With its appreciable effort of combining Poker and Chess together, PokerStars proved that Poker is a game that needs intelligence and skills just like Chess. This first ever mind-challenging chess-poker championship was won by Baard Dhal by defeating Mark Hebden. Apart from this, PokerStars as well organized another chess extravaganza, naming PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament 2014, wherein Nigel Short won. The Indian chess stars like Abhijeet Gupta and D Harika also came out with flying colors in this event. On one hand where Abhijeet Gupta showed his presence in this world series of chess, D Harika was the best woman player after a till draw with Israel’s Alon Mindlin.
These efforts of PokerStars for sure benefit both the games in many ways, like Poker that is often debated as a game of chance or skill. Trending Poker with Chess only goes to speak for the high skilled association in both games. Let us have a look on some of the strategies and skills that are in common in both these games:
- Visualization: To observe how to play is considered as visualization here, this is needed in both these games. For Poker visualizing your cards and then taking an action is needed and same applies in in Chess as finding the relationship among the pieces after taking few moves is required to play wisely.
- Recognizing the Pattern of Opponent: This is another skill that is for sure needed in both these games. Understanding the way in which your opponent is playing is one such requirement that is needed to win both Poker and Chess.
- Mathematics and Calculations: For creating tactics calculation is needed in Chess like if I move here then he/she may go there. Though you need not to do this specific type of calculation in Poker, but you need to be good at calculations and math as you have to keep in mind the amount that is to be thrown in raising, betting, or/and calling any hand.
- Mind Games– Both games are games of the mind which involve using your tact to make a move as well as playing on the player. In poker, you need skill to ‘play the player’ and not the cards. Similarly in chess, you need to play mind games on your opponent by knowing what he will do next and after that and so on.
These may probably be the reasons for which these two games have been combined and PokerStars organized an event to promote them.