Why you might want to play poker rather than blackjack

 There are certainly a number of poker players who will occasionally indulge themselves at the blackjack table. There may be even more blackjack players who also play poker, many of them in response to the game's recent surge in popularity. Not that many people avidly play both games. When encountering the proposition of choosing between poker and blackjack, there are no absolutes. It all depends on what the player is looking for. Maybe it's a matter of personality - some people are more adventurous than others; those people would probably go with poker, because of the long list of variables that go into each playing situation. Those people who want a little more in the way of stability in their playing decisions might choose blackjack, for reasons we'll discuss momentarily. People who are gregarious might prefer poker because it moves a little slower and afford them the opportunity to chat with other players, a condition that might exist online or in a physical casino. If you're the quiet type, maybe blackjack is for you, although all of this rationale might very well work in reverse.Here are some things we can say with conviction in support of poker:

Poker is much more ACCESSIBLE. More of it is available over the internet, in different forms. And if you are competitive, there are many more tournaments going at all times, for every level of play. If you want to play in a tournament, you'll never be lacking for one. Of course, if you play offline, poker is more accessible as well. It is available at a high level in card rooms throughout California, on Indian reservations in Florida, at pari-mutuel facilities (sometimes known as "racinos"), and in other states where the laws allow, where blackjack may not be. Poker probably offers a BETTER SHOT FOR THE GOOD PLAYER. We say that because in blackjack you are battling against the house edge, so it doesn't matter if the other players at the table are proficient or not. In poker, it is an incredibly important factor. In the long run, the best player at the table will usually win the most. That's a good thing for you, because obviously you intend to be as good a player as you can be. You can often CHOOSE THE LEVEL OF OPPOSITION you play against. Over the internet, you can get involved in every low-limit games, free roll tournaments and sometimes, beginners tournaments. Offline, if you frequent a particular card club or casino, you can, over the course of time, get a feel for that kind of thing as well. In blackjack, you can shop around for the best rules, but essentially the game is the same, and the opponent is always the house. And whereas on the internet, the vast majority of blackjack games don't reward skill very much because the cards are shuffled after every hand, your results in poker will almost always depend on your skill level. In blackjack, the trend in rules offline is also starting to move in the other direction. More and more brick-and-mortar casinos are going to automatic shufflers, which creates a similar effect to that which is online, and they're doing things like offering 6-5 on a two-card natural in the single deck game, rather than the customary 3-2. In other words, if you were expecting to count cards and gain an edge, the online game is certainly not for you because it neutralizes skill, and the offline game is moving rapidly in that direction.

In poker, there is LESS RIGIDITY. In blackjack, there are not a lot of variables that can alter your end result. In poker, there are all kinds of things. Who else is at the table with you? How well are you able to read them? Can you hide your own tendencies so they can't read YOU? Can you make other players do what you want them to? There are a lot of different things that factor into determining how you're going to do. And there is a complexity in all of this that makes the game of poker, in its own way, infinity MORESTIMULATING than blackjack. Along those same lines, in blackjack there is always one play that is the best for any given situation. In poker, the barometer is always moving. There can be a lot of ways to play each situation. As the player, it frees you a lot more and leaves you to your own devices.

There is more OPPORTUNITY in poker than almost any other casino game, whether it's played online or offline. There are more casinos carrying more kinds of games. There are more events with added guaranteed prize money, more activity, more people to play against, more television coverage, more literature, and more things to read about, more resources to learn from, and more ways to play. More, more, more. If you're not already in on it, GET in on it!!