POKER.
Texas hold em poker.
Thats what it is for me. I will never ever replace this game with any other. EVER.
And I am not talking about gambling with poker. Just playing it.
I am not even sure where my love for it started..
All I remember was my drive to get better, as an all round individual. Somehow it brought me to poker.
A game where human behavior, psychology, cognition, mathematics, decision making and a tad bit of luck was involved.
From strategy to hulk smash attitude, it has it all.
You can play it alone online, play it with friends, anytime. A social event and a training tool. What a game!
Back in my uni days we all used to sit around. Almost 20-25 of us. 8 playing and the others huddled up with their friends. We never gambled. Just played.
Laughing at each other at how stupid someone could be. Taunting each other like it was the end of the world. Learning about each person and their real attitude - Because poker brings out the real you. Developing calculation and cognitive abilities on the fly. It was a mad max situation. But we all had fun.
Hurting each others egos and having a "king of the hill" kind of situation.
Maybe, that is what made me love it so much. How dynamic a game could be.
It gave me many fond memories. Developed me and many of us in many ways. I went on to buy my own poker set. Never entered a poker house or gambled with it. Just treated it how I loved it - Like A GAME.