'Chess players already have the skills needed to succeed in poker'
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011
Hello everyone,
It's always fun to know when chess players succeed in any other field too. Just goes to prove that chess players are not uni-dimensional boring people they are stereotyped as often. Here is a nice article from PokerListings which releases its list of Best Bets for the upcoming World Series of Poker.
This time they have analysed 'types' of pokers players. Their second group is that of chess players. The article says, "If there is a group of people more prepared for success at the 2011 World Series of Poker than chess players, PokerListings hasn’t found it. Two world-class female chess players dominated the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational in Los Angeles this year en route to making the final table. And while Almira Skripchenko and Dinara Khaziyeva didn’t win, they proved they’re poised for big things in poker.
Historically, chess players have proven the transition to poker to be a profitable one. 1995 WSOP Main Event champ and two-time finalist Dan Harrington is among those who played chess before he turned to poker, as is 2008 November Niner Ylon Schwartz. “A lot of chess players look at poker as a great way to make money." - Jeff Sarwer. Plus, child chess prodigy Jeff Sarwer emerged from a life on the lam in 2009 to find incredible success on the European Poker Tour. Sarwer took his first crack at the WSOP last year and managed to cash in three events.
He says chess players, and in fact anyone with a gaming background, usually come ready to play. “There really is (something fundamental about chess that makes chess players successful at poker) and I think that goes for all the gaming crossovers,” he told PokerListings. “If you have a gaming mind then you have a lot of the same foundation. It goes for Magic the Gathering, backgammon and chess.
“Chess players are bringing a lot of the competitive sports psychology with them. While backgammon is more of the math side, in my opinion chess is more of a bluffing game. Because the positions are so cloudy, it gets really messy. “It is a game of complete information, but it’s purely artistic at some points. So some people can be really bad at the math in chess and still succeed, which isn’t the case in poker these days. “And all the pressure elements at the higher levels of chess, how to put pressure on your opponents, is very similar to poker. Also knowing when to change your approach and change your strategy.”
Hello everyone,
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| Poker suits this Chess Supergirl |
This time they have analysed 'types' of pokers players. Their second group is that of chess players. The article says, "If there is a group of people more prepared for success at the 2011 World Series of Poker than chess players, PokerListings hasn’t found it. Two world-class female chess players dominated the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational in Los Angeles this year en route to making the final table. And while Almira Skripchenko and Dinara Khaziyeva didn’t win, they proved they’re poised for big things in poker.
He says chess players, and in fact anyone with a gaming background, usually come ready to play. “There really is (something fundamental about chess that makes chess players successful at poker) and I think that goes for all the gaming crossovers,” he told PokerListings. “If you have a gaming mind then you have a lot of the same foundation. It goes for Magic the Gathering, backgammon and chess.
“Chess players are bringing a lot of the competitive sports psychology with them. While backgammon is more of the math side, in my opinion chess is more of a bluffing game. Because the positions are so cloudy, it gets really messy. “It is a game of complete information, but it’s purely artistic at some points. So some people can be really bad at the math in chess and still succeed, which isn’t the case in poker these days. “And all the pressure elements at the higher levels of chess, how to put pressure on your opponents, is very similar to poker. Also knowing when to change your approach and change your strategy.”
You can read further at this link.
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Labels: chess and poker
posted by Chess Blog Admin @ 9:31 AM
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