Is Cricket and Poker Similar?

The thing is, Cricket in India is HUGE. We all know it. We all agree to it. And we all are very happily into it too.

I mean why not, Cricket in India has some intense PR going with Amir Khan and Kachra winning a match against the Englishmen or Sushant Singh Rajput killing theaters with his outstanding performance in M.S. Dhoni’s biopic.

Cricket is what we celebrate and the celebration turned into one of the most beautiful ones as India rammed the Australian team at their home grounds.

All this is amazing indeed, but, did you know, Cricket and Poker share a lot in common. You may ask how and this is exactly why you should read this till the end.

5 Reasons That Make Cricket And Poker Similar:

Endurance

A cricket match takes hours even days to finish and there’s a valid reason why. A cricket match is about announcing the best team as winners just like every other sport. Well, Poker does the same too.

To make the best amalgamation of bets, checks, and folds win, a game of poker gives fair chances and attempts to each player and then only decides for who is the winner. And as we all understand, to allow each one to play their best foot forward, it takes time. This is how Cricket and Poker share genes in a very unclichéd manner.

Team Effort

Many might not know but Poker is also played as a team game. A very prominent example is Match Indian Poker League (MIPL) where teams consisting of multiple Poker players compete individually on different tables but their combined efforts make their team either loose or win.

This is same as having a batsman score a century or a duck individually but their efforts get combined into the teams' score and hence the team either wins or looses.

Form & Stamina

Every sport requires a player in a certain form and a level of stamina for them to be able to play in a certain tournament. This is more than valid for Poker. A player without the right form can never reach a level they are capable of and endure the entire competition without the proper stamina that they require to attain the same.

Just think about it, a prominent tilt can almost finish a player in a couple of upcoming hands whereas a player with right form can fight back and come out of this trap in less than a minute.

Sportsmanship

Now, this is a key to every sport and the same goes to Poker. A set of rules with which Poker works on the first place are always respected by a Poker player.

They never or can ever cheat their way out of this. Give it another thought, Bluff ain’t cheating.

Sportsmanship is more so required when a player is playing a tournament. A live game teaches a lot and learning from those who leave the tournament mid-way, also works in favour of a pro player. Hence they respect each other which is an utter description of Sportsmanship.

Ability

A cricketer is a cricketer. He/She might be a great footballer too but they are way better in their first game that is Cricket. Similarly a Texas Hold’em player will always be better in the same than in PLO.

Obviously, they can shift their skill and learn PLO better than the crowd but the same goes to a Cricketer too right. After all, be it Cricket or Poker, they are all a game of skill.

The world of sports is bigger than we can imagine. Therefore, these 5 pointers can never define Poker or any other game for that matter but this definitely will give you a brief idea about how a game of Cricket is not very different from a game of Poker.

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