Poker Face
Have you ever heard of the term “poker face”? Well, I certainly hadn’t, at least not until recently when I was dragged to a poker party and was told to “get my poker face on”! Having never before played poker in my life, I have to say that I was fascinated by the game, and despite having a few too many to keep all the facts clear in my head, I did manage to retain my appreciation of the game.
So when I was finally able to drag myself upright the next day, I managed to find out the meaning of the term “poker face” and now tend to use it whenever I can because I find it to be so wonderfully descriptive.
If you are wondering what on earth this rambling prose is all about, in case you haven’t guessed already, it’s about your poker face. That’s right, when you are playing poker one of the most important things that you need will be your poker face. You can do without a great many things, but without your poker face on, you will find that other players are constantly taking advantage of you.
A poker face just in case you were wondering, is the almost emotionless expression that you ideally need to keep on your face when you are playing poker. Otherwise, like I mentioned, other players will be able to use your emotions and your thoughts against you as you will be displaying them on your face for all the world to see.
Admittedly with the advent of online poker rooms, much of the need for keeping a poker face has disappeared since all players are faceless entities that you play against. The most personal you can hope to get with these players is if they decide to post a picture of themselves alongside their poker ID.
Otherwise, that’s it, I’m afraid you’re stuck playing against a faceless, most of the time nameless person (a bunch of letters and numbers jumbled up together do not constitute a real name in my book). And this is a real shame if you think about it.
Part of the fun of poker – and I am now a dedicated follower of the game – is playing against real live opponents. The very fact that you need to have a poker face, that you need to keep a strict guard against letting other people see what you are thinking, is all part and parcel of the game of poker.
There is really no substitute for playing in a tense, atmosphere-filled room, where you can feel the green felt under your hands, see the chips in front of you, and be able to physically hold your cards, just as there is no substitute for giving the very best that you have and trying to keep your poker face in place no matter what the circumstances are.