Public Speaking: Poker

Ok, well I am taking a speech class this year and we had to choose an informative topic and I chose Poker.

I have to have an intro, body (w/ 3 main points), and conclusion.

Really it just sounds like a 5 paragrapg essay that I have to read out loud.

Anyway, my question for you is what are some essential aspects to poker that I could use for my three main points? The speech has to be pretty concise (4-6 minutes) and not contain to much lingo as to confuse/bore the people who aren't that into poker.

Right now I'm tossing around a couple of main points but I want some new ideas so I'll keep those to myself for now.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Probably easiest to choose a small representative sample of popular poker variations (HE, omaha, draw, etc) and give a short description/basic rules, instead of trying to do a semi-detailed explaination of how to play one particular poker variation like NLHE or what have you.

EDIT: Actually in hindsight, 5 minutes isn't enough to explain 3 variations of poker, so nvm. I'd give suggestions but i got to go to class.

Yea, but it doesn't really have to be all that involved so it still might work. Sounds like a decent idea that won't become painfully boring for people who don't really like poker.

Originally I was going with different aspects of poker in general but you gave me another direction entirely to think about.

Thanks and keep the suggestions coming!

Take a laptop and play. Then talk and talk. If you win big; clutch your fist together, take a deep breathe and yell BULLLDOZER!!! and then take a sip of a Red Bull

I think the most important emphasis you need to make since it's for school and poker is an addiction, is to point out that poker is just a game. It was here 60 years ago, and it will be around for 60 more. It's really important that you make out it's for an entertainment purpose, just like going to the movies, and not a way to make an income.

Poker/gambling addiction is a problem and you should be responsible in explaining your love for it toward others. Just my opinion though.

justadream82 said:

I think the most important emphasis you need to make since it's for school and poker is an addiction, is to point out that poker is just a game. It was here 60 years ago, and it will be around for 60 more. It's really important that you make out it's for an entertainment purpose, just like going to the movies, and not a way to make an income.

Poker/Gambling addiction is a problem and you should be responsible in explaining your love for it toward others. Just my opinion though.

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Poker is not gambling. Only bad poker players think that it is.

BelgoSuisse said:

Poker is not gambling. Only bad poker players think that it is.

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Um... poker is gambling, just like any other form of gambling found in a casino. The only difference is that you can learn the game and improve in playing it. You can therefore exploit situations and make better descisions than your opponents thereby turning the odds of winning in the long run in your favour.

As defined by dictionary.com -

Gambling - To stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance.


OH and to jasdell in my experience anytime I talk to my non-poker friends about poker they get a glazed bored look over thier faces. Thats why I have 'poker' friends and 'non poker' friends. I believe that anyone not already interested in poker will find a speech about poker utterly boring no matter how it is presented, sorry but thats just my opinion. Unless of course you do what Gallo suggested.

diamond_06_06 said:

Um... poker is gambling, just like any other form of gambling found in a casino. The only difference is that you can learn the game and improve in playing it. You can therefore exploit situations and make better descisions than your opponents thereby turning the odds of winning in the long run in your favour.

As defined by dictionary.com -

Gambling - To stake or risk money, or anything of value, on the outcome of something involving chance.

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In the long run, chance as virtually no impact on the outcome. Ergo, poker is not gambling.

BelgoSuisse said:

In the long run, chance as virtually no impact on the outcome. Ergo, poker is not gambling.

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Poker is gambling, of course it is. pot odds, knowing when to call on draws, how much to bet to deny correct odds, it's all gambling.

Re OP, I wonder whether poker is the right subject? Like it or not, there is a stigma against Poker / Gambling, and maybe there are "safer" subjects? Good luck though, whatever you choose.

justadream82 said:

I think the most important emphasis you need to make since it's for school and poker is an addiction, is to point out that poker is just a game. It was here 60 years ago, and it will be around for 60 more. It's really important that you make out it's for an entertainment purpose, just like going to the movies, and not a way to make an income.

Poker/Gambling addiction is a problem and you should be responsible in explaining your love for it toward others. Just my opinion though.

Click to expand...

Truth be known, Poker has been around ALOT longer than 60 years!! It originated in the 19th century as a game known as POQUE, centered in New Orleans on the Mississippi Riverboats. Grdually it spread all over the country and evolved into newer and different forms as time went on.--HOH 2004

BelgoSuisse said:

In the long run, chance as virtually no impact on the outcome. Ergo, poker is not gambling.

Click to expand...

Yes I am aware that the longer you play poker the less chance (or luck) plays a role in your overall results. However if on the turn you are looking to make a call with a flush draw, you are still investing (read: gambling) on a 4-1 shot.

Poker is gambling...it can be beaten and over long term chance is not a major factor (go look at some EV graphs on 2 + 2 if you think everythign always evens out over time), over the short term period that the vast majority of poker players will play then it is certainly gambling. Taking shots/moving up stakes is a gamble because you are hoping you won't run terrible and have to move down. If you casually or even semi-seriously play MTTs, then you are never going to play enough games to make it "long term" etc etc.

That said, obviously poker is not gambling in the sense of roulette, slot machines etc. because you can win. I never have and never will touch a lottery ticket/slot machine etc.

Anyways back to OP.

I just think that 1. there are too many aspects of poker to try and pick and choose a few things and elaborate on them and 2. i think it would be incredibly boring for those who aren't interested and rather useless for those who are interested as they will likely already know. So whatever you do i'd just keep it simple and try and basically do nothing more than explain the rules/basic principles. If you wanted to just concentrate on hold em, i'd probably just do something like 1. preflop action and hole cards 2. postflop 3. then maybe something like the different kinds of options as in mtts/cash for live and sngs/mtt/cash for online etc.

Poker

Poker can be very boring to people who arent intrested! To keep them focused maybe talk about how it relates to other things, in the ways of stradegy!

First, what class? Math? Social Studies? What kind of class?

Second, I would not focus on the game itself, rather the growing social aspect in cyberspace (like this forum), also find the literature on poker as a learning and socialization tool (I can send links if you PM me). I teach and do research at university, and am looking to make the poker phenomenon a core focus.

I agree more with Belgo that gambling or chance is a minor variable in the long run, if you take all the other skills into account. These skills should be the focus, not gambling.

Other casino games ARE gambling, no doubt about it: Roulette, slots, in particular, blackjack less so, but those are asocial games played against the house. Poker is a social game played against others -- big difference!

If it were me giving the speech:

1. explain what poker is what poker isn't.

2. explain there are different variations that people play and what some are ie. briefly explain 5 card draw, 7 stud, and hold'em. basicaly the rules and how the cards come out

3. talk about he wsop how it is a series of different events with different games and buyins and end with the WSOP main event that will be finished next month and how much the prize the pool is how much the winner will get.

This stays away from social aspects, is only informational but still allows for questions that you should be able to answer with confidence.

I will assume that your class is a college level speech class. I am a college professor, although not in Communication and it's been years since I took my Intro Speech class. But, I would encourage you to narrow your topic. Poker is much too broad to discuss in 4-6 minutes. I would narrow the topic to the Poker Boom since Moneymaker's win, or focus on discussing the role of the internet in poker, or (my favorite) the politics of poker. You could discuss the UIGEA and the various interest groups that are pro-poker and anti-poker and their role in getting the UIGEA passed and the attempts to repeal it. You can even mention how the UIGEA has been judged to violate existing US Trade agreements and how the US is going to have to give numerous trade concessions to various countries as a penalty. Hope this helps!

Alright people thanks for the responses (even if a few of them were off topic lol)

Some of the ideas I've heard on here are pretty good and I wish I would have read this before I turned it in lol.

Anyway I turned in an outline this morning and this was what I have so far (I can change these still so no biggie) ...

Just thought I would share with all of you.



General Purpose: To inform.
Specific Purpose: I plan to inform my audience about various aspects of poker, such as odds, bankroll management, and the importance of aggression.

Introduction

I. I’m sure most of you remember from my last speech that I have a deep love for poker, and today I hope to share this love with you.
II. I have been playing poker for the last four or five years now and have tried to absorb as much information as possible on the subject through various sources such as books, the internet, and countless hours logged actually playing.
III. I am going to tell you about three areas I have found to be essential to playing successful poker.
A. I am going to teach you how to quickly calculate odds
B. I am going to tell you the importance of bankroll management.
C. I am going to convey the importance of being an aggressive player.

[I hope not to bore you to tears with my first point, but it is absolutely essential to know how to calculate basic odds.]

Body

I. Poker is a game of skill and knowing the numbers is essential in making the best possible move.
A. Calculating the odds is really much simpler than it sounds and can be done quickly if you know how many outs you or your opponent have.
B. Based on your calculations you now know how much you should bet to give your opponent bad odds or how much you should call when there is only one card left to come.

[Odds are definitely the boring part of poker, but if you want to win you need to know them, and if you want to retain those winnings you need to know bankroll management.]

II. Bankroll management is simply managing your gambling money wisely.
A. The reason bankroll management is so important to long term success is eventually you will get sucked out on and your pocket aces will get cracked by pocket kings or the trash some idiots will get all in with before the flop with.
B. Bankroll management is essential in that when you do get sucked out on, you don’t go broke and live to gamble another day.

[Now that you know some strategy to saving you from losing all your money, it’s time to have a winning strategy.]

III. Being an aggressive player is essential to poker and without an aggressive style you will probably get run over.
A. In order to be a winning player you need to recognize the weaker players at the table and punish them for their mistakes and use their bad play to your advantage.
B. You cannot be aggressive with any two cards though; you need good cards to start with or at least cards that can become good and win a big pot.

[Aggression is essential for a winning player and hopefully the next time you sit down at the table you don’t get bullied around.]

Conclusion

I. In conclusion I hope you now have a better understanding of basic poker strategy and how to play the game.
A. I have told you the importance of knowing the math.
B. I have illuminated how vital it is to practice disciplined bankroll management.
C. I have displayed how being an aggressive player is very important to being a winning player

II. Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to seeing you at the tables.

Talk about how Johnny Chan's back to back wins in the WSOP started to get more people playing no limit holdem and then talk about how Chris Moneymaker's win got 100 million donks to start playing lol.

If i was making a speech i would probably just generalize everything in this way..

1.What is poker and how it evolved.
2.The most popular games( NL Holdem, 5 card stud etc...)
3.Pokers popularity and how it grw in past few years(internet, tv, casinos, books, most recognized players)
4.Poker and legal issues in US(if you live in US)
5.A little about my Poker adventure.

That should be my 6 min..

From my experience (and lots of others), talking about poker with non poker players is about as worthless as talking about politics with your dog

Well I appreciate all the ideas everyone has generated.

And as for you naysayers you should check back when I tell everyone how amazing it was.

I'm pretty set on my speech, and I know its probably the only topic I can deliver with enough energy/excitement that it will/should actually be tolerable.

I deliver it next Friday if we stay on schedule, but more likely it will be on monday or wednesday.

So by Thursday you can expect twenty-ish students to drop out of college and be hittin the tables.

I hope you do well, let us know how it goes.

I know it's been way longer than 60 years, I just chose that number to represent the amount of significance. LOL.

RickH2005 said:

Truth be known, Poker has been around ALOT longer than 60 years!! It originated in the 19th century as a game known as POQUE, centered in New Orleans on the Mississippi Riverboats. Grdually it spread all over the country and evolved into newer and different forms as time went on.--HOH 2004

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When there are thousands of people around the world who use poker as their profession, as their PRIMARY job, how can you say poker is gambling. Yes it is to the millions of tools out there that go all-in everytime they have an ace in their hand, or with hands worse off. But Poker itself is a game of skill. Last time I checked there weren't any professional slot machine players...were there?

jasdell said:

Ok, well I am taking a speech class this year and we had to choose an informative topic and I chose Poker.

I have to have an intro, body (w/ 3 main points), and conclusion.

Really it just sounds like a 5 paragrapg essay that I have to read out loud.

Anyway, my question for you is what are some essential aspects to poker that I could use for my three main points? The speech has to be pretty concise (4-6 minutes) and not contain to much lingo as to confuse/bore the people who aren't that into poker.

Right now I'm tossing around a couple of main points but I want some new ideas so I'll keep those to myself for now.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Click to expand...

1. Tell them what you are going to tell them.

2. Tell them.
a.