sure NL holdem is gambling, BUT

[ZIPPY]

it is gambling
i can see where your coming from and i agree to an extent - all casino games are in favour of the casino with odds so pokers better in that respect

but you cant get away from the fact its gambling. You bet money and you can either lose it or win more - thats gambling

In a card room or B&M/online casino, the casino is guaranteed a win at poker... The rake beats all comers!

[ReRaIsE]

It's gambling, but check this out.

I play a weekly game with two calling stations, a drunk, a flashy gumba and a straight up compulsive gambler. Guess who the only player is who is ALWAYS up?

[MasterShake]

The Gumba?

[Klumsysmurf]

Golf is not gambling.

Bowling is not gambling.

These are games based 95% on skill. Tiger woods and any other golfer that competes with him would kick the ever living snot out of all of us on this board.

Take a profesional bowler and none of us would stand a chance against him/her.


Play at a table full of complete fish, and you'll still lose sometimes. In the long run skill is a very important factor in any poker game, but there's still a much bigger luck factor than in any real sport. Poker is not a sport, it's a game. A game of cards

[BigSlugger09]

This is how you can always pick out the bad poker players at the table.

The bad ones are the ones who think they're gambling and are just there to have fun. The good players know that poker is not gambling.

NL Texas holdem is a game of skill, not luck. Yeah, 1/10 days a good player might lose, that happens. But that doesn't make it gambling.

It's about as much gambling as investing in the stock market.

I have to disagree with a lot of this statement. In fact I feel almost the opposite. A good player must be able to accept the fact that its gambling. This way its easier to accept bad beats, bad players winning, etc. Poker is just a form of gambling where, by good play, you can win in the long run.

From the American Heritage dictionary, to gamble mean to bet on an uncertain outcome, as a contest. This is most certainly what poker is.

Dont get me wrong, its not like the other gambling games where a player will lose in the long run (aside from card counting in blackjack which is hard to be done anymore). Poker is a game where the best players have the advantage, but it doesnt mean its not gambling.

[yeltzen]

What is so difficult to understand about "POKER IS GAMBLING"?
It's like some people think you're speaking another language when you say that.
In poker, you are never guaranteed to make money even if you make every single correct move every single time. Hell, everyone could turn their cards up, and you could still lose your money even if they played like a complete moron.

Example: You turn your cards up. You have AA. Your opponent has KK. The flop comes A K 5. You have a set, and your opponent only has 2 outs. Heads up, there is never enough money to justify calling when you're a 23-1 dog. But let's say he does it. You put him all in and he calls. The river is a K. You lost. You made the indisputably best move, and you lost. It's gambling. Get over yourself.

[zeroswarm]

Can't even see how anyone can seriously think playing poker for money isn't gambling. It obviously is.
As someone else already mentioned, if you want to play a non gambling game then play chess. Chess is a game where luck doesn't exist and if you win your play deserved it and if you lose then your play sucked.
The same cannot be said about poker. Sometimes you win and your play didn't deserve it, sometimes you lose when you didn't deserve too.
Enough said.

[Prodigy]

i like to think it as... "i'm not gambling, i'm winning"

[Scott1101]

it IS NOT gambling, it is poker.

So, is this a joke post then? Or do you care to defend your position?