Is Poker Harder Than Chess?

[kidrock1211]

I say chess is harder/ but there are things in poker that chess will never have like the bluff and check-raise! Poker if it is for money is not a game! It's a business!

 

[funkymoney]

chess is definitely way harder and requires more mental power than poker.

 

[topcatbrazil]

It is harder, unless you are playing chess for money, than both are equally hard.

 

[StreetPhd]

In chess we see the position of the opponent. In poker - no.

What about the advantage of playing White?

 

[fezjones]

Poker is harder to master because a lot of information is unknown (hole cards).

 

[CullinanPoker]

Depends on what type of fish are swimming in your tank

 

[StreetPhd]

I am a chess player with an international FIDE rating of 2120. There is no equivalent term of 'tilt' in chess. Because, equivalent of bad beats don't exist in chess. There is something called oversight, where a player makes a mistake that isn't expected of his skill level. But, that is not bad beat.

Poker is far more emotionally demanding. Now, I am not stating with conviction that poker is tougher. High level poker is somewhat mechanical, like high level chess. In chess the best players rack their brains only during 5-6 positions in a 60 move game. Similarly, in poker the best players play on an average 20-30% of their hands and rack their brains in 3-4 hands. I am not too sure, as I am a beginner in poker.

In an any case, what is your opinion?

To get to a similar level (your rating is impressive) in Poker, you'd have likely have gone through hundreds of thousands of Your own dollars. If all chess games cost entry fees of hundreds or thousands of dollars of one's own money, many Chess players may have never gotten to your level...(I believe)
Most people don't play Poker at a high level for free. Do Chess players always play each other for cash? I doubt it. I'd just not bother to play someone heads-up for free.
I must say that I am not familiar with your Chess world, but am I wrong?
How many top rated Chess players take home millions or lose millions?
My point is that when one's cash is on the line, there is no comparison, poker is tougher!

 

[suitedsadness]

I think chess is far harder as a game at the top level. With that being said, the randomness can obscure your ability in poker, so it can be hard to determine the better player, but this also means you can make a mistake in poker and not be punished for it until you make that mistake about 10 times, whereas in chess you will be slaughtered by some genius who can think 15 steps ahead and predict all your moves from your first 5 moves.

 

[ringworm]

I suck at chess, so I'm going to say that's harder.

 

[fegyo]

It’s certainly a lot easier to make money off poker than off chess. The nature of the game is such that a significant percentage of all players will turn a profit. To become a chess professional, you need to be one of a very few strong grandmasters and probably better than 99.9% of all chess players

 

[mclay]

I know many games, both card games and others, chess is certainly the most difficult game, but poker confidently takes the second place.

 

[najisami]

I agree with most here on the fact that the two games in question should not be compared. They probably have more differences than common aspects. A lot of those have been mentioned above so I won't repeat them. But I'm surprised no one brought up what I think is a huge difference : While in chess, we only compete against one human mind, in poker we have to deal with many of them and everyone's actions influence and interfere with every one else's actions and emotions, making it a very complicated game. At least more complicated than chess in that regard.
We also cannot really discard the "luck" factor or "variance" a poker player has no way of avoiding, a very heavy burden chess players are exempt from. If you are a decent chess player, unless you make "the" mistake, you are almost guaranteed the win when you play with the whites even against an opponent as skilled as you are, let alone against a less experienced one. Just like serving in Tennis.
If I'm far from being right, please correct me with any insights, I'd appreciate it.

 

[caracaski220]

caracaski220

I think so . the re is no bluffing in chess. and no luck in involved. No bad beats and no fing river!! A beginer cant go all on you in chess and beat you bwecause of luck.

 

[Datdude1]

I think that chess is a harder game to learn initially because there are more moving parts. Both games you have to try to anticipate your opponents move. However in poker you are playing a multitude of opponents and their tendencies and strategies, two totally different types of games.

 

[4give4live]

I am a chess player with an international FIDE rating of 2120. There is no equivalent term of 'tilt' in chess. Because, equivalent of bad beats don't exist in chess. There is something called oversight, where a player makes a mistake that isn't expected of his skill level. But, that is not bad beat.

Poker is far more emotionally demanding. Now, I am not stating with conviction that poker is tougher. High level poker is somewhat mechanical, like high level chess. In chess the best players rack their brains only during 5-6 positions in a 60 move game. Similarly, in poker the best players play on an average 20-30% of their hands and rack their brains in 3-4 hands. I am not too sure, as I am a beginner in poker.

In an any case, what is your opinion?

Do not consider it rude, but you could just as well have compared chess to a slot machine. These are completely different leagues.

 

[diego farfan]

It is very similar since you need your mind and consent to play a good game and avoid mistakes now the only difference in relation to chess is luck since in chess you don't need luck while in poker it sometimes helps a lot since you play against your opponents and against the variance since you can have the best hands but just in that tournament your variance is negative and you are to top it off playing with aggressive players who go with any hand and in the end they end up won by their luck that 60% always hold hands

 

[vsausto1990]

I am a chess player with an international FIDE rating of 2120. There is no equivalent term of 'tilt' in chess. Because, equivalent of bad beats don't exist in chess. There is something called oversight, where a player makes a mistake that isn't expected of his skill level. But, that is not bad beat.

Poker is far more emotionally demanding. Now, I am not stating with conviction that poker is tougher. High level poker is somewhat mechanical, like high level chess. In chess the best players rack their brains only during 5-6 positions in a 60 move game. Similarly, in poker the best players play on an average 20-30% of their hands and rack their brains in 3-4 hands. I am not too sure, as I am a beginner in poker.

In an any case, what is your opinion?

chest is definitely harder because all the luck is taken out in poker the worst player can be beat the best player

 

[Zephrys]

It is impossible currently to play perfect poker on the other hand chess has been solved a while ago. Computers find poker a game which is more difficult to solve and that makes it objectively harder than chess. People are speaking of chess grandmasters, these guys are very smart for sure. The top earners in today's poker have to study so hard you wouldn't believe it. The game where you can win millions and live from your skills will ultimately attract more talent than the game where you are not a payed professional.
You think poker is not hard, it s true to be a decent player at poker si not too hard with a basic understanding of probabilities, you might beat the micro stakes. Now go try win in NL100, on pokerstars still easy ? Not so much, you are now competing against professionals who dedicate a lot of time to mastering the game. This is nowhere near the top of the Mountain. If you play poker at a high level, you have to remember you aren't playing your cards, you are playing your range against your opponent's range. Factor such as stack depth and your opponent's flaws will alter what the optimal move is. In chess there is always statistically speaking a better move, no matter who your opponent is it will be the same. In poker, the decision maybe completely altered by such factors. Try learning a Game theory strategy on thousands of different board textures, in thousands of different situations, UTG raise vs BTN 3 bet stack size 250bb deep on 793 is completely different than BTN RFI vs BB on 793rainbow 50BB deep. It is completely impossible to learn all these iterations, there are so many different itirations that can occur in poker which leaves more room for skill since the game is even more impossible to master.

 

[thwenth1983]

Good afternoon everyone, the 2 games are very complex to master, but they are also very similar, because they have theories that the more you study, the better you will be in these games.
In relation to winning a tournament, poker is much easier, as it is enough that in addition to theoretical and mathematical knowledge of the game, it is enough that you have a little luck in a mtt to win, you get AA vs KK or break AA and so on ok, in chess it is quite complicated, because luck plays an almost 0 role, counting solely and exclusively on the skill and technical knowledge of each one.

 

[blata8ruga]

Chess is more complex than poker but poker is a better game all around.

 

[valanddon]

no it is more boring.

 

[Rob Hobson]

There's no the luck factor in chess. Only thing in common between them is patience. In poker you may wait for better hands and an opponent mistake, besides luck. Chess, you rely on your own abilities, opponent mistakes or his/hers lack of ability.

 

[sulzerrt]

Chess - game without luck, only skill and experience.
Poker - game of skill, experience and a lot of extra luck.

 

[Rob Hobson]

Chess - game without luck, only skill and experience.
Poker - game of skill, experience and a lot of extra luck.

That's right.

 

[Gallarado777]

I wouldn’t say that poker is more complicated than chess, it’s just that they are 2 different games and they are complex in their own way, but each game is difficult in its own way, if you think deeply, these 2 games can’t be compared, I think, but if the question is either or then I think that poker will be it’s more difficult because you play with more different players and everyone thinks differently and there is such an aspect as a bluff that you can’t know for sure, but in chess you see everything on the board, this is the difference in the number of players at the table

I am a chess player with an international FIDE rating of 2120. There is no equivalent term of 'tilt' in chess. Because, equivalent of bad beats don't exist in chess. There is something called oversight, where a player makes a mistake that isn't expected of his skill level. But, that is not bad beat.

Poker is far more emotionally demanding. Now, I am not stating with conviction that poker is tougher. High level poker is somewhat mechanical, like high level chess. In chess the best players rack their brains only during 5-6 positions in a 60 move game. Similarly, in poker the best players play on an average 20-30% of their hands and rack their brains in 3-4 hands. I am not too sure, as I am a beginner in poker.

In an any case, what is your opinion?