along with the growth of internet poker came the rise in the amount of players playing professionally or semi-professionally online. It sometimes seems every poker player you meet is either a pro or is going to turn pro real soon. The amount of poker strategy books and poker tips forums that have become available to help players to become more professional and also more profitable has risen in line with the growth in player numbers. Of course with that came all the poker tools that you must have in order to be a winning online poker player. Software such as poker odds calculators, hand trackers and statistics trackers are now seen as a neccessity for any serious poker player.
Well, that’s all great but there are still players who simply want to play just for entertainment.The thought that each poker table is going to be full of professional players will likely be off putting to the player who is just playing for a bit of entertainment.
Even though the amount of online poker players has risen dramatically during the last few years, the number of profitable players remains about the same percentage as ever. Only between five and ten percent of poker players will ever be profitable.
A section of players will manage to breakeven, more or less, over the long term. Still the majority are going to be loss making players no matter what tools or software they use.
Contrary to popular opinion, it is ok to not be a winning professional poker player. Playing for entertainment can be quite as rewarding as any other hobby or pastime. WIth a small amount of knowledge a recreational poker player can have lots of fun without spending a lot of money. In relative terms it can often be a lot less costly to play a bit of internet poker for a night than to go out to a bar or restaurant.
The advantage that online poker has over other entertainment avenues is that you have some chance, however small, of making a profit on their online gaming, which is not possible with almost all other recreational activities available to you.
There is a social side to the game that is not matched by other mainstream in home entertainments.
I feel that the current view seems to be that every player ought to be trying to become a professional poker player, whereas the more relaxed view can lead to a happier experience for a lot of players. Taking the pressure off of yourself and treating the game as a bit of fun might be the key to a more fun poker experience for a lot of players.