Gambling: Perception or Reality?

“Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.”-Voltaire.

How do you define gambling?

As individuals, we all will have a different definition or perception on a given subject & that is what makes us individually unique. Our perception may have been molded by personal life experiences or what society has lead us to believe through informative misinformation. Keeping that in mind if we were utilize rational thoughts with the lack of emotional attachment, our definition would more than likely produce such a result similar to what we would find in The Oxford English Dictionary.

Gamble (v): To play games of chance for money [Without Object], bet (a sum of money) [With an Object], or to take risky action in hope of desired result.

Now we can come to the rational conclusion that gambling is just human nature & a part of our everyday reality. Society has made an effective attempt to streamline human decision making as a product of a results oriented thought process. This is where I feel society has failed us. Effectively it means that society as a whole does not understand statistical variance & how it will balance out over a large sample of data or in this case a large sample of decisions. This is why I tend to believe that we no longer depend upon individual decision making that is based on factual information at hand. We tend to seek information elsewhere that effectively in a sense is unreliable, thus we tend to fail much more than we succeed. We tend to put the carriage before the horse.

Maybe this is just a fundamental flaw of society or result in a lack of understanding that has developed through our educational system. Although failure is just another aspect of life & an essential component of success, the rate of failure can be drastically reduced based upon rational thinking & using quantifiable information to make well informed decisions knowing that the end result does not truly matter, life will go on. The more we allow society to shape our thought processes in this manner, the more we are susceptible to lose our sense of individuality & our ability to think for ourselves.

Although the definition of gambling is theoretically correct on paper, in practice only with a deeper understanding the definition will only partially apply to poker. Poker is a game that beneath the surface of perception many intangible variables exist that can be condensed into relatively two areas of skill, mathematical computation & psychological warfare. Poker is a constant emotional struggle for individualistic superiority based upon mathematical computations & interpreting the significance of intrinsically incomplete information.

These are just two variables that exist that give a strong argument to classifying poker as primarily a game of skill with elements of chance.

“Defining poker as a game of skill is actually quite simple. First we must forget winning at poker & think for a moment about losing. It is possible to intentionally lose in poker as where to craps & roulette it is not. In games of chance we have no control of the outcome no matter our intent, our odds remain the same. In poker our actions can influence the outcome of the hand. If we fold we know with absolute certainty we will lose or calling bets with hands that cannot win the pot we will lose every time.”- Treat your poker like a business by Dusty Schmidt

Table games such as blackjack or craps are played against the house in which the casino has a specific built in mathematical advantage, where as poker is played against other human beings. The intrinsic flaws of human beings are where we can effectively exploit psychological tendencies or individual weaknesses through tactics of deception & manipulation. Understanding mathematical concepts & human psychology is only the beginning to understanding the level of skill that exists within the game & how they will translate from theory into practice. When our understanding of game theory is effectively implemented, it will in effect lead to a more profound understanding of the game. This is when it is we come to realize that skill is a primary component in a game which by the untrained eye is perceived otherwise. For the individuals who feel that gambling casts a negative shadow on society, poker in particular, understand that life inherently involves risk & everything we do has an element of chance involved. There is nothing certain in this life but death & taxes. Factually that is a reality that you cannot escape.

As human beings we can only comprehend what we truly understand. Poorly executed decisions made on the basis of inferior information or unfounded perception of actuality have a tendency to result in a better than desired outcome. This is the way that the game maintains a delicate sense of humor based on the realism of uncertainty. Individuality (Ego), emotional attachment, & level of understanding of the game are just a few of the qualities that tend to create the element of chance. These factors have the ability to create delusional distortions that have a direct effect on the mental game & personal decision making.

The only certainty in poker that exists is the point where the pot has been awarded. Thus in poker perfection does not exist; mastery is skill that separates an individual from the competition & in theory poker will continually provide a challenging yet dynamic environment.