A High Latency Life

Gamers, and by gamers I mean good gamers who can cut through a game like Megan Fox can cut through a crowd, have really only had a single reward for all their hard work – that of completing a game and seeing how it ends. Yes, in MMOs you can enjoy building a character or an empire, and you can take pleasure from destroying the plans of others too.

That’s all great, but unfortunately that’s all there is to it. There isn’t really any way to turn all that hard work and game knowledge into something that could be beneficial in the real world.

Until online poker came along.

This combines all the fun of playing an online game, with the potential reward of cold hard cash if you play well. There is also a certain MMO element here. As a poker player, you are building a “character”. Some poker sites take this even further, allowing you to earn bonus points as you play and use those points to kit out your avatar in custom items.

Poker is also a game that rewards practice. Ask any Call of Duty fanatic, or World of Warcraft player, and they’ll tell you to put in the hours and practice to get good at the game. Poker is no different, only instead of kill ratios and gold, you’ll be earning real money that can buy you that nice 50-inch flat screen TV you’ve had your eye on.

Of course, there is an element of risk. Unlike regular gaming, when you lose in online poker you also lose real money. However, you can get in some free play practice before you start, so you have your winning strategies honed to a fine edge before you put down any money.

Doing your homework before you start playing is also important. Just like choosing a good server for an MMO is important, so picking the right poker site to play at is vital as they are not all made the same. Some offer easy games (as they have a lot of very inexperienced players – who are known in the poker world as “fish”), while others offer huge promotions, others still have a massive variety of poker variants (yes poker comes in many flavors), and there are those that have a lot of professionals (known as “sharks” who feed on the “fish”).

So do look around before you decide where to play and check out some reviews. Your credit card will thank you for it.

Gamers also have a sound tactical mind. In fact, their gaming experience actually makes them really good managers. Why? Because gamers understand resource maximization, supply, rarity, and how to do the best you can with the tools you have. Unfortunately, the corporate world hasn’t caught on yet.

Those skills, along with patience and the ability to figure out your opponents, will set you in very good stead with online poker. Certainly, it will put you ahead of those with money to burn and no brain to tell them how to play.

So if you are looking to put your gamer acquired skills to work for you (and there are a large number of poker pros that make their living from the game) then give online poker a shot. Just make sure you grab your fishing gear and avoid the sharks.