Poker Explosion In Calgary

The popularity of poker in the city of Calgary has dramatically accelerated in the last 5 years. Calgary currently has 6 casinos with poker rooms, all offering Texas Hold'em, the most played and well known poker game in the world.

What has driven this new passion for the game? One can only speculate, but no one can deny that the increased availability of the game in casinos and on the internet must have something to do with it. Turn on your TV and it won't take you long to find the remnants of some major poker tournament that has been televised or even re-broadcasted. To say that television has been the catalyst for the recent surge in players may be premature. It would be like trying to decide which came first? - "the chicken or the egg” At any rate, for those seeking fame and fortune, the good news is that poker is here to stay and continues to flourish.

New players, especially the ones coming of age, are keen to take up this popular pastime. For some of them, poker might better be classified as a sport. Regardless of how you categorize the game, poker is a competition that requires money up front and a whole lot of patience.

Texas Hold'em poker is played with 2 hole cards that each player receives at the start of the game, followed by a total of 5 community cards that are dealt in the next three rounds. Players use their options to make bets, calls, or raises. Folding is also always an option. The player at the end with the best hand wins. Poker chips are used for making wagers as players attempt to maneuver around and manipulate each others position and strength. The goal is to have the highest ranking hand when the betting is complete. Betting your chips early or late will have a profound affect on the final outcome of the game. What’s great about this game is that the player with the best hand at the start of the round will not always be the player that wins the pot in the end.

Kenny Rogers (singer) put it simply ~ "... you gotta know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, know when to run ..."

There are many strategies that can be employed in order to extract the maximum number of chips from your opponents. Each player uses their own skills and style to accomplish this. Some players make (or try to make) their living at poker. Any serious poker player will tell you that this is no easy task. Poker is gambling and there is always a risk involved. There are however, many known professionals that have written volumes of books about how to beat your opponents successfully. Even though poker is considered by most people to be just another form of gambling, many poker players believe that the risk can be managed and even eliminated to a point that they would no longer describe their efforts as gambling.

Why is it that some people will excel at this game consistently while others fail?

Like any other pursuit in life, education and experience is paramount to success. So it is with poker. Many players with knowledge and experience will admit that it is not easy to be good at poker. It takes a lot of time and energy to fully implement and be successful at the many strategies and personal inner qualities that are needed. Patience is key, and good money management skills are also a must. You might be great at reading your opponents facial expressions and accurately determine what cards they are likely to be holding, but if you don't understand the value of your money or the value of your cards, you will have a serious hole in your game. Many comprehensive books have been written that touch on these and other important aspects of the game. Mastering them could take a lifetime. What’s difficult is that just when you think you are doing everything right and things are going well, someone will come along that is just a bit smarter, just a bit luckier, and your whole world can turn upside down.

It is possible to play almost perfectly, make the most accurate and correct decisions, and still lose. This is what makes the game what it is. A level of randomness that no one can control. The odds could severely favour your hand, but there is always someone who will stay in a game, have no real chance of winning, and still manage to hit their miracle card to beat you. Poker would not be what it is without this possibility. A gambling game, though with the right skills and knowledge, a game that can be managed and used as a lucrative money making enterprise.

Poker has never been a more inviting prospect, and has never been so well received than it is now. Most of the casinos in Calgary have been very busy with their poker tables. A good example is the Elbow River Casino with 13 poker tables that are ready to go 24 hours a day. If you are the type of player that plays on the weekends, you better call ahead or sign-up early. On a friday night I have seen every table full before 7:00pm and a waiting list that can get as high as 50 players. These poker players are all hungrily anticipating a fun, exhilarating, and hopefully profitable night of poker.

Who knows where poker is headed, but one thing for sure, in Calgary, poker is not going anywhere for a long time to come.