Poker and Baseball Look Boring, But There’s More Than Meets the Eye

Chances are that often have you heard someone say “I don’t like watching baseball because it is boring.”  Unless someone is hitting the long ball, most people think that baseball is a long drawn out game lacking excitement.  Oddly enough, there are many that think that professional poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker are boring to watch unless they are highly edited.  Much like the true fans of baseball and those that play the game, poker players know that the game is much deeper and has a high level of excitement.  Let’s look further into this.

A poker player is part manager and part pitcher.  His decisions during the game are much like those of a manager.  He must anticipate the moves of his opponents and watch out for both their strengths and their weaknesses and must adjust his play on the fly.

The way he is like a pitcher is in his actual game play.  He has an arsenal of moves, similar to pitches that he goes to on a regular basis, but there are times where he must adjust according to a particular batter.  His best move may not work on some players, so he has to try something different.

As the game progresses, the play has to work as a pitcher delivering various defensive plays and moves that allows him to maintain his stack.  That is until he is able to switch into a mode similar to the cleanup hitter and stack his opponent.  He raises with a big pair and his opponent three-bets.  The hand has the makings of a big pot.  The flop falls and it improves his hand to a set.  Now it is time to get the opponent to bite.  He checks and his opponent moves all-in.

After making a quick call, both players turn over their hands and the fans of both players are now on their feet and rooting for their favorite player.  Pokerlistings.com and other media outlets are jotting down the details of each player’s hands for their summary reports.  It is the bottom of the 9 ^th for the player behind.  He has very few outs to improve his hand to a winner.  The turn card falls and he is down to his final out.  Needed cards to make a hand in poker are considered outs, so the term is applicable for both baseball and poker.  The final card is turned over and…now you’re hooked.

Yes, we left you hanging without telling you whether the player would make his hand, but we were trying to prove a point.  While many players view poker as a boring sport similar to baseball, the reality is that the game is much deeper and while the big moments is what makes highlight reels, the buildup to that moment is just as important.