<<"Poker isn't gambling." You have surely heard someone say it. You may have said it yourself. Whoever says it usually really means, "On the long run, everyone expects to receive the same distribution of good and bad hands. Being lucky does not make you a long-term winner, playing better than your opponents does. Eventually, the bad players will all lose, and the good players will all win. " That is a bit long-wided, though, so most people stick to "Poker isn't gambling." You are better off not abbreviating, though, because the second statetement is true, while the first is not! Poker is gambling.
In fact, while it may seem like a harmless cliche, denying that poker is gambling can cause you to make systematic errors. Expert poker players make their money in fundamentally the same way that casinos, bookmakers, sports handicappers, card counters, and any other long-term winner at gambling make money. With every decision they strive to maximize their overall expectation. .......................
As can be seen, poker is gambling. Anyone who says it’s not or states that when he plays he doesn’t gamble, does not understand poker as well as he should. Poker is gambling because your outcomes, for the most part, are not certain.Sometimes you will do much better than expected and at other times much worse. You may even lose to players who are not nearly as skilled as you. But what sets poker apart from many other gambling games is that your expectation can be positive.>>
Source: Small Stakes Holdem-Sklansky,Miller,Malmuth
