Do You Play Poker for Fun or Money?

A lot of new players who play Poker for the first time often wonder why they do not win as often as they feel they should. The reason is in their style of play. Most newcomers play the game for fun, and playing for fun and money are totally distinct and played very differently.

There are a lot of differences between the two, but the most fundamental is that people who play for fun place more emphasis on the action rather than on Poker strategy. They want action, so in a majority of these games you will see most, if not all, pay to see the flop.

In most of these games, there will be little raising. However, there will be those hands wherein the raise and re raise will be quite high. Nevertheless most, if not all will still continue to see the flop.

In fun games players will also employ the bluff quite a lot, not just for winning but also just to get the better of the other player on the table. However, other more advanced strategies like odds, outs and implied odds never come into play.

You simply cannot carry this attitude when you decide to play Poker for money. Here the focus will be on Poker strategy. If you want to play for money, then you must learn to fold more hands, and employ less bluffs. You must also learn how to read your opponents on the game table.

Also, you need to be aware of the more complex concepts like semi bluffing, value betting etc. You do not need to use them all the time, but you will need to employ them in certain situations.

Unlike fun games, you do not stop after the game. Once the Poker session is finished, you study how you played, make observations about your opponents, manage your bank roll etc. In other words, you will have to do more work.

These are just some of the differences between playing Poker for fun or money. Although playing for money may seem to require a lot of work, all that will be compensated for once you begin to win the big pots. Winning the big money in the end, after all the work you put in, will definitely be more "fun" and satisfying than anything else.

So if you are serious about taking in big cash, learn to play as the pros do, by using Poker strategies and tactics.