As a child, you may have gotten into betting wars where there was no real money involved and all things wagered were either tacit or worthless objects. It is likely that you would never get involved in this sort of senseless game as an adult unless it is for humorous purposes. Why then, would you want to play poker without anything actually on the line. If you do not wish to wager any money, you might want to play another game. Poker was designed to be a game where money is risked and should not be played without it. Why is this so? This article explains the importance of risking real money while playing poker.

Betting Control

When you have nothing to lose, you might be tempted to bet it all in an effort to win the game quickly. You might do something relatively foolish (if there was real money) to keep up the pace or try to chase off other players. They, in turn, will likely join you in your efforts by making foolish bets. This type of play deducts almost all of the strategy involved in poker and makes the game little of what it was originally intended to be. It is simple. There is no power in a bet. Everybody calls everything and people are all in every hand. You might as well be playing a very tough blackjack hand. There is very little strategy in most play money games.

You Have Something to Lose

Much like betting control, you may make wiser choices when you have something on the line. Games are more about reading other players and making good decisions. In this case, games can be an enjoyable experience that last a long time. If you are having fun playing poker (most likely the case if you are playing it) why would you want to cut the game short?

You Have Something to Gain

Just as much as you can lose money, you can gain a great deal of money when you play poker with real money. If you play with fake money, there is no drive to succeed and you have nothing to gain by playing. You may enjoy playing with your friends and not have much money to risk. However, games can be organized with just a $2 buy in fairly easily (That is almost the price of a bottle of soda these days). If 9 people get together to play some poker at $2 a piece, you could win 9 times your original money (or $18 dollars).

Real Money Bleed Over

When you play poker with play money, you are taking a very real risk if you wish to return to real money poker games. The complete lack of strategy that you may show during a play money poker game could easily bleed over to your real money poker games. In some cases, this can cause a serious loss of money in a short amount of time. Subtle psychological tells or decisions that are completely acceptable in play money games can leave you broke and disheartened in real money games. No matter what, play poker with real money.

If a friend wants to play but has no money, offer to stake them. Pay their buy in as well as your own. If they win, they must refund their buy in to you plus an additional 50% of the pot. This can be a very lucrative way to make money from poker (even if you lose) and make games happen that might otherwise be impossible.

Poker is a game built around money. Even a $0.01/$0.02 poker game online has a very serious element to the game. Just about every serious player out there plays for one reason and one reason only. That is money. Sure a lot of them enjoy it and have fun playing poker, but it is all about the money. When you play poker for free, it is not the same. If you really want to enjoy poker, you must put something up to risk. Play for something and you will be in a much better game of poker.