Poker in the rear

So I've recently been playing a lot of Texas Hold'Em poker with friends and on-line - typical male university thing to do I know.

To me the game is the perfect pasttime. You can play with friends with just a deck of cards and some makeshift chips. With just a 5 dollar investment each it will give you two hours of enjoyment with your friends with a chance at a decent payoff.

The game is also great because its not purely luck, not purely skill. A skillful player will certainly win in the long run, but in each game, anyone can luckily pick up a crazy hand on the river, which can throw the game into complete disarray. But being skillful will give you a distinct advantage. Personally I prefer Texas hold'em to other forms of poker because you can really use some mathematical probability to help you out, which is great. Any time I'm able to use probability and statistics in real life I get a massive boner for some reason.

So driving home today - as I often do when driving - I started contemplating the greater meanings of my life; in this case poker and what the popularity of poker has to say about society in general.

I hope this makes as much sense as it did driving home, but it seems to me that poker is a fantastic microcosm of life.

*puts on philisophical hippy face*

What is life but a game of people trying to receive the most chips?

Everyone is dealt cards, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but no matter what cards you are dealt you are forced to deal with them. Sure some people are luckier than others, but in the long run, it is how you deal with what cards are dealt that determines your sucess.

Sometimes in life you have to bluff or deal with people who may be bluffing. The frequency in bluffs is positively related with how often you are caught, no matter how good you are. As ol honest Abe said, "you can fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time". Bluffing (read: lying) is a part of life. Its an important tool to use in life and poker, as when used effectively you can achieve more than you could have without it.

I would say you can tell everything you need to know about a person by the way they play poker. Poker is not mechanical like blackjack. There is no dominant strategy. Unpredictability is the only thing that counts, and in life I feel this is true. Look at poker chips as "happiness" or "utility" chips in life. Everyone is trying to maximize happiness (poker chips) in the long run, and sometimes you have to lose in the short run to realize the long run gains. Poker perfectly illustrates this battle of wits in a short period of time.

Anyways I could go on all day with analogies but I think I see why poker has been a staple of entertainment throughout the ages. If anyone wants to sign up for online poker, do it at Bet'Holdem and I can get you and myself a $50 bonus (just tell me if you do so I can officially invite you).

Off to play I go.