Recreational Poker
by Colin T. Fagras

As an experienced recreational poker player, I've often been asked the question, "Why Play Poker? This is is a fairly simple, straight-forward question that most players have been asked before. Surprisingly, when asked this question, many players turn up blank faces and have empty responses such as, "Because I enjoy it". Obviously, money could be the answer for serious players, but not for most recreational players.

This article won't teach you strategy or fancy tricks. This is just a psychological opinion piece on the different reasons that people play recreational poker. You will often find that each individual's reason for playing is characteristic of the type of player that he or she is.

Parts of society see the game of poker as a pure gamble and a waste of money. They think that all poker players are in it for financial reasons. These types of people, to an extent, miss the point. Only a handful of professional poker players actually earn a full-time living by playing poker. The most common reasons for playing recreational poker, aside from money, are social interaction, entertainment and education.

Social interaction is one of the most common reasons for playing recreational poker. This is a game where about 8-10 random players are sitting around a table together for hours on end. There are generally never any age restrictions in poker games as long as you're old enough to enter the casino. By sitting down at any random casino poker table, you might meet the most diverse group of nine strangers you've ever seen together in your life. The game of poker is a very interactive and socially rewarding game. Even outside of actual casinos, home poker games are an extremely popular type of social activity seen around the globe. Playing poker is a very social experience.

Entertainment is another of the most common reasons for playing recreational poker. The game of poker is generally fairly competitive, on a friendly level. To win at poker, a player needs skill and, sometimes, a bit of luck. Many players get the same type of entertainment value out of playing poker as they would with playing any type of sport. Compared to similar forms of entertainment, remember that in poker you can lose money.

People who play poker for pure entertainment value usually play at lower limits where not much money is at stake. Playing poker is a very entertaining experience.

Education is the final, most common reason for playing recreational poker. The game of poker relies heavily on skill and only slightly on luck. Poker can teach people many different skills that can be used outside of a poker table such as logic, math and psychology. When playing poker, players are constantly learning new things. Whether it's how to calculate odds or how to determine when a player is bluffing, poker is full of education. I've learned some extremely important life lessons while playing the game of poker. It can be a very educational experience.

As you can see, there are many different reasons for playing recreational poker.

Bottom line, every player has their own reasons on why they play. You've now been introduced to three very common reasons to play recreational poker, but you haven't learned them all. In the end, each player's reasoning is a personal matter, and every player is different.