1. Is Poker Really Gambling Real Money
2. Is Poker Really Gambling Losses

In any particular hand, it is 99%+ luck between two decent players who know basic strategy. However, that one percent makes it so that the better player will win over the long run with probability approaching 100%, given you play sufficiently many. Real Money Video Poker vs. Free Video Poker. Real money video poker comes with games with some of the best casino bets online and can compete with them. Only different blackjack games can be compared to video poker when it comes to odds. But, you may wonder whether to play video poker for free or real money. Well, the answer is very simple. Nevada online poker. Nevada is the third-largest state with regulated online gambling, but its industry does not include online casinos. Apart from sports betting, poker is the only form of gambling available over the internet.

Whether on a riverboat atop the Mighty Mississippi or in the smoky dimness of a mining camp saloon, a lucky draw could turn a broken man into a winner. In the days of the frontier west, poker was king with the mustachioed likes of Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday, “Canada” Bill Jones, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and hundreds of others.

In the old west towns of Deadwood, Dodge City, Tombstone, and Virginia City, gamblers played with their back to the wall and their guns at their sides, as dealers dealt games with names such as Chuck-A-Luck, Three Card Monte, High Dice, and Faro, by far the favorite in the wild west saloons.

The exact origin of poker is unknown but many have speculated that it originated from the 16th-century Persian card game called As Nas. Played with a 25 card deck containing five suits, the rules were similar to today’s Five Card Stud. Others are of the opinion that it was invented by the Chinese in 900 A.D. In all likelihood, the game derived from elements of various gambling diversions that have been around from the beginning of time.

Is Poker Really Gambling Real Money

Poker in the United States was first widely played in New Orleans by French settlers playing a card game that involved bluffing and betting called Poque in the early 1800s. This old poker game was similar to the “draw poker” game we play today. New Orleans evolved as America’s first gambling city as riverboat men, plantation owners and farmers avidly pursued the betting sport.

The first American gambling casino was opened in New Orleans around 1822 by a man named John Davis. The club, open twenty-four hours a day, provided gourmet food, liquor, roulette wheels, Faro tables, poker, and other games. Davis also made certain that painted ladies were never far away. Dozens of imitators soon followed making the gaming dens the primary attraction of New Orleans. The city’s status as an international port and its thriving gambling industry created a new profession, called the card “sharper.”

Professional gamblers and cheats gathered in a waterfront area known as “the swamp,” an area even the police were afraid to frequent, and any gambler lucky enough to win stood a good chance of losing his earnings to thieves outside of the gambling rooms and saloons.

Gambling was outlawed in the rest of the huge Louisiana territory in 1811, but New Orleans continued to enjoy the prosperity brought by gambling for more than 100 years. Though the law was passed for the entire Louisiana Purchase, it was obviously not enforced and casinos and gambling began to spread.

As commerce developed on the waterways, gambling traveled up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, then westward via covered wagons, and later on the railroad. The first written reference in the United States came from Jonathan H. Greer in 1834 when he referred to the amusement as the “cheating game.”

Some of the first gambling dens outside of New Orleans were started on river towns that were popular with both travelers and professional gamblers. It was here that many “sharpers” preyed on these transient people, with their pockets filled with their life savings, on the way to the new frontier. The dishonest gamblers also often ran confidence games and other con artist businesses, in order to gaff the unwary pioneers. A host of companies specialized in manufacturing and selling card cheating devices. One riverboat gambler named George Devol was so proud of his ability to slip a stacked deck into a game that he once used four of them in one poker hand, dealing four aces to each of his four opponents.

It was professional gamblers who were largely responsible for the poker boom. Considering themselves as entrepreneurs, they took advantage of America’s growing obsession with gambling. Though having a high opinion of themselves, the public viewed them with disdain, considering them as contributing nothing to society. This viewpoint was often warranted in many cases, as a large number of professional gamblers often cheated in order to win. To be successful, professional gamblers had to have irresistible personalities in order to attract men to play with them. Often dressing in dandy clothes, their success depended partly on chance and partly on skill, sometimes on sleight of hand, and in the Old West, their shooting abilities. By the 1830s, citizens began to blame professional gamblers for any and every crime in the area and gambling itself began to be attacked.

James Bowie

It was during these riverboat gambling heydays that an interesting story occurred in 1832. On a Mississippi steamboat, four men were playing poker, three of which were professional gamblers, and the fourth, a hapless traveler from Natchez. Soon, the young naïve man had lost all his money to the rigged game. Devastated, the Natchez man planned to throw himself into the river; however, an observer prevented his suicide attempt, and then joined the card game with the “sharps.” In the middle of a high stakes hand, the stranger caught one of the professionals cheating and pulled a knife on the gambler, yelling, “Show your hand! If it contains more than five cards I shall kill you!” When he twisted the cheater’s wrist, six cards fell to the table. Immediately, the stranger took the $70,000 pot, returning $50,000 to the Natchez man and keeping $20,000 for his trouble. Shocked, the Natchez man stuttered, “Who the devil are you, anyway?” to which the stranger responded, “I am James Bowie.”

Anxious citizens of these river port towns grew more and more wary of the confidence men that were multiplying so quickly. In Vicksburg, Mississippi, the citizens’ rage had become so increased by 1835, five cardsharps were lynched by a vigilante group. It was soon after this that many of the gamblers moved onto the riverboats, benefiting from the transient riverboat lifestyle.

At the conclusion of the Civil War, America pushed her boundaries West, where the frontier was born of speculators, travelers, and miners. These hardy pioneers had high risk-taking characteristics, making any gambling situation a popular pastime for these rough and tumble men of the frontier. In virtually every mining camp and prairie town, a poker table could soon be found in each saloon, surrounded by prospectors, lawmen, cowboys, railroad workers, soldiers, and outlaws for a chance to tempt fortune and fate.

During the California Gold Rush of 1849 gambling houses sprouted up all over northern California, offering a wide array of not only gaming tables but also musicians and pretty women to entertain the gamblers as they played. It was at this time that dance halls began to appear and spread throughout later settlements. While these saloons usually offered games of chance, their chief attraction was dancing. The customer generally paid 75¢ to $1.00 for a ticket to dance, with the proceeds being split between the dance hall girl and the saloon owner. After the dance, the girl would steer the gentleman to the bar, where she would make an additional commission from the sale of a drink.

A popular girl would average 50 dances a night, sometimes making more a night than a working man could make in a month. Dance hall girls made enough money that it was very rare for them to double as a prostitute, in fact, many former “soiled doves” found they could make more money as a dance hall girl.

As the Gold Rush gained momentum, San Francisco replaced New Orleans as the center for gambling in the United States. Over one hundred thriving saloons and brothels met the sailors and fortune-seeking travelers as they disembarked at the San Francisco harbor and stumbled into the infamous Barbary Coast Waterfront District.

Faro was by far the most popular and prolific game played in Old West saloons, followed by Brag, Three-card-monte, and dice games such as High-low, Chuck-a-luck, and Grand hazard. It was also about this time that gambling began to invite more diversity including Hispanics, blacks, Chinese and women in the games. Three of the more famous women gamblers of this time were Calamity Jane, Poker Alice, and Madame Mustache.

Before long, many of the Old West mining camps such as Deadwood, Leadville, and Tombstone became as well known for gunfights over card games than they did for their wealth of gold and silver ore. Professional gamblers such as Doc Holliday and Wild Bill Hickok learned early to hone their six-shooter skills at the same pace as their gambling abilities. Taking swift action upon the green cloth became part of the gamblers’ code – shoot first and ask questions later.

One such occasion that clearly showed the quick and violent code was when Doc Holliday was dealing Faro to a local bully named Ed Bailey in Fort Griffin, Texas. Bailey was unimpressed with Doc’s reputation and in an attempt to irritate him; he kept picking up the discards and looking at them. Peeking at the discards was strictly prohibited by the rules of Western Poker, a violation that could force the player to forfeit the pot.

Though Holliday warned Bailey twice, the bully ignored him and picked up the discards again. This time, Doc raked in the pot without showing his hand, nor saying a word. Bailey immediately brought out his pistol from under the table, but before the man could pull the trigger, Doc’s lethal knife slashed the man across the stomach. With blood spilled everywhere, Bailey lay sprawled out dead across the table.

Inevitably there were liquored up miners and cowboys who would shoot up the saloons and sometimes the poker winner when they were angered by their losses. Even Wild Bill Hickok, who is mostly known for his heroics and prowess with a six-shooter, took advantage of those abilities when faced with a loss in Deadwood, South Dakota. Shortly before midnight after a night of drinking and gambling, Hickok was playing a two-handed game with a man named McDonald when the stakes began to increase with every card dealt.

When the hand was complete and the middle of the table piled high with money, McDonald showed his hand, displaying three jacks. To this, Hickok responded, “I have a full house – aces over sixes,” then threw his hand face down upon the table. However, when McDonald picked up Hickok’s hand, he exclaimed, “I see only two aces and one six.” Wasting no time, Wild Bill drew his six-shooter with his right hand and replied, “Here’s my other six.” Then he flashed a bowie knife with his left hand, stating, “And here’s my one spot.” McDonald immediately backed down saying coolly, “That hand is good. Take the pot.”

By the end of the 19th century, gambling had spread like wildfire through the many mining camps, multiplying as the gold and silver hunters spread across the West, searching for new strikes. It was about this time that both states and cities started to take advantage of these growing ventures by taxing gambling dens and raising money for their communities.

It was also during the late 1800s that many towns and states across the western frontier began to enact new laws against gambling. Attempting to gain new levels of respectability, the laws primarily targeted the “professional gambler” more than gaming in general. Some types of gambling were made illegal, while limits were established on others. Initially, anti-gaming laws were weak and had little real effect on gambling, as they were difficult to enforce, establishments simply introduced new variants, and penalties were light.

Faro gambling card game about 1900.

However, the laws were gradually strengthened and ironically, Nevada was one of the first states in the West to totally make gambling illegal in 1909. Other states soon followed suit and true to the worst fears of the Puritans, gangsters combined liquor and gambling in the cities of New York, Cleveland and Chicago during the 1920s.

By the time construction on the Hoover Dam was underway in 1931, Nevada relaxed its gambling laws and casinos once more began to flourish. By 1939 there were six casinos and sixteen saloons in Las Vegas. As automobile traffic increased and people began to travel more for leisure, Las Vegas began to boom into the gambling Mecca it is today.

Is Poker Really Gambling Losses

Over the years, poker has evolved through legitimate casinos and backroom games to its many present variations. Over the last decade several states have reintroduced gambling in limited formats and the fastest-growing gambling opportunity today doesn’t even require you to leave your home, as you log onto your computer to tempt the fates. Carefully regulated by gaming laws, poker is now the most popular card game in the world.

© Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated November 2019.

“If you’re playing a poker game and you look around the table and can’t tell who the sucker is, it’s you.” –– Paul Newman

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When five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jason Mercierappeared on the the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on ESPN last month, he was introduced as a 'poker junkie' and asked point blank if he had gambling problem.

By the time the interview wrapped up, two things about the mainstream sports media were clear: Most knew very little about poker, and for hosts Dan Le Batard and Jon 'Stugotz' Weiner at least, the perception is that poker players are more akin to problem gamblers than professionals.

Keith Whyte, the executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, says the problem may lie in the fact that the difference between the two isn't exactly clear.

'It's a fascinating question,' Whyte told PokerNews. 'On a standard psychological diagnostic test, I think most professionals would meet every criteria to be considered a problem gambler. It's just really hard to separate a heavy recreational gambler, or a pro, from someone who has a problem.

'I've given some standard tests to a few professional players, well-known pros, WSOP bracelet winners. I can't give you their names for privacy reasons, but I can say they all graded out as serious problem gamblers. My one take away, after talking with a lot of poker pros and poker companies over the years, is that the one difference, the thing that separates a professional from a problem gambler, is control.'

Whyte admits that diagnosing a gambling problem is not an exact science, but basically, a pro can set limits, stick to them and practice good bankroll management tactics, while a problem gambler can't seem to stop and has difficulty managing their time and money.

'Someone with a problem gets so caught up playing, they miss their daughter's field hockey game, or if they do show up, they're on the phone playing or thinking and talking about playing,' Whyte said. 'It's hard to quantify and distinguish between pro and a problem, but I think the pro who does not have a problem has outside interests and takes part in activities outside of the game. It may be their job, but they have some control over the amount of time they spend doing it; and they are able to maintain relationships outside of it, go to other activities and see the sun once in a while.

'Some pro players could be playing 18 hours a day, and for them, it may not be a problem. On the psychological diagnostic test they'll meet most of the criteria for problem gambling, or honestly, all of it, but I still think someone can be a pro and not be a problem gambler. It really is an individual thing.'

With more than $13 million in online cashes and counting, Chris Moorman is online tournament poker's all-time leading money winner. In an interview with PokerNews last month discussing the origins of his career, he stopped short of calling his interest in the game an addiction because it's his job, but he did say he felt like he was hooked on the game immediately and it became an obsession for him.

With this kind of obsession often considered a precursor for success in so many aspects of life today, including poker, Whyte agreed it's another hard line to draw.

'It's like the kind of thing that makes a professional athlete the best at what they do,' he said. 'That focus and ability to forget losses or play through pain. A lot of people have a tough time understanding how a professional poker player can play through losing $10,000 or $50,000. That's the pain they are playing through. They push, and push, and push, and it's that work ethic that helps people succeed in all areas of life. In poker, the vast majority of successful players have that work ethic and some call it an obsession. Certainly the folks that fall into gambling addiction have it as well. The thing is, it's hard to tell a healthy obsession from an unhealthy obsession.

'I've talked to Daniel Negreanu about this before, and I know he often talks about the intersection between professional gambling and problem gambling, and the big thing here, and I hate to bastardize the lyrics of Kenny Rogers and The Gambler, but the that's the big thing: Knowing when to walk away.'

But walking away from the poker table on a downswing, setting time and money limits and sticking to them or exercising proper bankroll management, are only half the battle for a poker professional, with casino games, sports betting, prop bets and other forms of gambling surrounding the lifestyle.

'There are players that are stone cold at poker and they stick to their limits and practice the best bankroll management they can while playing poker,' Whyte explained. 'Then when it comes to craps, sports betting, side bets and prop bets, they have no bankroll management strategy at all. It all goes out the window and there are no limits. It's a fascinating phenomenon. They are great poker players, who are ice cold when it comes to poker, but with other games they don't have the same discipline and that's where they have a problem. Then there are people that are just the opposite. They may be stone cold sports bettors and they suddenly go crazy on poker.'

When he looks around poker's tournament and cash game circuit, Whyte says the classic signs of problem gambling are everywhere.

'There are a lot of problem gamblers that will tell you how great they are at the game with a straight face, even though they are living out of their car on the circuit in California going from card club to card club,' he said. 'They are a great pro; they just have a temporary cash flow problem because they're not willing to admit what the real problem is. They just took a bad beat and they'll beg, borrow or steal to get back in the game because they know they're just one win away from everything turning around. In poker, overestimation of one's skill can lead them down the path to addiction. Sure, they're one bet away from winning everything back. 'Yeah, I had to sell my house, but that just means I'm more liquid.' If someone starts talking like that, that's probably someone with a problem.'

In a game that's amoral at best, where taking advantage of the weak is a road to profitability, Whyte is under no illusion that most poker players are going to suddenly point out problem gamblers in their midst, and offer a helping hand, rather than use the edge they have against them to fleece them out of their funds. However, he still suggests players who see a friend showing the classic signs of a gambling problem do what a real friend should.

'You do the same thing you would do if you thought that friend had a bad disease like cancer,' he said. 'You let them know you care and that help is available. If they're still talking to you after that, you can refer them to an organization like ours.'

The National Council on Problem Gambling actually offers a 24-hour confidential and toll-free helpline, with voice, text and chat options. It can be accessed through the website at ncpgambling.org or by phone at 1-800-522-4700.

Whyte said help can be found on their website. Once there, players can take a self-test to see if they qualify for having a problem. It's not a perfect screen for heavy recreational gamblers or professional players, but it's a start.

'If you have a friend or know someone who might have a problem, you have to let them know you care and that help is available,' he said. 'It's important to understand you can lead them in the right direction, but you can't force them to seek help. Ultimately, seeking help, or treatment, for something like gambling addiction, has to be a decision they make themselves. You can't force somebody to help themselves.'

Even though you can't force people to seek help, Whyte said the good news is that those who do, substantially reduce the amount they gamble.

'Something like 70 to 75 percent of people seeking help for a severe gambling problem significantly reduce the amount they gamble, getting back to a more recreational level or abstaining altogether,' Whyte said. 'The thing is, it's not all black and white. It's not about either going 100 miles an hour or never playing poker again. There's a decent amount of people who can live comfortably in the middle somewhere.'

There are biological and genetic dispositions to gambling, but it's not like alcohol or drug addictions, Whyte said.

'With gambling, treatment should be truly individualized and not completely abstaining is not always problematic,' he said. 'It's not like you can never gamble again. Gamblers Anonymous might say that for an addict completely abstaining is the only road to take, but we think, for some people, that just isn't true.'

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