T
TrapStar
Enthusiast
Silver Level
HMmmm.. then I would say poker is gambling based on the 'uncertain outcome' criteria. But then, considering current world financial situations, wouldn't stocks and futures be gambling. ?? ...
Of course stocks are gambling. Everyone knows that. Stocks are more of a gamble than playing poker if you play tight enough. And I'm not talking about one poker game, I mean over the course of at least a year. If you are patient enough to play ABC poker, you are guaranteed to win in the long run, but maybe not win so much. If you like to play many different hands, see a lot of flops, and bluff a lot, than poker is definitely gambling. You have a better chance at winning a significant amount of money playing that way, but also good chance of losing a significant amount. If you play extremely tight and by the book, over the course of at least a year you will get probably around 110% return on investment....but that's no fun lol
So my answer to the question "Is poker gambling?" is it depends on how you play.
I'm sure you see donks all the time go all in preflop for $50 into a 75 cent pot, you think that's not gambling? And the guy that calls the donkey overbet holding ace high with no pot odds, you think he's not gambling?