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Poker tournaments - A waste of time ?

Poker Tournaments - A waste of time ?

Addendum - i have changed my mind ! - click to see.

Have to say,i am not too keen on tournament poker.

It is of course no limit poker,and to me that means too much luck is involved(limit poker is the only way you can win regularly,and get the true rewards for your play).

You have to go "all in" several times to progress in any poker tournament.

However you are staking everything on one hand,with no control over the outcome.

Your hand will many many times be the best 2 cards being held at the table,but many times you will be beaten by an inferior hand.

Through no fault of your own you are out,after maybe hours of play,with nothing to show for it.

Gambling in any form has to be profitable.

There are better ways to spend your time if you do not win on a regular basis.

Also when playing,and doing well in tournament play,you may later consider how much you have actually won.

What if you had had the same hands and luck on a regular holdem poker table.The winnings would probably have been far higher !.

To sum up - TO WIN a poker tournament is mostly luck.

To win at gambling you have to reduce the luck percentage,and somehow increase the application or skill aspect.I do not see how you can do this with no limit tournament poker.

It is however possible to play to survive and get to the final tables and earn good returns.(see article Poker tournaments - get to that paying table)but to WIN is different.That comes down to luck.

Some players have won a couple of big tournaments more than once,but it is usually spread out over many players from professionals to real greenhorns.

Why winners of tournaments are seen as great players defeats me.

If somebody wins a lottery,do you say "wow - what a great lottery player !!".

Of course not,but where is the difference to winning a lottery?.

Another thing about tournaments that can irritate is the sheer length of time they take.

The last one i entered really finished them for me.

Started 8.00 pm,struggled through to the paying top 18.

This was actually the goal,to make the payout stage.Winning the tournament was not an option - you have to play differently to win a tournament.

By now it was 12.30 am,and i am not so young as i was,and to be honest i like my gambling profits to come a lot easier than this.

Basically i committed poker suicide - tired and getting a little bored - win or lose it was going to end soon - played pretty recklessly,and was soon out finishing 11th.

Not bad ,$120 paid,but again you wonder if maybe regular play on a poker table,with the same amount of luck,would have given better rewards.

Tournaments are very popular,and maybe i have got it all wrong,but i have a preference for regular limit poker games where you can control the time played,and manipulate the stakes etc.

If you are determined to play tournaments,and actually enjoy them,then can i suggest you play with the intention of making the final stages,and qualify for some sort of winnings.

There is,i feel,no sensible way to play to actually WIN the tournament from the outset .

You simply have to play recklessly to build a big enough pot to dominate the later stages - too much luck is involved,and trying to win the tournament will lose your entry stakes too often,and too early(to allow you to get to the paying final stages).

It is however possible to to reach the money stages(as described in article Poker tournaments - get to that paying table),and at least get some rewards for what can be a gruelling pastime - you have to win at least something when gambling.

It is not much fun when you lose too frequently - there are better things to do if you are not winning,thats for sure.

Addendum.

I have to say that my attitude to poker tournaments has changed somewhat since writing this article some time back.

Stand by what was said,but poker tournaments are now so lucrative that you need to take part to get at that tempting prize money.

However the main reason is the thorny problem of collusion at regular table games.

The poker rooms do their best to stamp out collusion,but just do not see how this can be achieved.

With different accounts at diverse poker venues(using the very same poker tables with different company logos imposed on your browser)it seems easy to be playing with 2 or more hands at the same table.

All that is needed is a different connection on another computer,and for sure there must be other methods that are beyond my computer capabilities that are certain to exist.

Even if it is stand alone poker venue(no outsider poker sites - skins)then you are still not secure with the availability of instant free communication enabling 2,maybe more players manipulating the poker game and taking your money.

I fear collusion is more prevelent than poker rooms like to admit to.

It is not their fault,and they sure are doing all they can as they hate collusion more than the players.

For these reasons my attitude to poker tournaments has changed,and feel these are now perhaps the best arena to play poker and get your true rewards for your poker play.

At least if you lose in tournament play you do not get that nagging feeling that maybe you lost due to collusion at the table.

By Pendil at British Betting and Gaming Sites.©More Poker information can be found on our Poker Page.This article can be reproduced by anyone,so long as article is reproduced full and intact with all links unchanged.End of article.