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Trading Blackjack for poker

There used to be a time when I wouldn’t even consider playing anything else than Blackjack. All I could think about was the number 21 and all the strategies that were connected to it. I used to be really fascinated with people that were so good at math that they could get ahead in the game and actually collect thousands and thousands of dollars on it. Basically, there were no other games for me.
But one day a close friend of mine told me that I should check out poker. I agreed to play a game, which I hadn’t done since I was a kid, and of course I loved it. Since that very day I have been playing Blackjack less and less and taking on poker instead. Now a couple of years have passed and I like the game a lot more than I used to like Blackjack. For me that was so much about math and memory, I grew tired of it. Poker is a much more social game, and much more strategic in that sense. Sure, you have to have your head on your shoulders to win big in Blackjack, but I love trying to read other players when it comes to, say, Texas Hold’em.
That is the game I play, and like, the most. There are so many different tells that you can spot, and it is really a mission to try do detect which are what.

I play both online and at regular casinos. I rarely play with friends though, I think it can do damage to the friendship if we start owing each other money and competing. Also, my friends aren’t that into poker, even though some of them like Blackjack.

I think that I have had good use of my experience from that game. I know how to think fast and read the cards in different ways. The only problem is that I am still thinking mathematically at times when I really don’t need it. But it is good to have the memory sense that I developed during my years as Blackjack player. I rarely forget what other players have said or done, and I think this really is to my advantage.

I am sure that sooner or later I will remember that I actually used to enjoy playing Blackjack. But I think I got too much of it back then, and it will take a few years until I start longing for it again. I just hope that I haven’t become less skilled by then. I also hope that there will come a day when I can play both games as much – and make good money from it.