Here, I will disagree. I am a horse race enthusiast and I play the thoroughbreds and sulkies online.
Each and everyone of the horses I play have previous races shown on their page which one can watch before placing a bet and how they fared. It also shows what horses they ran against previously and what place they came in against these horses. It is no different than this IMO.
How does one figure out which horse to play and how to play them (in bets) unless they know just how they have run previously? One needs to know what the horses weaknesses and strengths are before placing that bet.
To become a good horse player, you must know these things just as a good poker player needs to know what the previous hand transpired to help strenthen his stand in the poker world and needs to know how another played against him. We are talking about the past play just as in horses. If it was done DURING play, it would be a different story in my opinion.
So, a good poker player or even a horse player needs to know what has transpired in the past, to achieve the present results to make a win. I have had many wins in the thousands by studying the past races and adjusting my play. Why would anyone think it so bad for a cardplayer to do the same? Just wondering.
Just as they said, how does one learn if not studying the past? The good player will win. Just that simple. Just as in horse racing, if you do not look to the previous races...your shooting in the dark...I choose to learn and win, just as the poker pros do. I feel there is nothing wrong with that at all.
My father gave me tip a long time ago and I still use it to this day...always bet on the grey horses and if there are none then the one that dropped its pies right before the race..and it still works! That is the horses tell in horse land whether it be thoroughbreds or sulkies..
.
"Warning" I just re-read my post and it seems a bit long.
I certainly don’t agree with most of your metaphor of horse racing being compared to live poker.
Although, as always in gambling related content there will be some similarities, yet comparing these two games to each other are pretty distant.
Having owned years ago, three thoroughbreds, and partnered in three others in New York and Florida racing, I consider myself well informed with the race game. For many horse owners, it’s about winning the race with your horse, not always the bet.
Of course there are racing forms for every track for bettors to read about the horses past performances. In fact you could go to the agent’s room, boot up any horse in any past race, and actually watch all his past performances on video. Without these obvious past performance tells for everyone to analyze, how could the sport exist? The whole game is past performance, analyze, bet, outcome. Unless of course you pick numbers out of a hat and bet on them, what I said above pretty much covers it. Let's not forget you're comparing horses to humans. In addition I would like to add that horse racing goes much deeper then the Daily Racing Form.
For example, suddenly a horse that constantly ran great, for no reason started to tail off. Unable to confirm any problem for weeks, we started to drop him down in company suspecting nothing other then just tailing off. (Like Derrick Jeter) Suddenly the problem became obvious and he got treated for the illness. We left him in the cheaper company for his first race back not concerned about the purse; instead making certain he would experience the being in front mental part horses know, and hopefully help him mentally prepare for future races. His last four races show him dropping down back to back weeks, and losing with a combined total of 74 lengths. We only got 15 to 1 ($32.00) but that wasn’t bad considering what was bet. A good owner in these cases always makes bets for the jockey and the barn and just hands them the winning tickets after the race.
No one knew the horse’s real history, except the owner, trainer, vet, and of course very close friends, and is kept very quiet. We won that race by 16 lengths and never used the whip. To weeks later we shipped him to Saratoga and entered him into “The Budweiser” (the feature for that day) and lost that race (The Budweiser) by a nose. He went off at 47 to 1.
That in the racing world is considered very much real inside information, and gives a truly unfair advantage to the people that knew it.
Playing poker on the internet is completely different then live play (for the most part) other then the rules. Online your computer could keep records of thousands of different players you faced in the past, along with all their different playing styles, from pre-flop along with every street to the river. Your computer could figure out percentages for every situation you’re faced with to the decimal point in a millisecond. It goes on and on with collusion, bots, and all the other dirty laundry. With that being said, there are still many people that do very well after mastering the art of online poker. Online poker (for most who are serious) goes much deeper then just sitting at a random table and playing what you consider your “A” game without the available online tools, just like horse racing goes beyond the Racing Form.
Live poker is most definitely another form of the poker game. First of all you’re not playing 14 games at once. (Just One) Of course you run into a few players colluding, but not that often. It’s pretty much man/woman vs. man/woman. Whatever game you bring to the table is pretty much all you got. If you can’t do math in your head, figure out odds, relentlessly trying to find a single tell from opponents, remember past hands in your head, money or chip management, never forgetting about position, betting patterns, just to mention a few requirements of a good poker player, I would suggest you stay away from live play. You need to do all this and more in your head without a computer spitting all this info out for you in split seconds.
A very important part of the poker game is presenting a certain image whatever that may be for the game you’re presently playing. The right image gives you the power to bluff and get away with it more often then not. Showing opponents cards always letting them see exactly how you’re playing is only something an amateur would consider. The live game is not predominately about past performances. The only thing that matters now is the hand presently being played, and what took place over the last couple of hours. Who knows for sure what game any opponent decided to bring to the table on any given day. This is why proven pros keep winning, because they are pros at mixing it up. What makes you think if you ran into Gus Hansen at a table, and after watching how he plays for years on TV, that he would play you the way you expect him to during that session? You would have to first analyze what he’s doing right now in real time.
Just like the sick horse I mentioned above. The public had no idea the horse was sick and now became healthier then ever based on his past performances. If everyone knew that information then everyone would have gained an edge. When having this type of information (hole cards) available during live poker play, even on delay would be considered gaining the same type of inside information similar to the horse. Whoever has this information with no doubt gains an unfair advantage both with horses and live poker games.
The most important part of the game and the quote that’s always repeated over and over again, “it’s not the cards you have; it’s what your opponents think you have”. If you’re able to monitor even on a delay exactly what I did have during a live game still in progress, not only are you cheating gaining information on my hard learned present tactics, you’ll also know when I’m changing my style, unfairly gaining knowledge of my whole purpose for sitting at a table willing to gamble at a game that I’m betting I’m better then you are in the first place.
I want to play my poker game against you and the talents you're capable of bringing to the table, not modern technology giving you unfair inside information on my game I worked years at to master.
I’m willing to bet this new delay crap will never happen again in the future during a live game.