Among the skill based games in India, Poker definitely sits on a high pedestal. Chance or luck has little role to play in determining the winner. The aptitude of the player combined with the ability to deduce probable outcomes through mathematical permutations are essential for emerging as the winner.
Poker is skill based game
Laser targeted strategy, observation power, ability to remember the last moves of rivals, and robust grip on the game’s essentials segregate a winner from the loser in poker.
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Your hand’s strength in poker would not essentially make you victorious or loser. The outcome is determined by the way you manoeuvre that hand skilfully in your favour. This calls for having a proper feel of your rival’s hand strength. Further, you need to have a keen eye on the statistics so as to be aware of the moment the odds start going against you. All these taken together have to be manipulated discerningly to make the opponents believe that the strength or weakness of your hand is greater or lesser than the actual ground reality.
Bluffing requires skill
To provide an inflated view of your actual hand position to the rival, bluffing is a must. The depth of your skills is tested when it comes to bluffing. Your incisiveness comes into play as you start ascertaining the strategic time to bluff and the manner to pull it off so as to impact the opponents adversely. Further, your instincts should tell you if the rival has engaged in bluffing or not. Accurately timed and consistent bluffing can lead you to victory even if you are at a disadvantage at the start of the game.
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Importance of position
Gambling results are purely providential. The same is contrary in poker where even your position matters. A player out of position would suffer from initial disadvantage unless he collects his composure and makes the skills toil to get back into the game. Position implies the seat where you find yourself at the poker table and which determines the advent of your turn. The importance of position is undeniable as your turn may come prior to, in between or after the opponents.
Dealer position allows you to exercise optimum leverage as you come to know about the moves of fellow players by virtue of your position at the end of the queue. If your opponent’s chip count is low, you can get the better of him with huge chip count. A great skill is to take advantage of the position one is in and turn it into his favour by exploiting the vulnerabilities of other players. This truly upholds the statement that poker is skill based game. You can check raise i.e. you decide to raise after initially going for a check. Or, you can raise out of position i.e. your decision comes prior to your rival.
Reading the body language
Observing your opponent and understating the state of his mind through specific movements of him and demeanour is a key skill that one must possess. Any fidgeting on the table should be picked up as a symbol of weakness or strength.
Poker and mathematical skills
Among the skill based games in India, poker enjoys the explicit patronage of Indian Supreme Court’s dictate because mathematics has a definitive role to play in making you, winner. As a deft player, you have to be conversant with the concepts of probability, permutation and combination because they would help you calculate potential moves proactively by observing the moves of the rival. Poker and mathematical skills are inextricably linked.
All the aforesaid arguments prove that poker is a skill-based game and luck factor has no role to play in it.
Good read. Any player worth a pair of deuces will tell you that poker is a game of skill. According to me Poker is a game of both skill and luck. The cards you and your opponents are dealt are totally down to luck, it’s how you use them and how you bet that is the skill. I am a poker player (beginner) and I love playing Omaha poker online. I make mistakes, but the more I play, the more I can see the mistakes, and my goal each session is to never make them again.