for a true poker player, challenging and requiring more skill/concentration.

I've actually chosen to go semi-pro with Omaha Hi/Lo because it's extremely easy to multi-table and to know if you've got the nuts or are drawing to it.

And many hold 'em players don't have a clue and just throw their money at me in this game. So I'm taking the easiest route to my payout, instead of going with Limit Hold 'Em games.

Also, I selected the following:

Play For Money: Strong reason 50% or more
Play For Fun: Secondary Reason 25% or more
Play For Challenge: Minimal Reason 20% or less

[toots]

My main motivations are fun and challenge. Making money isn't a huge consideration, although failing to lose money is still important.

And yeah, I think Stud's the game to respect. I enjoy it quite a bit, and suck at it nearly as much as I enjoy it.

[AnonymousGambler]

I play for the money 100%. That's not to say that poker isn't fun and challenging, but it's all about the money. Without it, I could play golf for the fun and challenge.