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Is money always involved when playing Poker? |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 183
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Is money always involved when playing Poker?
Good Morning
I am thinking of learning to play the card game Poker, in order just to socialise with friends etc. However, I seem to get the impression that when placing bets, money is always involved. Can't any games/matches be played without involving money? if not, is playing Bridge a good alternative? Thanks |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Work, probably..
Posts: 3,837
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Nope, quite often your dignity is on the line.
Seriously though, of course you can play it without money. There's a site I use call PKR.com, it's a downloadable client but it looks like the SIMS, you get your own avatar and you can practice with play money. Also, if you just buy a poker set, it'll come with chips, just use the chips and don't put any monetary value towards them. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 183
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Thanks for your quick reply.
I may intend to play in a league for competitions in the near future if I enjoy playing the game, then I presume money would definitely be involved and no other alternative? Thanks |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Devon
Posts: 12,838
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Before DS, I found Yahoo Games Canasta.
It was very sociable in the 4 player version and regular tournament games run. You can chat, Publicly, while playing. However, some cheats do find their way in, but you can spot them with experience. (They are slow, because they are Privately Messaging what cards each other has, and then play unexpected or wondrous cards) But nonetheless, Canasta is great. A variant of Rummy that is half luck and half skill and not as difficult as Bridge. You can learn the basics in a couple of Practice hands. There is no real right or wrong either. Bridge Partners will have endless arguments about why you played a particular card. I've been playing it in Real Life too since I was 14 with family friends. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canasta |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 22,436
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In Uni when we had no money we played for chocolate bars.
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 183
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Once again, thanks for your replies.
I may intend to play in a league for competitions in the near future if I enjoy playing the game, then I presume money would definitely be involved and no other alternative? Thanks |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Devon
Posts: 12,838
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Also, lots of Scrabble sites around, if you fancy that too.
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,209
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Most online sites have play money tables.
In the real world you don't have to play for money. If you don't want to play for money just buy yourself some chips and play using those. I would say though when people don't play for money they play very differently to when they do. There being no risk/reward changes the whole game. Maybe look at playing a tournament format with small buy in. Poker doesn't have to be high stakes. |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Work, probably..
Posts: 3,837
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The majority of poker competitions have a buy in. You'll be given chips with a monetary value at the start of it and it's a knock out process, you just have to win every chip off everyone else. Buy-in's can range from £5 - £500,000+. Also, depending on how many people are in the tournament, that will decide what the payouts are, either a top 3 payout for a small tournament or for tournaments with 100/200+ people the top 25 or maybe even more will be paid.
If it is competition you'll be playing, it'd be pretty pointless if it was for nothing since it totally changes the way the game is played, not physically but mentally. |
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 22,981
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I play Zynga Poker.
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 954
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Quote:
The majority of poker competitions have a buy in. You'll be given chips with a monetary value at the start of it and it's a knock out process, you just have to win every chip off everyone else. Buy-in's can range from £5 - £500,000+. Also, depending on how many people are in the tournament, that will decide what the payouts are, either a top 3 payout for a small tournament or for tournaments with 100/200+ people the top 25 or maybe even more will be paid.
If it is competition you'll be playing, it'd be pretty pointless if it was for nothing since it totally changes the way the game is played, not physically but mentally. OP - There is little point in playing the 'play' money tables as has been said. People just shove all their chips in every hand. If you decide to start playing for money I would advise avoiding sites which have a lot of Russians and Ukranians as they are usually good players. Find sites with a lot of British players or Australians/Canadians. Unfortunately there are now no American players at the tables as they were really terrible fish. |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,046
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Yes, playing for fun using just betting chips is great.....but it can be very difficult to discipline yourself to play properly when there isn't any money/prizes on the line.
I play my best when I actually have something to lose. |
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: London
Posts: 602
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Quote:
Good Morning
I am thinking of learning to play the card game Poker, in order just to socialise with friends etc. However, I seem to get the impression that when placing bets, money is always involved. Can't any games/matches be played without involving money? if not, is playing Bridge a good alternative? Thanks Low stakes games with friends when you're familiar with it can be very fun. |
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#14 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 159
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does the OP mean playing poker online or for real with real people ?
Online is fun and play money is fun too, but real poker is played at a table with people and with real money, tiny stakes or big stakes it doesn't matter, but you will learn quickly that unlike the nutters on online poker, it's a bad idea to go all-in with a pair of twos. |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Work, probably..
Posts: 3,837
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Quote:
does the OP mean playing poker online or for real with real people ?
Online is fun and play money is fun too, but real poker is played at a table with people and with real money, tiny stakes or big stakes it doesn't matter, but you will learn quickly that unlike the nutters on online poker, it's a bad idea to go all-in with a pair of twos. |
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#16 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 159
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Quote:
The amount of times I've folded a low pocket because of a high raise pre-flop, then turns out I'd have won it anyway, but always better to be safe than sorry.
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,209
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Quote:
The amount of times I've folded a low pocket because of a high raise pre-flop, then turns out I'd have won it anyway, but always better to be safe than sorry.
If there's lots of raising pre-flop though you are right to fold small pocket pairs, unless you are against maniac players that are doing it with any two cards and you want to push your small edge against two over cards. Different in a tournament if you're short stacked of course (around 10 big blinds or less), where you will want to be getting it all in the middle with any pocket pair and a lot of other hands besides most of the time. Being the first to shove is best though, gives you two ways to win then. |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: In a jar, on a shelf
Posts: 31,678
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Quote:
Once again, thanks for your replies.
I may intend to play in a league for competitions in the near future if I enjoy playing the game, then I presume money would definitely be involved and no other alternative? Competitions are often for money and then you may want to consider strategy. So you can play the competition, in which case you'll be up against top players, or play side tables where you might not be and could win more money. Alternatively, consider other card games which might be more social and less risky, ie Bridge or Canasta.. Which can also be played for money, and get expensive even on 1p/point. |
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#19 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,109
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Quote:
Good Morning
I am thinking of learning to play the card game Poker, in order just to socialise with friends etc. However, I seem to get the impression that when placing bets, money is always involved. Can't any games/matches be played without involving money? if not, is playing Bridge a good alternative? Thanks If you're concerned about losing lots of money just use chips worth 5p/10p and set a limit on the amount you can bet on a particular hand. At the end of the night no-one should be up or down by more than a few pounds and even if you lose you'll have had an enjoyable evening for the cost of a couple of drinks. Betting for small amounts can still give it that real feel and tension. Or are you reluctant to bet any amount of real money due to moral/religious reasons? |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 19,046
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Quote:
As has been said you can just play using chips or counters that you don't end up exchanging for real money. It will never be quite the same though because if players have no real risk or reward they won't bet in the same way.
If you're concerned about losing lots of money just use chips worth 5p/10p and set a limit on the amount you can bet on a particular hand. At the end of the night no-one should be up or down by more than a few pounds and even if you lose you'll have had an enjoyable evening for the cost of a couple of drinks. Betting for small amounts can still give it that real feel and tension. Or are you reluctant to bet any amount of real money due to moral/religious reasons? We use a blind timer and have several mini-tournaments during an evening - depending on how things go, 3 or 4 timed games - if you get the timings right, it takes about a 1hrs to 1.5hrs per game. If there is 5 players, it'll usually be £5 buy-in per tournament played with the winner getting £20 and the runner-up getting their stake back. So if you have a shocker all night (which will be rare), you'll only ever lose £20 over the whole night (plus drinks/food costs). We've done £10 buy-in tournaments, too, but £5 seem to work best. |
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 974
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Quote:
Thanks for your quick reply.
I may intend to play in a league for competitions in the near future if I enjoy playing the game, then I presume money would definitely be involved and no other alternative? Thanks |
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: In a jar, on a shelf
Posts: 31,678
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Quote:
Poker's sort of pointless without the money. Use a play money site to get familiar with the hands, then put a tenner on a real money site and play micro stakes until it's gone. You'll find out if you have a taste for the game and save a lot of time.
On the money aspect, best advice is never to gamble more than you can afford to lose. So that's easier if you go out with say, £50 and leave cards at home so you're not tempted to draw more cash. Plus I think it's more satisfying if you win, and walk away with a larger wad of stake money. |
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 15,867
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Quote:
Thanks for your quick reply.
I may intend to play in a league for competitions in the near future if I enjoy playing the game, then I presume money would definitely be involved and no other alternative? Thanks |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: London
Posts: 16,527
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me and my Dad used to play with matchsticks, even today a matchstick seems very valuable to me, don't even think about stealing any of my matchsticks
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 11,692
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Sometimes it involves just taking your clothes off.
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