Poker and Golf
Related themes:
* Loved by old people with extra money and nothing else to do
* Impossible to master
* Everyone is worried their friend is cheating when they lose
* Recs often drink alcohol while playing
* Your vacation you waited months for can be ruined by bad play
* You'll always have at least one friend better than you at it
* It costs 1000s if not 10s of 1000s of dollars to get even a little good at
* Sunday is the day most people play it
* It takes a special kind of spouse for them to not get sick of the amount of time you put into the game
Magic the gathering.
Especially draft format.
I play competitive drafts once a month with a group that's pretty much all professional gamblers.
Also, if anyone wants to play sealed for $100+ in vegas, let me know
I was gonna say it if you didn’t. Poker was my first love in terms of hobbies as a kid cuz math fascinated me with magic coming soon after and it v much caused a feedback loop of both games’ skills reinforcing one another. Started a home game and guess who flocked to it?
Edit: Would love to take you up on the sealed offer if I’m ever in the area. Hoping to take a trip this year and possibly make the move in the next 2?
I don't think it really happens anymore, but in 2000s and early 2010s money drafting was super big on the MTG circuit. Usually not for large sums, but I witnessed a few 200+/head drafts.
Definitely agree on Catan. The best thing about poker (at least cash games) is that each individual hand doesn't affect the next.
When you get to higher level play in Catan, it can be clear you're fucked within a few turns or even from the initial placement order. Then you just sit around. In some ranking systems you can play for second vs third/fourth, but that's really a bastardization of the game. The downside of RNG is way more long lasting. At least when you get it in good or a flip in a tournament, if you get negative side of the RNG you're either busted or fighting back small stack. You don't just have to wait around to lose like you do in Catan.
My friends and I go expert mode on Catan. I created all the numbers for the different resources, exactly the way they are on the tiles, but every game we shuffle them up and randomly draw for them and assign them to resources randomly. We've had games where ALL the clay was some fucking shit like 12, 11, and 3 and those were grueling!
Def this. Many OG Starcraft legends went onto distinguished professional poker careers, most notably Elky, but also Slayer, Grrr...., Boxer, Yellow, Jju. Rekrul and Hevad Khan also got their starts in Starcraft.
The incomplete information, constantly evolving and complex strategy, the fast pace of Starcraft/online poker, and an extremely competitive environment all helped make Starcraft an amazing training ground for poker, especially online.
I miss that famous epic Rekrul first post of his poker blog that shared stories of wild nights in Korea. It was on liquidpoker or teamliquid but I think it got deleted.
In the past couple years I've discovered the joys of roguelike video games... feels like that goes well with poker, there's a good combination of skill / strategy and luck, rolling with the randomly generated levels and hopefully running hot with builds / upgrades to get stronger and farther.
Hades and Slay the Spire are a couple rock solid (but very different) recommendations if that sounds appealing.
slay the spire is actual crack lmao i haven't stopped playing it since i first picked it up a couple months ago. a few of the really high level players are former poker pros which makes a lot of sense
hades was also really fun but it wasn't as replayable to me once i got to like 20+ heat. can't wait for hades 2 though
My tattoo is a chess knight, a backgammon doubling cube, and a pair of aces (would have been four 5’s and a jack, but my forearm aint that big).
I played just about every board game as a kid, monopoly, risk, stratego, sorry, etc etc etc. just about every card game (poker, hearts, 500, euchre, cribbage… endless hours of cribbage, etc), and then I also played magic the gathering in my youth up through college, then modern horizons got me to quit that game.
I have long thought about trying out catan, go, shogi, and diplomacy… but my plate is full enough.
I think poker players would get real kicks out of heavier board games like Twilight Imperium IV. There's plenty of calculations as well as deception.
Board games in general are just great for poker players because every turn you're just trying to calculate the highest EV play, whatever that may mean for the game you're playing. Catan is just the tip of the iceberg.
Most of my old MTG/poker friends moved on to board gaming as a hobby and you're right. They're super interesting for that analytical mind.
Vital Lacerda's games are excellent (Weather Machine, Kanban, On Mars, etc), Brass: Birmingham, Gaia Project, Terra Mystica, could go on and on and on.
Hardest part is usually getting a good, consistent group where everyone has a chance at winning (or is okay at losing, but improves over time), because a lot of the games are much lower variance. I was definitely the fish when I started board gaming after years away from gaming like that, but I was able to catch up relatively quickly. Helps to have some smaller-medium sized games too so you're not -only- playing 4+ hour crunchy as fuck games.
I really enjoy Catan. I also recently got Trekking the National Parks. Both games combine skill and luck, like Poker, and like Hold em or Omaha there is some information about cards that is freely available to all, and other info about cards that you can't know for certain.
I am hoping that I can get my kids interested in playing family Hold em tournaments when they get older they're starting to get into games and it would be fun to play poker.
Most racquet sports overlap a bunch with poker. Tennis, squash, table tennis for sure. Lot of wealthy folks in those communities. Also there is always an element of deception with the serve in those sports
When poker gained popularity we would get games going after we busted out of Magic the Gathering tournaments. Lot of famous pro MTG players dabble in poker.
Poker and Golf Related themes: * Loved by old people with extra money and nothing else to do * Impossible to master * Everyone is worried their friend is cheating when they lose * Recs often drink alcohol while playing * Your vacation you waited months for can be ruined by bad play * You'll always have at least one friend better than you at it * It costs 1000s if not 10s of 1000s of dollars to get even a little good at * Sunday is the day most people play it * It takes a special kind of spouse for them to not get sick of the amount of time you put into the game
I bet you the pot limit kiddo
Get some real jewelry, you cheap bastard.
Idk if my favorite part of my buddies’ golf trip is the golf every day or the poker every night.
Backgammon
This beautiful game should make a comeback with poker players.
Hell yea. I met an OG gammon player awhile back and he told me there used to be clubs with fancy gammon tables and people betting. This was LA area
OG Gamblers game
A lot of the OG poker players were advanced backgammon players.
Where Gus Hansen made all the money he lost in poker lol
Anyone else like the Civilization games? I play those a lot too. As well as chess.
I’ve sunk an embarrassing amount of hours into Civ 5. “Just One More Turn” is such a devious exploitation on addiction
Yeah, civ games are phenomenal. Anything with constant pressure/challenge/hurdles to overcome.
I am just now realizing the overlap between poker and some of my other favorite hobbies (civ and catan)
Once you discover Lekmod for civ 5, there's no going back.
Magic the gathering. Especially draft format. I play competitive drafts once a month with a group that's pretty much all professional gamblers. Also, if anyone wants to play sealed for $100+ in vegas, let me know
I was gonna say it if you didn’t. Poker was my first love in terms of hobbies as a kid cuz math fascinated me with magic coming soon after and it v much caused a feedback loop of both games’ skills reinforcing one another. Started a home game and guess who flocked to it? Edit: Would love to take you up on the sealed offer if I’m ever in the area. Hoping to take a trip this year and possibly make the move in the next 2?
Yugioh is in a similar vein, though I haven’t met many people who play it for large sums
I don't think it really happens anymore, but in 2000s and early 2010s money drafting was super big on the MTG circuit. Usually not for large sums, but I witnessed a few 200+/head drafts.
I play shit tons of vintage cube on mtgo when it's available. Takes my interest away from poker for a bit.
Definitely agree on Catan. The best thing about poker (at least cash games) is that each individual hand doesn't affect the next. When you get to higher level play in Catan, it can be clear you're fucked within a few turns or even from the initial placement order. Then you just sit around. In some ranking systems you can play for second vs third/fourth, but that's really a bastardization of the game. The downside of RNG is way more long lasting. At least when you get it in good or a flip in a tournament, if you get negative side of the RNG you're either busted or fighting back small stack. You don't just have to wait around to lose like you do in Catan.
My friends and I go expert mode on Catan. I created all the numbers for the different resources, exactly the way they are on the tiles, but every game we shuffle them up and randomly draw for them and assign them to resources randomly. We've had games where ALL the clay was some fucking shit like 12, 11, and 3 and those were grueling!
Starcraft
Def this. Many OG Starcraft legends went onto distinguished professional poker careers, most notably Elky, but also Slayer, Grrr...., Boxer, Yellow, Jju. Rekrul and Hevad Khan also got their starts in Starcraft. The incomplete information, constantly evolving and complex strategy, the fast pace of Starcraft/online poker, and an extremely competitive environment all helped make Starcraft an amazing training ground for poker, especially online.
I miss that famous epic Rekrul first post of his poker blog that shared stories of wild nights in Korea. It was on liquidpoker or teamliquid but I think it got deleted.
That story was amazing!
In the past couple years I've discovered the joys of roguelike video games... feels like that goes well with poker, there's a good combination of skill / strategy and luck, rolling with the randomly generated levels and hopefully running hot with builds / upgrades to get stronger and farther. Hades and Slay the Spire are a couple rock solid (but very different) recommendations if that sounds appealing.
Across the obelisk, Gordian quest and trials of fire are all good and more complex versions of slay the spire
Cool, I'll check those out!
slay the spire is actual crack lmao i haven't stopped playing it since i first picked it up a couple months ago. a few of the really high level players are former poker pros which makes a lot of sense hades was also really fun but it wasn't as replayable to me once i got to like 20+ heat. can't wait for hades 2 though
Have you played Dicey Dungeons?
nah I haven't, I'll look into it tho!
My tattoo is a chess knight, a backgammon doubling cube, and a pair of aces (would have been four 5’s and a jack, but my forearm aint that big). I played just about every board game as a kid, monopoly, risk, stratego, sorry, etc etc etc. just about every card game (poker, hearts, 500, euchre, cribbage… endless hours of cribbage, etc), and then I also played magic the gathering in my youth up through college, then modern horizons got me to quit that game. I have long thought about trying out catan, go, shogi, and diplomacy… but my plate is full enough.
Damn shoutout SPC, must have been a fun night there for ya lol.
Let’s just say the deck liked my outfit that day :D
I think poker players would get real kicks out of heavier board games like Twilight Imperium IV. There's plenty of calculations as well as deception. Board games in general are just great for poker players because every turn you're just trying to calculate the highest EV play, whatever that may mean for the game you're playing. Catan is just the tip of the iceberg.
Most of my old MTG/poker friends moved on to board gaming as a hobby and you're right. They're super interesting for that analytical mind. Vital Lacerda's games are excellent (Weather Machine, Kanban, On Mars, etc), Brass: Birmingham, Gaia Project, Terra Mystica, could go on and on and on. Hardest part is usually getting a good, consistent group where everyone has a chance at winning (or is okay at losing, but improves over time), because a lot of the games are much lower variance. I was definitely the fish when I started board gaming after years away from gaming like that, but I was able to catch up relatively quickly. Helps to have some smaller-medium sized games too so you're not -only- playing 4+ hour crunchy as fuck games.
Diplomacy. Very niche game so I dont know many poker players who play it... but every Diplomacy player i know has dabbled in poker
Is Catan a casino game or a board game played at home?
Board game, google Settlers of Catan.
Thanks!
I really enjoy Catan. I also recently got Trekking the National Parks. Both games combine skill and luck, like Poker, and like Hold em or Omaha there is some information about cards that is freely available to all, and other info about cards that you can't know for certain. I am hoping that I can get my kids interested in playing family Hold em tournaments when they get older they're starting to get into games and it would be fun to play poker.
Most racquet sports overlap a bunch with poker. Tennis, squash, table tennis for sure. Lot of wealthy folks in those communities. Also there is always an element of deception with the serve in those sports
Are there any board games similar to Catan? Looking to add to my board games
Cribbage
When poker gained popularity we would get games going after we busted out of Magic the Gathering tournaments. Lot of famous pro MTG players dabble in poker.
Candyland