Poker is insidious in the sense that it provides an avenue for players to mold notions of luck into those of skill; it is a game which grants just enough room for a skilled player’s input as to obfuscate the importance of luck.
Even a player with a poor hand can win in poker, if they’re in control of their body language and if they can read the table well. Of course, every other player in the game will be trying their best to control their own body language, and to read the table – everyone’s trying to get into everyone else’s mind. Thus, when a player employs these strategies and wins a round, they can place a huge emphasis upon their own interpersonal skills rather than attribute their success to luck. This effectively enables players to continue playing for lengthy periods of time, as the risk involved feels mitigated by the player’s skills. When compared to a game like slots, poker gives leeway to the player to give true input beyond merely pulling a lever; one is free to claim superior skill upon winning while lambasting their own luck upon loss. Slots, on the other hand, is not so sophisticated as to give room to strategy, and is arguably far less risky of a game than poker is for this reason. Poker is dangerous precisely because players feel as though they can earn a big win, rather than have one fall into their lap – luck takes a backseat to skill in the player’s mind, even if their odds of success are mostly dependent on their hand rather than on one’s ability to read the table. One can therefore see with ease the potential for gamblers to lose heavily on such a game, as a player who considers themselves skilled at poker need only wait for a sliver of luck, rather than a heaping dose of serendipity like what would be required to win big in slots. Then, upon receiving that sliver of luck, a salivating gambler may take it too far – it’s catastrophically easy to lean upon notions of skill in times like this, leading to massive risks being taken on the grounds of receiving a halfway-decent hand.
In my experience playing poker, I would far too often overvalue my own hand as well as my skill at discerning others’ hands. If I had been playing for money I would’ve lost everything I put in – good thing I was playing with faux chips! It was surprisingly easy to trick me into thinking I had good odds – oftentimes, it was as simple as receiving a three-of-a-kind or even a pair of queens, and I’d start getting risky. I’d take note of times where my opponents had bluffed about their hands and won with a jack-high or worse, and I figured my time to shine was right around the corner, armed with a solid hand. I’d bet way too much and (sometimes) win, which would inspire more recklessness down the line as I’d consider myself a master table-reader, leading to the inevitable loss of what I had won previously. Perhaps (certainly) I’m just bad at poker – or perhaps people are generally bad at gauging odds – but at the end of the day poker is dangerous for a few key reasons: it’s incredibly fun; it provides room for the player to actually strategize, unlike slots; it gives leeway for a player to win even with garbage-level luck, enabling the player and encouraging even riskier behavior later on. Thus one can see that poker is great at feeding a gambling addiction, as gamblers including myself are encouraged to play recklessly when given even the slimmest sliver of opportunity!
