Category: Gambling and Casinos

A complex nature of poker generated in poker community a discussion on what dominates in this casino game: skills or success. Most of the people believe that poker is a casino game the outcome of which depends on skills of a casino player and only a small probability is given to a chance. This thesis is confirmed by facts. For instance, legendary poker players have won WSOP poker championship for many times independently on a number of participants. Thus, Johnny Moss has triply become a poker champion (in 1970, 1971 and 1974), a three-time poker champion is the greatest player of the 20th century Stew Ungar, he won WSOP in 1980, 1981 and 1997. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chen have twice tried on Gold WSOP winner bracelets. In poker as in any other kind of sports there is an elite of poker players who win great tournaments every year or take prize places. Just sport compound of poker let make poker player rating, every year the first places are occupied there by the poker the casino and poker rooms community.

As to the opinion of the states on the nature of poker, here everything’s more complicated and sophisticated. As a rule, in many countries the authorities don’t make any difference between gambling games and poker. However such a fuddy-duddy approach has recently tried to break the poker community. Poker and casino games fans unite themselves in associations, public entities trying to prove to the officials that poker can not be put together with roulette or slot machines.

Sometimes the authorities themselves understand that. For instance, in the United States poker can be played not only in casinos but in special card rooms the activity of which is allowed only on the territory of the states where gambling business is prohibited. Thus, on the territory of California successfully work 91 card rooms, in Florida 16, in Washington 112, the state of Montana counts even 493 card rooms. The income of American card rooms (not including casinos) in 2006 made more than 1 milliard dollars. The activity of these organizations are severely controlled by the government. For instance, the legislation of Florida fully regulates the rate of the stakes in poker. This year in June got effect the law according to which the stakes in limited poker games are allowed to be increased from 2 to 5 dollars, in unlimited Texas Hold’em maximum allowed rate of buy-in makes 100 dollars.

However these states are predominantly exceptions. Unfortunately poker for most of American officials is a gamble. For most of them but not for everybody. In June 2007 a congressman Robert Wexler introduced to the House of representatives of the USA a draft law named “Skill Game Protection Act”. According to this draft law such games as poker, bridge, chess should not fall within the scope of the law because on the author’s mind they are games where skills dominate over a chance. A very serious political force acting on the side of poker is a senator Alfonse D’Amato who together with the organization “Poker Players Alliance” fights for a fair and objective attitude of the authorities to the favourite game.

But if in the USA the process of poker recognition as a skill game has just begun in some other countries poker scored off the conservatism of the officials.

The first considerable victory was marked in Austria. In 1993 an entrepreneur and a great fun of poker Peter Zanoni opened in Vienna a poker club “Concord Card Casino”. The club positioned itself as the place where they play only poker as a skill game not a gambling game. Substantially immediately the club became interesting for the gambling business which saw a competitor therein. At the suggestion of the gambling business the press began attacking the club, the managers of the club were accused in organization of illegal gambling games, contacts with criminals etc.

Very soon gambling lobby provoked the state to bring a charge in organization of illegal gambles against the managers of the club. The court took place the resolution of which shocked many people. The advocates of the club tried to prove that poker is not a gamble but a competition of skills, know-how. The court applied for consultation of the experts, they carried out an independent mathematical expertise of poker rules the results of which expressly showed that skills dominated over a chance in this game. Poker was brought into the line with chess. The court accepted the results of the expertise and took the resolution in favor of the poker club. For today the “Concord Card Casino” is one of the greatest poker clubs of Europe. The founder of the club Peter Zanoni inspired with his victory, he is now successfully working on popularization of poker and its recognition as a kind of sport in Europe. For this purpose he founded first Austrian association of poker sport and in 2006 he founded European association of poker sport.

A similar court session took place in Great Britain in January 2007. Derek Kelly faced trial, he is an owner of a poker club “Gutshot Club” in London downtown. Unfortunately for Derek and all English poker fans British law turned to be less liberal than Austrian one. Having recognized a skill compound in poker games it gave preference to a chance in the game. But British people should not be upset the attitude to skill sports in their country is still complicated, for instance, chess was officially recognized a sport only some years ago. Derek Kelly’s case had provoked in society a live discussion which was taken up by politicians. Very soon British media suggest that poker, bridge should be put together with chess.

In the end of July 2007 good news for poker fans came from Denmark. Court proceedings as to Frederic Hostrup, a chairman of Danish poker association finished in favor of Frederic and poker. As in Austria Hostrup was accused in organization of illegal gambling games. The advocate Henrick Hoffman proved to the court that poker is not a gamble but a skill game. The winners have already declared that now they will fight for the rights of their favourite game on the territory of all Europe.

Poker smoothly fitted well into the society of the 20th century and a number of their fans grow in geometrical progression. In the modern world not to know how to play poker becomes a mauvais ton. In such conditions the authorities cannot but take into account the people’s opinion which is the part of it. The authorities should go away from prejudices and be guided by common sense and the opinion of majority.

Poker is considered to be born in the USA in the second half of the 20th century. For a long time poker has been only one of existing gambles but everything changed in 1970. The owner of a legendary casino “Binion’s Horseshoe” in Las Vegas, a great fun of poker and an eminent player Benni Binion and his son Jack Binion organized in their casino a tournament between the most known US players. In the tournament took part six players who have been competing during seven days in gambling of different kinds of poker. A champion was determined by voting and that was Johnny Moss. This tournament provoked a poker boom among people and attracted more audience. Many people expressed their will to take part in the next similar tournament. Binion took decision to continue organizing such tournaments and united them under the name World Series of Poker (WSOP). Every year the number of WSOP participants grew in geometric progression. If in 1971 the number of participants made 14 persons, in 2004 it made 1700, in 2005 – 5800, in 2006 – 8900 and in 2007 – over 6 300.

WSOP is the greatest tournament but besides that a great number of the other attractive and popular tournaments took place in Paris, London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Moscow etc.

Poker was given a powerful incentive in development and popularization in the 90s of the past century with development of the internet network and appearance of on-line poker rooms. Poker turned to be the most pertinent and the most interesting gamble for millions of users all over the world. Poker fever in Internet is still going on. Mostly thanks to internet a number of people willing to compete in “live” tournaments, clubs is growing by leaps and bounds. And now nobody is surprised by the fact that the winners of prestigious poker competitions are skillful casino players experienced in online poker room games.

Today poker is no more a gambling, it turned into a popular socially important phenomenon. Thus, according to the data of the American Gambling Association in 2005 the number of people willing to play poker made 35% of the US population aging from 21 to 39, 18% of the US population aging from 40 to 49, 15% of the US population aging from 50 to 64, 11% of the US population aging over 65. In conformity with the results of the polls by the Association for most of this people poker is more than a gamble, it turned into a way of communication, a nice leisure.

Poker became largely covered by many medias. Popularity of the gamble in the modern world lets co-exist a dozen specialized magazines dedicated exclusively to poker , online poker rooms, poker players, poker strategies. The most popular of them are the magazines “Poker Europa”, “Card Player”, “Poker Magazine”, “Bluff”, “Woman Poker Player” etc. The last few years were marked by a burst of poker. Poker turned to be extremely entertaining sport gamble. Many sport channels pay considerable part of time and give prime-time to great poker tournaments.

This brings up a question: why poker and not any other gamble, for instance roulette? The answer is evident. Correct poker playing is based not on a blind success, poker is a competition of intellectuals, competition of logics, psychology, ability to sort possible actions, to count consequences, a particular zest is considered to be some psychological methods (semi-bluff, bluff etc.).

The first type of an intellectual effort let us call it a logical one. The idea is that by assumption of all possible actions of the opponent and by the estimation of all positions the player chooses the way to continue the game which can lead him to victory.

Chess players have a “tree” choice of options to choose from. The player considers all possible variants in turns and all possible answers as well. Then all hisher answers and so on. While analysing the game this way, ideally the player chooses the variant which could lead him to victory faster (the mate to the adversary king or to the damping material advantage).

The similar “tree” of choices we can also find in poker. But here the poker player analyses possible moves of the opponent, the game reaction to any action of the player and all these actions are done with a glance of possible changes of game situation as a result of emergence of next cards.

The “tree” of choices in chess is incomparably stronger and consists of far more branches than in poker. Our conclusion is that a logical intellectual effort is present in both, chess and poker, however, the role and sense of it in chess are more important.

The above-mentioned type of an intellectual effort is rarely used in practice. The majority of game situations are uncertain and we can seldom find a chance to find the updated version which can lead us straight to victory. And of course, this type of search for decision is more peculiar to machines not for a human being. Thereafter we proceed to description of the second type of an intellectual effort. Let’s call it analytic. The main sense of it is that the player considers those variants that can lead him to one or another position. The position which the player wants to achieve so badly doesn’t guarantee him victory. But the player believes if the desirable position is achieved he has the evident position advantage. This means that the player estimates his total position benefit status rather highly and expects to find moves to continue the game in such a way that is more likely to lead him to victory. The desirable position will be very comfortable for a further game of the player or very uncomfortable for a further game of his opponent. Thus, by having achieved the objectively equal position, only because of its unique features the player expects his chances to be higher than those of his opponent.

In chess in the majority of cases you don’t have a possibility to spend some time counting an updated version that can lead to victory, the player tries to get a position that can help him to hold a position advantage or a position that can help him to get better oriented. The factors of open lines, active disposition of figures, territorial advantage and so on refer to the position advantage in chess. In addition every player has hisher preferable structure, the ways of attack continuation or arrangement of defense and so on. Thus, under the other equal conditions he will seek a chance to achieve only these kinds of positions.