Online Poker is good for you…so the doctor says

Author: Simon Dexter

I’m a sucker for respecting people with letters after their name and I was blown away by a fantastic article written by a couple of Americans - one of whom is a doctor.

David Sklansky and Alan N. Schoonmaker, Ph.D. have prepared the article which in its essence explains that online poker, like an apple a day, is good for you. Using many well researched ideas, the pair try to establish the importance of poker to anyone who plays it and shows how by playing online poker, most people can learn valuable life skills.

The cynical among you may feel that the publication of the article coincides nicely with the US government’s impending decision on the legality of online poker but, conspiracy theories aside, it is a damned good read and I would recommend it to anybody.

I’ve taken a small chunk of it here to give a quick taster of their ideas, but any serious player should find the article at source at 2+2 Magazine and read it in its entirety.

Poker Develops Your Math Skills.

The pair argue that many people struggle with maths these days, but an important part of playing online poker is knowing about pot odds and probability. Development of these skills are neglected by most people after leaving school but playing poker will always sharpen your maths brain. They even suggest that youngsters playing poker will actually want to learn more maths to improve their game.

Poker Develops Your Logical Thinking.

They argue that too many people in society make bad judgments, rely too much on intuition and jump to conclusions based on emotions.

If you play online poker, you are forcing yourself to think more logically. In essence, you don’t know what cards your opponent is holding and you have to use logic based on information received to make a logical decision on what to do next.

Poker Develops Your Concentration.

Poker develops the skills needed to gather information, especially concentration. Players may make mistakes and beat themselves up for being stupid but the real reason they made a mistake was lack of concentration.

Poker Develops Your Patience.

Most players first lesson should be ‘Be Patient’. In putting long-term gain over short term profit, then any poker player will improve his game. As in life the patient person has an advantage over the more hasty when seeking the opportunities to strike.

Poker Develops Your Discipline.

Arguing that the great poker players have discipline, the authors suggest that bringing and developing self discipline will not only improve your poker game, but will help in all aspects of modern life.

So, if you are serious about poker then it’s time you hunted down that article!