Is poker "gambling"?

[darkassassin89]

so even if i can be a winning player and ven if it is 51% and i lose 49% of the time, i am a gambling, Even tho I am making a profit? Slow yes, but still the $ is increasing slowly.

I think games that are considered "gambling" are any game in the casino tha is not poker. (besides Black JAck, if u can count you are not gambling you are winning about 55% of the time so u have a slow income)

 

[Debi]

Don't let others tell you how to live your life and you will be much happier.

I could give a rat's ass whether anyone else thinks it is gambling or not, or right or wrong. I enjoy playing it and don't hurt anyone when I do - including myself.

Seriously.

 

[midgetfactory]

Being a christian is gambling no? nobody knows which religion is true if any!

 

[arahel_jazz]

What a question. Is snow white?

Only until the dogs get to it...


No, Poker is not gambling. You can intentionally lose money at Poker. Gambling is the act of a purely odds-based return on your money where no action by you can affect the outcome.

You gamble at horse racing, keno, craps, roulette, and slot machines. Poker, blackjack, and baccarat are wagering games where an element of skill is required due to the interaction of the player with the game.

 

[Big_Rudy]

I enjoy playing it and don't hurt anyone when I do - including myself. Seriously.

Wish I could say that! Never hurt anyone else, although if I could reach through my internet connection........

I HAVE, however, injured myself more than once after the 10th bad beat in a session. Sometimes the urge to punch something is just overwhelming. Sometimes I don't choose wisely when punching things. Gotta wrk on that. Choosing better things, I mean .

 

[Kenzie 96]

Poker can be approached as a game of skill, ie. Phil Ivey against anyone, or you can sit at a poker table & gamble. Your choice.
If you really want to gamble, play bingo.

 

[Marginal]

It is what it is.

 

[WhiteYoke]

Go to your local church and tell everybody you bought a weekly lotto ticket. I bet most of them won't even give you any reaction. Then tell them that you play poker for money sometimes. Now you are going straight to hell.

People have no right to judge you.
It only matters whats in your own head.

 

[nathan12420]

I am writing a persuasive paper on Poker: Is it gambling? And I am now the opposition

All I have to say is that gambling can be anything, just like what Arthur says. It's a gamble to plant a tree, because the tree could one day be struck by lightning, fall, and kill someone. I believe that poker is one hundred percent a gamble. Some people are blessed with great opportunities in poker and they also exploit weaknesses in other players' games. If you play enough hands you will learn a lot about poker and may be able to gain maximum +EV out of every situation. Some people are blessed (God given) with better cards. (I am convinced that God is real and that Jesus Christ is God and that he was on this Earth.) I also think that no matter what some people do that they will not be winning players. Dark Assassin, think of it like this: If you are wishing that you could make yourself feel better because it's so much fun to play and try to win, you are probably doing wrong. You may end up winning huge one day(it will be a gamble to get to that point), and if and when you do (you will be wasting your time because you are probably still out of God's will and not getting the overall message out.) I think I have decided that I am going to quit playing poker for money that I am not willing to lose (I think that if you are risking money that you don't mind throwing in the garbage and forgetting about, then you are not really risking anything). The main point is: what could you use that money for (glorifying God and Jesus)? I think that if you are gambling with people and you are witnessing while you do it, it isn't wrong as long as you let them know you don't care about the money you are risking.

 

[bigbigbucs]

Poker is....

Poker is paitence. And is not a gamble. Why do you see so many of the same faces at the final table?. Becuase they play poker and don't gamble. now bing o thats gambling and ya can always almost find a good bing game going on at your nearby church. imo Bigbigbucs.

 

[RamdeeBen]

Of course its gambling bigbucs. Every hand is a gamble because you are putting money in based on odds of somethings happening. That is a gamble. Of course there are winning players because they can exploit people and have a better understanding of the game but even greats like Phil Ivey GAMBLE on every hand they play. FACT, there is no two ways about it.

Even if you knew the other persons hand preflop and go all-in with you aces agaisn't their deuces, it is still a gamble, one of which you are favorite and will win most of the time. However, it is still a gamble just like picking any horse that is odds on favourite, it is a gamble one of which you can't predict the outcome 100%.

I'm not doubting that people can and obviously DO make a living and profit of it but this is because these people have studied the game and know when to get the money in and when to get out. Just because their making money on it and not losing long term doesn't mean they aren't gambling like any other fish. They just know when to gamble and to make it profitable.

ps: Whys this thread turned into some bible bashers preach?

 

[Debi]

ps: Whys this thread turned into some bible bashers preach?

You should have seen what I deleted lol.

 

[darkassassin89]

You should have seen what I deleted lol.

Oh my what did u delete?!?

Im curious now

 

[BelgoSuisse]

Poker is not gambling, it´s investing.

Well, traditional Christian dogma was that investing was against christian beliefs too. It was considered usury.

The logical solution is obviously not to stop investing or to stop gambling, but instead to stop basing your life on the rites of a few tribes of shepperds from the bronze age.

 

[RamdeeBen]

You should have seen what I deleted lol.

lol. Yeah I'm with darkassissan, very curious now of what you said!

 

[LuckyChippy]

Well, traditional Christian dogma was that investing was against christian beliefs too. It was considered usury.

The logical solution is obviously not to stop investing or to stop gambling, but instead to stop basing your life on the rites of a few tribes of shepperds from the bronze age.

Lol too true.

I also doubt the bible says that gambling is wrong, more likely some guy in rome decided he didn't like it and chose to determine how people should behave according to his own views and not those of God and or Jesus.

 

[WhiteYoke]

I think God himself took a bit of a gamble when he decided to plant the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and told Adam and Eve not to eat its fruits.

 

[TylerN]

I feel like it is definately a gamble, you not going to win on bad cards. A good poker player is someone that is very lucky, the ones that say that there is alot of skill is full of it.

**** the Redskins lol

 

[Debi]

Oh my what did u delete?!?

Im curious now

lol. Yeah I'm with darkassissan, very curious now of what you said!

It was a full fledged sermon best suited for a church than a poker forum lol.

 

[Bdex]

of course it is, you use money to win money. Can i ask what made you ask this question?

 

[belerophon]

For me gambling is wagering on an uncertain outcome.

In poker a skilled player can be assured of x amount of success over time... a certain outcome or leastways as certain as any outcome in any other aspect of living. Many good players can pinpoint this ROI down to solid accuracy over 100bb's.

Therefore, no it is not gambling if you know what you are doing.

 

[fletchdad]

of course it is, you use money to win money. Can i ask what made you ask this question?

So any time you use money to make money, it is gambling?

 

[only_bridge]

Well I play bridge tournaments every now and then.

Every time I do so there is a tournament fee of about 6$ for a normal bridge tournament.

I'd like to think of that fee as something equivilant to paying a greenfee at a golf course, or the fee you pay for renting a lane in the bowling alley.

To me there is not much difference between a low buyin poker tournament and a bridge tournament. Both are just hobbies, something you do for fun. And if you happen to win something, then thats just an added bonus.

But Im not religous, and I dont think much about gambling as a sin, or anything bad.
And I do think that poker for real money is gambling, it just doesnt always have to be that serious, thats all I mean.

 

[GrimlyGrim]

To good players it is hustling, and to bad players it is gambling. I'm not sure what is worse between taking someones money or blowing your money.

 

[Orcusan]

Yes poker is gambling and a game of luck. All who play it will burn in hellz for this sin.

PS : Game platforms are also rigged just so you know so better stay away.