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A PokerNews Debate: Should Professional Poker Exist?
- Updated: November 24, 2016
Recently on Twitter, Isaac Haxton got a debate going about PokerStars’ new game format, Beat the Clock.
Haxton ridiculed the format, seeming to argue that the rake combined with the speed of the games were little more than a rake-fest for the house. What ensued was a discussion about what draws different types of players to poker.
That feeds into a larger debate and a question about poker in general: Should professional poker even be a viable career or should poker be only a recreational game enjoyed by many, but not used to make a living? PokerNews tackled the issue.
Pro Poker is a Key Part of the Game’s Appeal
Poker is one of the most popular games in the world, enjoyed by millions of people in countless different formats at stakes that vary from playing for bragging rights to playing for thousands of dollars in a single bet.
But that last part means there will always be players winning enough money to pay the bills. Is that a good thing?
Certainly, there are some arguments against it. For one thing, people say poker players aren’t contributing anything to society.
It’s hard to argue against that, as the goal of poker is inherently to take from others for your own gain. But in that case, why pick on poker? There are plenty of lines of work whose utility to society is questionable at best. Are Wall Street traders doing anything besides lining their own pockets? And I’m guessing society wouldn’t collapse under its own weight if manicurists all suddenly dropped dead and we all had to take care of our own nails.
As long as poker players are paying their taxes, they are contributing as all citizens are really obliged to contribute. Citizens not named Donald Trump, anyway.
The dream of being a winning player is part of why we all started and it’s part of why the next generation of players will start.
And, yes, poker can be enjoyed without a single cent on the line. But, at its core, poker is like any competitive game – the goal is to win. Winning in poker is done through beating opponents and the “score” of poker is kept by walking away from a game with more than your initial stake.
That’s a central part of the appeal of the game. Study the game hard enough, put in enough hours of practice, hone your ability to read everything from faces to …
