Usually when people think about casino games they immediately think of slot machines or the Roulette. These are games which are totally reliant on luck, and basically have nothing to do with skill, talent or experience. But are all casino games affected only by luck? Should they all be referred to as “Games of Luck”? When it comes to poker the answer is clearly no.
Poker is a game that is highly affected by the players’ skill and experience. Strategy, psychology and mathematics play a crucial part in a player’s ability to win the game. Every hand has its own strategy and every card may have an impact on the way you play the hand.
Knowing the rules of poker is not so hard to accomplish, but knowing, really knowing how to play the game is not so easy. To really know how to play the game a player must have a deep understanding of every step of the game. The Flop, River and Turn, each have their own strategies and methods of playing. And just knowing the rules just is not enough in this sophisticated game.
Poker is also known as a game where reading your opponents steps, knowing when they are bluffing and being able to disguise your own bluffs may determine the winner and loser. Some of the best players in the world have earned their title by intimidating their opponents and disguising their moves under their “poker face”. Others
It’s not that the game is not affected by luck, because it is. The cards you get always have an impact on your chances to win. If you have a great hand you will win, even if you are not the best player in the table, or even if you have just started your poker career. In such a case it will be safe to say that luck brought you the victory. And in a case of a really bad luck day, even the best of players will have a hard time winning. In such extreme cases the quality of a player’s game will be overshadowed by his luck (good or bad).
But unlike other games of pure luck, like Slot machines, where the player only press a button and where they can only pray to win, you can improve your poker game in such a way that you will have better chances to win the pot. This is the beauty of the game.
Joe Gilli has been writing about the world of online poker for several years. He is the general manger and chief editor of the site Poker-on-line.com where he covers the major events in the industry. He write poker rooms reviews, poker news and articles about the game.