Friday, February 20, 2009
Poker = gambling and/or skill, pt. 1
grinch (verb): to take money from, disallowing the purchase of gifts, thereby ruining a holiday or celebration
(etymology: this term was created earlier today when I made it up)
And if you aren't familiar with the more legitimate poker slang: fish and donk(ey) refer to players who don't know what they're doing.
A South Carolina judge ruled that poker is a game of skill, and therefore might not fall under the legal prohibition of gambling involving games of chance with cards or dice.
Poker definitely involves skill, and allows players to gain a statistical edge by making more sound decisions than their opponents. But it seems to me that regardless of the skill factor, there is still money being put at risk. Even the best players can get unlucky and go home broke. Assuming the law was put in place to protect bad gamblers from themselves, the involvement of skill probably should not change things. Bad players who enjoy the game will still go give away the rent money.
I used to play online poker. A single game is slow and easily manageable, while multiple tables--say, 4--at times reaches a frantic level of looking-thinking-pointing-and-clicking. Ned is playing twelve tables simultaneously, which is in most cases ill-advised. But he's a huge nerd; he knows what he's doing.
