World Cup 2018 is just a few days away and football fans around the world are pumped to see their favorite football players back in action.
Poker and football are two of the craziest but highly entertaining games in the world. Comparing football with a game of cards may sound hilarious, but if you delve a little deeper, you will discover that both of these games have a number of characteristics in common.
Before talking about similarities, let’s see the differences.
Football is an outdoor team based sport. It requires lots of stamina and physical strength. You can play with your friends but big tournaments are not accessible for you as you cannot play with star players if you don’t have required skills and experience.
Poker is one of the most fascinating mind games in the world. Poker is an indoor sport, you can play it live in casinos and live poker room or on online gaming platforms. More than physical strength, it requires mental toughness, concentration, and emotional stability. You can enter in any national or international cash game or tournament if you can afford the buy-in, regardless of you are a pro or an amateur player.
Poker has always been popular with football legends i.e. Neymar Jr., Cristiano Ronaldo, Gianluigi Buffon, Teddy, Sheringham, Andriy Shevchenko, Francesco Totti, Toni Cascarino, etc who are in love with this game.
Now let’s take a closer look at what football has in common with poker.
Minimum equipment
Football requires only a ball and a ground. Playing poker requires minimum two players and a deck of cards.
Focus
A football player needs to be alert all the time. A goalkeeper has to stay focused to protect the goalpost. A poker player has to keep a close eye on the happenings on the table to find out relevant information about opponent’s hand strength and make better decisions about whether to bet more money, call, or fold the cards.
Easy to Learn
Poker and football, both are exhilarating sports. Regardless of you are a participant or just a spectator, the entertainment value of these sports is way higher than any other games. There are some well-defined set of rules which a player needs to follow in these games. Other than that, the game play is not too complex and any person can learn how to play easily.
Unpredictable
A poor player can beat highly skilled and experienced opponents on any given day on a poker table. The greatest football players many times find themselves unable to score a goal and save their team from defeat. Both are games of ups and downs and no one can predict with 100% guarantee the outcome of a match before it ends.
Finding weak spots
In poker, you have to spot a tell to read opponent’s game-play and develop a strategy against him. In football, you have to read the moves of the opponents to identify the weak spots in opponent’s team coordination and techniques.
Tense Environment
Both games require discipline, dedication, and emotion control. In a football field, players have to deal with tension and anxiety in high-pressure situations. On a poker table, players have to take risks by putting their hard-earned money as a bet.
Practice
It is important to consistently improve the skills and knowledge through training and practice in both games. A player must enhance his abilities to become stronger and better than his opponents on a poker table as well as a football field.
Popularity
Football and poker both are phenomenally popular around the world and fans are obsessed with these sports. Some players considered them as a way of life.
Football and poker both are immensely captivating and rewarding games. The ultimate goal of both of these amazing games is not only to defeat opponents and make money, but also to spend some quality time, meet great people, and enjoy the unlimited thrill and excitement.