Article #2 - What's the Glamour?

What's the Glamour?

by Erica R. Nelson (August 2008)

Many people can't understand why the entire world has gone koo koo for cocoa puffs over the game of Poker. Those who question this phenomenon view it as nothing more than a simple card game. Those of us who play it, know it is anything but "just another game."

Poker is unique for a great many reasons. Firstly, Poker is a game requiring emotional stability, mathematics and logic, physical stamina, an ungodly amount of will power, and luck. All in all, it is psychological warfare at its finest. Granted, there are mountains of books about proper hands and how to play them, but if you don't know any of the other key elements to winning, you stand absolutely no chance of being successful. Poker is the only sport I can think of which requires such a vast number of combined skills, and yet can never fully be mastered.

Outsiders watch Poker on television and think "pfff...anybody could do that!" But, what they fail to realize is the amount of mind-over-emotion that plays such a huge role in the success of the professionals they watch on television. It takes much practice and conditioning for an individual to achieve the level of control that the professionals exercise on a daily basis. To them, Poker is not just a card game...For them, Poker is their life, and for some of them, their livelihood.

Another aspect of Poker which makes it unique, is that it is the only sport in existence where a complete no-name "John or Jane Doe" from anywhere in the world can buy directly into a tournament and potentially beat seasoned and well-known professionals. Personally, I think this particular aspect of Poker is what the true glamour is all about. If you've got the money and the desire, you can play for your chance at stardom. No other profesional sports allow for this sort of open-ness to the general public, and I think this is a huge reason why it has become so viral.

~LiLady~