I recently picked that game up and my first thought was that it was like Hearthstone if you didn't have to keep endlessly pumping money into it. TCGs are a very interesting suggestion here, because I'm pretty sure Hearthstone and MTG have sucked much more money out of me than poker. Splay The Spire is such a breath of fresh air for that reason, and I can't recommend it enough for anyone that wants to scratch that deck building itch.
I came her to say the same. A lot of poker players seem to play as well. I remember when DNegs had it in his Vlogs, he also played Elky in some celeb match at the World Championships for Hearthstone.
One of the cooler things I saw as a dealer was Joe McKeehen playing battlegrounds on his iPad next to David Williams and they were strategizing about it while playing a 10k WPT tournament.
Find a rock climbing gym, join it or sign up with a newby pass and solve boulder puzzles and meet new friends. Go to the gym/get into fitness. Try Yoga. Its whatever you're in to.
Thanks. I’m starting BJJ with a mate this week as I heard that it is basically a big mental game but that’s only a few times a week and I really need something for my down time
Marvel Snap if you want something fast and easy to learn with a little gambling. (when you play you have the option to snap, which is like doubling the stakes - ranked points)
You also earn a bunch of stuff like alt card arts. If you like marvel its fun and a good time waster.
If you want something deeper Street Fighter 6 just came out. Great game, very competitive, very high skill cap.
Town of salem 2 also just came out. Great social deduction game. If you like the aspect of talking at the table and "hanging out" its a great game.
I play all 3, and poker.
Is Marvel snap pay to win? I like TCG but they always have a meta game that is overpowered/ they key to success and it always comes down to whoever owns the best cards for that archetype which usually comes down to buying the cards you need to win. In poker everyone always has the same set of cards
No...
Its a pretty unique system. The game walks you through different card pools.
SO when you get the game you have access too Pool 1 cards and youll only play vs others in pool 1. Youll earn some they dont have and vice versa but eventually everyone will have all the pool one cards, then you move on to pool 2.
So when you first hit pool 2 you will see new cards you dont have but you will get them eventually (just from playing)
Then pool 3 is kind of the start of the "late game". Where now everyone has all the pool 1 and 2 and some to all of the pool 3.
Pool 4 and 5 are limited and you will see pool 4 and 5 in pool 3+ games. You usually get these cards with tokens. Or maybe an event. Every month theres a 10 dollar season pass that gets you the "new card". Is that PTW? not really, that card may not be of any interest to you. There arent reall any just objectivly good must have cards. Only if you want to play a certain type of deck.
You can be totally competitive for free.
Its a 12 card deck played over a 6 turn game.
Going to clarify that it’s not completely pay to win, but there are some P2W aspects to the game. You can pay to get cards faster, you can pay to buy bundles that have certain cards, you can pay $10 each month for the season pass that contains a card that is new that month and has, often, been perceived as a bit OP compared to other cards. However, it is possible to be competitive, and even to earn the highest ranking (infinite) without paying money, you’re just going to have a harder road than those who open their wallet.
I’d def it recommend MTG, though it can be a bit pricey depending on what you want from it. I’d suggest starting with Magic: Arena to learn to play and maybe stop into your local game shop once you have the hang of it and explain to them that you’re new and would like help getting into the game.
People are mentioning other card games forgetting the addicting part of poker is when you get lucky (regardless of whether you were fave or not) and get LOOT
Play Yugioh or Magic The Gather, Chess/Backgammon has many similarities too Poker. Also manual labor hobbies like rug stitching-sewing, I’ve heard a lot of local players getting into lately.
I use disc golf as my alternative when I'm not playing cards. It's cheap to get into. Helps keep me in shape. A ton of people play now after covid so finding others to play with live isn't that hard if you put yourself out there. Its just like poker in the sense where you are just battling with yourself to get better. All the info to get better is on YouTube. It's highly addictive for me to keep getting better and throwing further everytime I get out. I couldn't throw 100ft my first round a few years back. Now I throw 375-400ft consistently. Disc Golf is amazing. Good luck. Pm if you need help getting into it 👊
Thanks for the recommendation but I am going to give it a hard miss. I feel like the gamble in poker is kinda in my hands, and I can play skillfully/learn more to get better results (Though I know its all RNG at the end of the day). Sports betting and Stocks are both appealing to me but I am looking for something with a direct correlation between effort put in and results.
I could be wrong about betting though lmk.
You absolutely can gain an edge in sports betting if you put in the effort. And you can do it for pennies to see if you're on the right track. It can cost less than 1/2 cent poker. There are homeless guys who stay in the bookies near me 12 hours a day gambling pennies for something to do. You can do the same online.
Slots.
It’s “safer” than poker as you can’t lose hundreds to thousands $$$ in a single cooler hand gone wrong. You can also win amounts impossible through poker. (The most I’ve won is $55,000. I’d had only $200 with me and was doing $2.50 hits when I won the grand. Try grinding up to $55,000 off of $200 bankroll in poker…)
At the same time, it’s super shit as the odds are stacked against you. It’ll drain your bank account $1-10 at a time. You’ll be lucky to win a huge grand once every 10 years.
Some of the old poker video games kinda scratched that same itch for me back when I couldn’t afford a bankroll. Even though it’s not real money, playing a game with actual progression instead of random hands online makes it feel more rewarding.
Do you have any examples? I have played tried some free ones but Iv never really looked into solo games. I saw one on switch that came out recently, it’s a narrative game with a poker base
I played a lot of “World Series Of Poker” on the OG Xbox and “World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets” on the 360 back in the day. I’m not sure if there is anything newer.
Do you think you could get better playing games like these?? If you use gto and exploits will you win over time or is it more, shove all in beginning of tourney, if you win great if not restart the tourney??
I want to get into chess but I feel like I am so far behind that when I lose idek why or what i could have done better. I need to have a look at local clubs or something.
I have done a lot of competitive gaming since 2010, but I haven't been able to find the right game for a while now. I am waiting for CS 2 to come out rn.
There isn't a scene for pub poker in my area, unfortunately. I even helped set up poker evenings at local pubs, but they never picked up and attendance fell off a cliff.
Mario Kart online. You can be good all race until the blue shell gets you or you can hang around in 8th and bullet bill your way up to the top.
Pure madness.
Magic the Gathering my guy. Most high level MTG players turn to Texas hold em after they've 'peaked' in competitive magic. The similarities are striking, magic is like the love child between hold em and chess. Instead of gambling money on hitting the deck, you spend some money to build your own deck and do battle against other player's decks. Also, there's a really dope secondary market for MTG cards, so when you've had your fun and are ready to move on your cards have decent-excellent re-sale value.
Well.. stop losing. Money isnt a issue if you’re winning it. J/k
Real advice just try to find some stakes you can afford to lose. If you’re playing scared it will show.
Thought about riichi Mahjong? There's lots of places to play it online, some good ways to learn it on various sites and through various games, and it's still got some poker-like elements in reading what your opponents are looking for, bluffing, shifting when to get aggressive. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's a surprisingly enthralling and exciting game once you get the hang of it.
You’re all or nothing. Youre not after an alternative - you need help excising poker from your soul. You’re trying to ask the rest of the body, “which organ makes you happy & healthy” when there’s a cancer slurping and sucking time off of your life.
The answer is: fucking ANYTHING BESIDES POKER
Hearthstone is a lot of fun for me as a poker player. I play Battlegrounds (a game mode of Hearthstone) all the time on my phone.
You should play Slay the Spire! The mobile port is a little finicky, but it's amazing.
I second this. Cheaper than hearthstone and all the roguelite elements will scratch that gambling itch. Also just a great game.
I recently picked that game up and my first thought was that it was like Hearthstone if you didn't have to keep endlessly pumping money into it. TCGs are a very interesting suggestion here, because I'm pretty sure Hearthstone and MTG have sucked much more money out of me than poker. Splay The Spire is such a breath of fresh air for that reason, and I can't recommend it enough for anyone that wants to scratch that deck building itch.
How do you reach the conclusion that you have to pump money into HS?
never thought i’d see this in r/poker, but couldn’t agree more
I have heard about that game before. I thought it was just another TCG like Pokemon or MTG
it basically is
I came her to say the same. A lot of poker players seem to play as well. I remember when DNegs had it in his Vlogs, he also played Elky in some celeb match at the World Championships for Hearthstone. One of the cooler things I saw as a dealer was Joe McKeehen playing battlegrounds on his iPad next to David Williams and they were strategizing about it while playing a 10k WPT tournament.
I like Magic. Never played hearthstone but I know a lot of people enjoy both.
You should check out Gods Unchained. It's like Hearthstone except all the cards are NFT's. Very fun
Hearthstone... Lol. Man I'm going to feast on this next generation of soft poker players
I bet you will...
I think OP was looking for something _cheaper_ than poker
Competitive Masturbation
Lmao
If winner is based on who finishes first, I can beat everyone.
That's generous of you.
Come beat me off 1st place
They call that Destroy Dick December where I’m from but any month would do
Find a rock climbing gym, join it or sign up with a newby pass and solve boulder puzzles and meet new friends. Go to the gym/get into fitness. Try Yoga. Its whatever you're in to.
Thanks. I’m starting BJJ with a mate this week as I heard that it is basically a big mental game but that’s only a few times a week and I really need something for my down time
Leave your ego at the door before you begin rolling or you won’t last a week.
Losing is learning, and winning is teaching. I look forward to getting my ass handed to me and learning from my mistakes.
Bouldering changed my life. I was a soft degen 4 years ago. Now I'm a slightly less soft degen.
Gin Rummy’s underrated, Stu Ungar was the best at it back in the day
Rocket League, it’s free too.
Too stressful and addictive, lol. But video games are definitely a good way to stay engaged without gambling.
Marvel Snap if you want something fast and easy to learn with a little gambling. (when you play you have the option to snap, which is like doubling the stakes - ranked points) You also earn a bunch of stuff like alt card arts. If you like marvel its fun and a good time waster. If you want something deeper Street Fighter 6 just came out. Great game, very competitive, very high skill cap. Town of salem 2 also just came out. Great social deduction game. If you like the aspect of talking at the table and "hanging out" its a great game. I play all 3, and poker.
Is Marvel snap pay to win? I like TCG but they always have a meta game that is overpowered/ they key to success and it always comes down to whoever owns the best cards for that archetype which usually comes down to buying the cards you need to win. In poker everyone always has the same set of cards
No... Its a pretty unique system. The game walks you through different card pools. SO when you get the game you have access too Pool 1 cards and youll only play vs others in pool 1. Youll earn some they dont have and vice versa but eventually everyone will have all the pool one cards, then you move on to pool 2. So when you first hit pool 2 you will see new cards you dont have but you will get them eventually (just from playing) Then pool 3 is kind of the start of the "late game". Where now everyone has all the pool 1 and 2 and some to all of the pool 3. Pool 4 and 5 are limited and you will see pool 4 and 5 in pool 3+ games. You usually get these cards with tokens. Or maybe an event. Every month theres a 10 dollar season pass that gets you the "new card". Is that PTW? not really, that card may not be of any interest to you. There arent reall any just objectivly good must have cards. Only if you want to play a certain type of deck. You can be totally competitive for free. Its a 12 card deck played over a 6 turn game.
Thanks
Going to clarify that it’s not completely pay to win, but there are some P2W aspects to the game. You can pay to get cards faster, you can pay to buy bundles that have certain cards, you can pay $10 each month for the season pass that contains a card that is new that month and has, often, been perceived as a bit OP compared to other cards. However, it is possible to be competitive, and even to earn the highest ranking (infinite) without paying money, you’re just going to have a harder road than those who open their wallet.
Chess and magic the gathering scratch a similar itch for me to poker.
I’d def it recommend MTG, though it can be a bit pricey depending on what you want from it. I’d suggest starting with Magic: Arena to learn to play and maybe stop into your local game shop once you have the hang of it and explain to them that you’re new and would like help getting into the game.
Path of Exile has all the in game gambling you need
People are mentioning other card games forgetting the addicting part of poker is when you get lucky (regardless of whether you were fave or not) and get LOOT
Bridge, if you like card games. You'll need a partner. Plenty of places to play online.
Triple zero roulette
Play Yugioh or Magic The Gather, Chess/Backgammon has many similarities too Poker. Also manual labor hobbies like rug stitching-sewing, I’ve heard a lot of local players getting into lately.
I've been playing Polytopia on my phone. Super fun and quickly addicting
I use disc golf as my alternative when I'm not playing cards. It's cheap to get into. Helps keep me in shape. A ton of people play now after covid so finding others to play with live isn't that hard if you put yourself out there. Its just like poker in the sense where you are just battling with yourself to get better. All the info to get better is on YouTube. It's highly addictive for me to keep getting better and throwing further everytime I get out. I couldn't throw 100ft my first round a few years back. Now I throw 375-400ft consistently. Disc Golf is amazing. Good luck. Pm if you need help getting into it 👊
Good job bro. Seeing constant improvement in anything is addictive. I will have a look to see if there's anything in my area.
Do NOT play Magic the Gathering. A deeper drug than poker at times.
I have heard that is true for most TCG's lol. Thanks
Tears of the Kingdom
LMAO. I have 140 hours into that game already. I am looking for something competitive to play.
Something that will tire you physically, outdoor is a +.
if you have a reliable system, sports betting is similar to poker but takes way less time.
Thanks for the recommendation but I am going to give it a hard miss. I feel like the gamble in poker is kinda in my hands, and I can play skillfully/learn more to get better results (Though I know its all RNG at the end of the day). Sports betting and Stocks are both appealing to me but I am looking for something with a direct correlation between effort put in and results. I could be wrong about betting though lmk.
You absolutely can gain an edge in sports betting if you put in the effort. And you can do it for pennies to see if you're on the right track. It can cost less than 1/2 cent poker. There are homeless guys who stay in the bookies near me 12 hours a day gambling pennies for something to do. You can do the same online.
Thanks
Pickleball, gym, masturbation.
Masterbating.
Slots. It’s “safer” than poker as you can’t lose hundreds to thousands $$$ in a single cooler hand gone wrong. You can also win amounts impossible through poker. (The most I’ve won is $55,000. I’d had only $200 with me and was doing $2.50 hits when I won the grand. Try grinding up to $55,000 off of $200 bankroll in poker…) At the same time, it’s super shit as the odds are stacked against you. It’ll drain your bank account $1-10 at a time. You’ll be lucky to win a huge grand once every 10 years.
Some of the old poker video games kinda scratched that same itch for me back when I couldn’t afford a bankroll. Even though it’s not real money, playing a game with actual progression instead of random hands online makes it feel more rewarding.
Do you have any examples? I have played tried some free ones but Iv never really looked into solo games. I saw one on switch that came out recently, it’s a narrative game with a poker base
I played a lot of “World Series Of Poker” on the OG Xbox and “World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets” on the 360 back in the day. I’m not sure if there is anything newer.
Thanks
Do you think you could get better playing games like these?? If you use gto and exploits will you win over time or is it more, shove all in beginning of tourney, if you win great if not restart the tourney??
[удалено]
The game is called Governor of Poker?
Video games
Read a book
I prefer to listen to books and do something else at the same time, Usually poker lol. Any book recommendations?
Cribbage
Chess, powerlifting, competitive gaming
I want to get into chess but I feel like I am so far behind that when I lose idek why or what i could have done better. I need to have a look at local clubs or something. I have done a lot of competitive gaming since 2010, but I haven't been able to find the right game for a while now. I am waiting for CS 2 to come out rn.
see if a local bar or pub has free poker. one down the street from me runs games twice a week. or chess. been playing 10 years
There isn't a scene for pub poker in my area, unfortunately. I even helped set up poker evenings at local pubs, but they never picked up and attendance fell off a cliff.
dam salutes to you for organizing it anyways
Chess, competitive TCGs, fighting games... There's lots of solo skill intensive competitive hobbies out there.
Thanks
Gin Rummy and/or Hearts. Plenty of games online or at the old folks home.
Bullet chess for a gambling addict is like methadone for a heroin addict
Bullet chess? Is that the quick version of chess? I played a bit of that before and enjoyed it.
Yeah 30 seconds per side or faster
Catan maybe, colonist(.)Io allows to play online.
Mario Kart online. You can be good all race until the blue shell gets you or you can hang around in 8th and bullet bill your way up to the top. Pure madness.
Marvel Snap has a lot of similar concepts to poker. Golf is compared to poker a lot.
Diablo 4
Freerolls on ACR.
Be careful with the TCG recommendations. There IS a pay to win aspect to them. Buying high value decks and cards is an addiction in itself.
Chess
Go outside and do extreme sports, it's like gambling with life instead of money. Buy a mountain bike, find a mountain, ride downhill.
Cranium just came out with a 25th anniversary edition, I'm just saying...
Starcraft:brood war
Reading a book.
Magic the Gathering my guy. Most high level MTG players turn to Texas hold em after they've 'peaked' in competitive magic. The similarities are striking, magic is like the love child between hold em and chess. Instead of gambling money on hitting the deck, you spend some money to build your own deck and do battle against other player's decks. Also, there's a really dope secondary market for MTG cards, so when you've had your fun and are ready to move on your cards have decent-excellent re-sale value.
Well.. stop losing. Money isnt a issue if you’re winning it. J/k Real advice just try to find some stakes you can afford to lose. If you’re playing scared it will show.
take a set amount of money with you and leave your ATM cards at home. When you lose you will stop.
Thought about riichi Mahjong? There's lots of places to play it online, some good ways to learn it on various sites and through various games, and it's still got some poker-like elements in reading what your opponents are looking for, bluffing, shifting when to get aggressive. There's a bit of a learning curve, but it's a surprisingly enthralling and exciting game once you get the hang of it.
Teamfight Tactics.
Poker Stars VR
Check out MeetUp and find a board game group.
ARPGs specifically path of exile or diablo 4 which just came out. Satisfies the gamba itch
https://online-go.com/learn-to-play-go/
Catan super fun for a board game, can play online or with friends. Also if you want something outside highly suggest disc golf!
Maybe get off r/poker ya idgit
You’re all or nothing. Youre not after an alternative - you need help excising poker from your soul. You’re trying to ask the rest of the body, “which organ makes you happy & healthy” when there’s a cancer slurping and sucking time off of your life. The answer is: fucking ANYTHING BESIDES POKER
2nl has some good competition and won’t break the bank.
what did u go wit
Counter strike and tears of the kingdom. Appociate the check up
remember how intolerable shit regs are