Poker - Is It Really All About Chance?

10.30.2007 | 10:44 pm | Poker, casinos, gambling

If you spoke to 100 people about their views on Poker, is it skill or is it a game of chance, you would probably get a wide variety of answers, reasoning and comments.  While there are certain elements of skill and chance, the truth is probably some where in between.  So can you really increase your chances by counting the cards, and estimating the probability of certain cards appearing?

It has been proven that it is possible to increase your chances of winning just by doing some simple calculations while you are playing.  For example, if you have two Kings, and you see another player receive a King from the pack, then you know that the chances of you picking up another King have been greatly reduced. These are the simple, yet potentially highly effective situations you should be monitoring and working out the probability in your head.  It does not have to be exact, just a simple estimate will do.

The facts are that there will always be 52 cards in the pack, there will always be the same amount of suits, there will always be the same amount of fives, etc, and while you will not see all of the cards laid you will see some and be able to estimate the chances from what is “known”.  It then comes down to how much risk you are willing to take, whether you are willing to try a bluff, or whether you just fold and live to fight in the next hand.

The professional Poker players are also experts at picking out the characteristics of opponents, the speed they play their cards with a good hand, the expressions on their faces and their overall “mood”.  These techniques are not rocket science either, just simple observations which can give away so much about an opponents hand.

While many people may be good at estimating probability, many may be good at reading opponents and many at bluffing their way through, very few people have all of these “gifts”.  That is what makes a professional stand out from the rest!