Why We Play

Hey Everyone,

I have often talked to my friends who play poker about our motivation to play. These conversations usually occur after a bad stretch of losing or a horrific beat received. We lament about our luck and why we even continue to play in the first place. Sometimes we critique our opponents play and other times we criticize our own. After moments like these I have to make sense of it all. Why am I here and what am I doing with this poker thing?

A person plays poker for a few core reasons. The first and most obvious is monetary gain. Gaining money using your wits alone is a very enticing objective indeed. For those of us who grind everyday at jobs that we sweat and toil at, sitting at a poker table and raking in a days worth pay in one hand is an idea we can't help but desire. Winning a sum of money that gives us permanent security is a worthy goal and a dream many of us strive for. In short, money may not equal happiness but it can give you peace of mind.

Speaking of peace of mind, what is more satisfying and secure than good company from great friends. Many of us play for those moments with the people we care about, where we can bring the personal connections we have as friends and family to the poker table. I can speak from experience that there is nothing more fulfilling than busting a family member or a buddy in a home game. No matter who we are outside of life, at the poker table we all get dealt the same amount of cards from the same deck, and connecting at a base level is an essential human need and an integral part of how the game of poker functions. You have to interact if you want to play the game.

Basic human interaction evolves when two or more people compete for a prize. The bigger the prize or the more worth given to what is being played for, the more intense the interaction can be. Winning can be a drug. A need to be the best can be the sole drive of a human being. Some people play to be the best. There is only one place for them, that's 1st. They study the game, compete against the best and constantly strive to achieve to be on top. The money is nice, friends to chat with are great, but the core of who they are is the person who longs to be is champion. They want the recognition first over all else, from themselves and others.

Most of us fall in the first two categories. They play for money or the social interaction that poker brings. They know they will never be the best. Their priorities are elsewhere and poker is just a game. It has a means and an end. It passes the time and the game gives them a thrill and then they move on. Like an amusement ride, when the ride stops they get off and look for the next ride to thrill them.

Then there are those of us who know there is something more to this game. It's shown on the surface with the million dollar payouts and the bracelets. It's more than that though, it's freedom. It's personal fulfillment and lifelong security. It is a dream that could become reality. You can be the best, have financial security and be able to enjoy the company of friends and loved ones without the interruptions of financial obligations that separate you. You could hold your wife in your arms and not worry about the rat race tomorrow, there no longer is one. One day you could wake up and realize that your dream is now a reality. Every time you sit down at a table you can sense it, and you begin the hunt. Will you stay true to who you are or one day give up and become one of the other two types of people? Only you truly know who you are and where you will end up.