| Existing research has demonstrated that poker is a game predominated by skill. Little is known about the specific characteristics of good poker players however, which is partly due the lack of a readily administered measure of poker skill. The first purpose of this study was to develop and validate such an instrument ('Poker Skill Measure'). Having accomplished this, the second purpose of this study was to identify the individual differences that differentiate good from poor poker players. It was found that good players are more likely to be male, to have lower susceptibility to gambling fallacies, a greater tolerance for financial risks, superior social information processing skills, and perhaps less openness to aesthetic and imaginative experience. Tentative evidence would also indicate that having sufficient levels of most of these attributes is more important for poker success rather than having exceptional strength in just one or two of these areas. |
