What makes poker so attractive to chess players?

The poker boom is in full swing and chess players, too, are not immune to its charms. It’s the nature of the beast that a disproportionate number of chess players have to do with poker, either as a hobbyists, semi- or full professional players. To name a few prominent examples: Klinger, Tolnai, Gallagher, Grischuk, Kasimdzhanov, M. Gurevich, A. Sokolov, Skripchenko, I. Sokolov, Relange, Nataf, Fressinet, Dautov, and Gustafsson. Considering the relation between poker and chess as strategy games and the many chess players already at the poker table, the migration of even more chess players is a natural development - at least in the background of the broader poker boom. So what is it that makes poker so interesting for chess players? What are the similarities between the two games? What characteristics of chess players help them in poker? full story »