Is poker not a fair game?

This is the story of one of my friend who used to think that poker is not a fair game.


“Whenever I try to play with my pocket cards someone just raises. That someone raises it so high that I am forced to think that my cards are not strong enough to compete with him. So I fold. But at the end I discover that I had the winning hand……….. You people deprived me of what was mine. You took the money although you don’t have the winning hand. Is it fair?”


The story ends here. But question remains, are we depriving our friends from what they are entitled to?

One of the tricks in poker is to convice the other players to fold when they actually have better cards. This is quite difficult.

So, the answer to your question is NO, but only because they are not 'entitled' to anything, otherwise it would be YES.

Bro wut kind of thread this. Why would someone guarantee that a game be fair as long as the integrity is there that is what counts.

playinggameswithu said:

Bro wut kind of thread this. Why would someone guarantee that a game be fair as long as the integrity is there that is what counts.

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Seem OP doesn't like the consequences of the betting options.
Most people here put all that under 'skill' and try to get better at it (me too, just not very successful), so the game becomes actually profitable.

For the game to be fair in that sense we’d just have to play face up, but who really wants to play that shit.

Joshua_Kane said:

For the game to be fair in that sense we’d just have to play face up, but who really wants to play that shit.

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As I understand 'face up' and 'no betting' it a common way to play strip poker when everybody's drunk.

8bod8 said:

As I understand 'face up' and 'no betting' it a common way to play strip poker when everybody's drunk.

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Haha I guess I wouldn’t mind playing fair in that situation.

I can recommend your friend to play only fair games, but he can hardly make money.

Entitlement mentality is -EV in poker as it is in life!

The politicians lie to you! Your opponents lie to you!

You need to be able to work within a framework of reality to succeed in this world and I think poker is a great training ground for that.

lol the moment you buy in you agree the rules and contract. You have to know from the start that's the real nature of the game. Study more, if you always fold winning hands then you're not recognizing the good probabilities your hand has.

You and your friends aren't entitled to anything.

At the poker table you don't always need the best hand to win a pot. Sometimes it takes courage and heart to rake in a pot with air.

The only time the best hand matters is when the last card is dealt and your chips are in the middle. Until then your nuts can be crushed with one card unless you flop a royal flush of course.

You got to know when to hold em and know when to fold em. But more importantly know when to steal pots.

playinggameswithu said:

Bro wut kind of thread this. Why would someone guarantee that a game be fair as long as the integrity is there that is what counts.

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Integrity in poker is an

The game has become way more competitive that is used to be 8-10 years ago , without studying or dedicating some of your free time in order to watch on TY/Twitch you are ''dead''. Tell your friend that he will not just sit down to a virtual table and he will print money.Those days are over

Good Luck to your friend!

well in this sport of skill not always the best hand wins because we have the option of bluffing and this is just before the rules of the game that allow it.As for your friend if he thinks he is being bluffed many times my advice is more hero calls So

sibird said:

"That someone raises it so high that I am forced to think that my cards are not strong enough to compete with him. So I fold. But at the end I discover that I had the winning hand”

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That's what poker is about. You will not always have the winning hand, then when you don't have the winning hand you will have to press your rivals to fold their winning hands. By probability, you have to make your rivals fold winning hands to win in the long term.

Sometimes it's fair, but sometimes it's not.

I think not, since the variance is not all the time in your favor ...:bath:

yes it is necessary to be able to bluff some hand to take control of the table. when we realize that we have thrown the winning cards because of a bluff.this is never pleasant but what is sure is that it has no justice in this game.

This is the thing that makes poker so exciting and so good game. If poker was game based entirely on skill without any luck involved (like chess for example) better player would always win. This will make it extremely difficult for new players because they will loose a lot of money before getting good enough to be profitable. In poker even novice player can win versus pro player in some cases and that makes it attractive to new players. The unique combination of skill and luck involved in poker makes this game so great.

Regarding if it is fair - well i bet that players who complain that they lost hand when they were ahead do not complain when they hit their straight or flush on the river and crush the set of the opponent. Variance hits everybody and in long term good play will earn you more money than you have lost. Every hand can win or loose in certain situation. These are the basics that every poker player should accept and work from there to be better and profitable player.

I think online poker is not a fair game ... For example, not so long ago, I played a tournament in which I went to the 3rd place of chips, 49900 and I was given a pair of AA guys from my left playing all-in I equalized and he has 6-7 on the board of the street and I lose, and so always when they give me the feeding monsters, they move me ...

sibird said:

This is the story of one of my friend who used to think that poker is not a fair game.


“Whenever I try to play with my pocket cards someone just raises. That someone raises it so high that I am forced to think that my cards are not strong enough to compete with him. So I fold. But at the end I discover that I had the winning hand……….. You people deprived me of what was mine. You took the money although you don’t have the winning hand. Is it fair?”


The story ends here. But question remains, are we depriving our friends from what they are entitled to?

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i think when you "deprive" someone, is for needs he has as a human being: water, sleep, happiness. he can always stop playing poker, and this way, the deprivation is over. this way he is choosing the outcome of his actions.

Poker is not just a card game like blackjack etz. But luck also needs the one who makes his decisions only on a mathematical basis. Probably in online poker the real opponent is not the opponent but the game engine?

if it's not fair that you have better cards than me does not mean it's not fair poker

the ability to bluff well and read the opponent's cards is the highest skill in poker, without which you cannot win !!!!

sibird said:

This is the story of one of my friend who used to think that poker is not a fair game.


“Whenever I try to play with my pocket cards someone just raises. That someone raises it so high that I am forced to think that my cards are not strong enough to compete with him. So I fold. But at the end I discover that I had the winning hand……….. You people deprived me of what was mine. You took the money although you don’t have the winning hand. Is it fair?”


The story ends here. But question remains, are we depriving our friends from what they are entitled to?

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Poker IS fair because you have the freedom to play your cards however you want. Your friend is just too scared to play proper NL poker.

He may be happier playing limit poker where each bet or raise is set to a certain amount.

To me poker is a meritocracy - it is what YOU make it for yourself.

And when I play with my friends - their chips are the sweetest to win!

Good luck !