Why Do We Play Poker?

During a recent interview with Joey Ingram, Barry Greenstein spoke about asking a bunch of recreational players why they play poker and despite all being clearly losing players, everyone says they're in it to win money. Absurd isn't it? But hang on, why do I play poker? To win money, of course. Do I? A little but at a very poor hourly rate. So why bother?


If I really wanted to win, I would do 200% more studying, I would have at the very least tried using a HUD at some point in the last decade and I would certainly be all over solvers right now. But I am not. I read free strategy pieces, some hand histories and occasionally go old school with some good old fashioned book reading, just enough to keep the pocket money coming in but not enough to win serious cash. And yet, I want to win serious cash, so what am I waiting for? 

People are always asking pros "what do I need to do to become a great player?" like there's some quick "oh you should be 3betting every third hand" magic solution to winning but there's not. Funny thing is, I think I know the answer. I can't remember which pro said it but the best answer to the question is simply "start trying to get better". I know there are training sites out there I could sign up for, I know there are solvers to run hands through, I know there's a wealth of information to study and yet, I'm not doing any of it, I'm just scratching at the surface, refusing to dig any deeper. Why? 

My excuses would be as follows; "I don't have enough time" and "I don't have enough money"

But who am I fooling with that? Yes, I don't have a lot of free time and I don't have a lot of disposable income for poker but I do have enough of both to play pretty much every night of the week, so I'm not sure those excuses stand up to interrogation. The real answer is I want to play poker and I don't want to study. I want to enjoy playing the game, I don't want to be calculating unfamiliar mathematical concepts. I want to be in with a shout of winning some cash, I don't want to pay for lecture in what I'm doing wrong. So where does that leave me?

Many moons ago, I played a fair whack of multiplayer Call Of Duty online, I was never any good. I was continuously bested by the squeaky voiced adolescent boys who had an extra 50 hours a week to practice perfecting their game. Sure, I guess I could have dedicated the same amount of time to it but that never really seemed like the best use of my time. I played for those occasional games where everything just went right, I played well, my strategy worked, I got lucky, I outmanoeuvred my opponents, I won. It didn't happen very often, but it did happen enough to keep me in the game, to keep my interest going, to give the hope that I could come out on top, and I think that's why I play poker. I just love playing games. I love figuring something out, I love winning, I love the journey of getting there I love the hope it brings of being victorious. There's a joy in it.  


We often forget that in poker, when we run bad there is no joy in it, there's often talk of "should poker be considered a sport" too as it is a serious endeavour, why won't people take it seriously?! 

But why can't it be a game? Why can't it be a fun thing? Why can't we just enjoy the privilege of playing the game?

Poker happens to be the greatest game I've encountered and money is just the scoreboard.