Poker is a great leveller. You cannot buy skill and experience, you cannot buy luck, but you can feel on top of the world if you are able to put any of this into practice and win a few games!
It teaches emotional stability in changing situations, how to play courteously without raging on the opponents and handle conflict properly, how to read people, fair gameplay, money management, and analytical thinking. Not only that, these characteristics will help in real life as well.
Its always about the friends that i see every day, we all know each other and have a great time playing at the same tourney but its always fun to win too, when you come in 1st place you get a huge rush and makes you want to do it all over again. Love the site but its the players that really make it !
There’s something to be said for physically relaxing during a mentally taxing process of some sort, and for me, poker is exactly that. A cup of tea (or something stronger), a comfy chair, and my body’s happy while my mind is engaged.
Those of you that were born before WW2 know the insomnia and physical limitations we endure. Poker puts us into the arena where we can do combat with younger folks who have their lives ahead of them, on an equal footing. On- Line poker is thrilling at a time in our lives where very few thrills are available elsewhere. It provides challenge to allow us to ignore the challenge of mortality for a while.
Poker for me is keeping the brain sharp for when I get old. Playing on Replay with my friends every day keeps my mental health in good order, just like going to the gym and working out to keep fit for a good life.
What I have come to realise, having played poker for over 20 years, is that I am a better person for it. For example, I learn to be kind (e.g. don’t bully when others have far fewer chips than I), to be honest (I generally don’t fib about my hand, but play honestly, only going high on my stake when I truly have what I think is the best hand (though I might occasionally fib when some other player is using bullying tactics), but perhaps most impacting is that I have learned to be patient, very patient and to appreciate that winning is a joy when it happens, but when it does not, it is a joy for one of my fellow players. God Bless.
Having played poker for years with friends and family, I think this site is as close as you can get to the real thing. I enjoy meeting my poker pals at the table and chatting and I love the challenge of the Tourneys.
I thought I was spending to much time playing Poker until my Dr told me that it is a good cognitive exercise. It should help stave off symptoms which lead to dementia.