50 Poker Quotes Celebrating The Game Of Life

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published June 7, 2023

Risk it all and win big with our poker quotes.

Poker is one of the world’s most popular card games, with professional and private tournaments and big cash prizes.

Check out our poker quotes to learn more.

What is poker?

Poker is a card game where two or more people bet on the value of the hands dealt to them.

A player wins the game by having the highest combination of cards or by forcing all opponents to concede without showing their hands.

Check out these cool poker facts below:

The game of poker is believed to have several ancient roots going back 1,000 years.
Some historians trace poker’s origin to a domino-card game played by a 10th-century Chinese emperor.
Others trace poker’s origin to a Persian card game called As Nas, dating back to the 16th century.

In the Western world, poker’s oldest predecessor was a game called Poque, which originated in France in the 17th century.

Poque and its German equivalent, Pochen, were based on a 16th-century game from Spain called Primero.

In Primero, three cards were dealt to a player, and bluffing was an essential part of winning.

Where did modern poker come from?

In The United States, French colonists brought Poque to North America.

English-speaking migrants Anglicized Poque to poker and adopted some of its features.

The modern game involves five cards and a fifty-two-card deck.

Poker spread all across the Mississippi River to new towns, cities, and settlements.

It was popular among transport and riverboat crews.

Soldiers in the Civil War played poker to pass the time.

By the end of the 1800s, poker was an essential element in saloon culture.

Poker would make its way to Europe, where the Americanized version of the game would reintroduce itself to a new generation of players and risk-takers.

By the 1970s, Texas Hold’em became the dominant form of poker.

The World Series of Poker boasts payouts of over $132,000 for placing first.

Check out our poker quotes below to learn more.

Short poker quotes about how life is a game

Poker is an analogy for life, and you gotta know when to fold ‘em and know when to hold ‘em.

1. “Of course, I lied. It’s poker.” — Tony Guoga

2. “There is more to poker than life.” — Tom McEvoy

3. “Poker is 100% skill and 50% luck.” — Phil Hellmuth

4. “A fool and his money are soon parted.” — Thomas Tusser

5. “Poker is war. People pretend it is a game.” — Doyle Brunson

6. “Poker is a hard way to make an easy living.” — Doyle Brunson

7. “Hold’em is to stud what chess is to checkers.” — Johnny Moss

8. “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” — Stu “The Kid” Ungar

9. “If there weren’t luck involved, I would win every time.” — Phil Hellmuth

10. “Aces are larger than life and greater than mountains.” — Mike Caro

The top poker quotes about luck and money

These quotes explore how poker is part skill and part luck.

11. “Limit poker is a science, but no-limit is an art.” — Crandell Addington

12. “Just play every hand, you can’t miss them all.” — Sammy Farha

13. “It’s morally wrong to let a sucker keep his money.” — Canada Bill Jones

14. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be good at poker.” — Phil Gordon

15. “Poker is a skill game pretending to be a chance game.” — James Altucher

16. “I never saw a poker player’s money that I did not like.” — Oklahoma Johnny Hale

17. “I’d bust my own grandmother if she played poker with me.” — Jack Straus

18. “To be a poker champion, you must have a strong bladder.” — Jack McClelland

19. “The cardinal sin in poker is becoming emotionally involved.” — Katy Lederer

20. “It’s hard work. Gambling. Playing poker. Don’t let anyone tell you different.” — Stu Ungar

The best poker quotes about taking risks

High-stakes poker games require a willingness to risk it all.

21. “The key to No-Limit is to put a man to a decision for all his chips.” — Doyle Brunson

22. “Poker has the feeling of a sport, but you don’t have to do push-ups.” — Penn Gillette

23. “The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing.” — Nick The Greek Dandolos

24. “Serious poker is no more about gambling than rock climbing is about taking risks.” — Al Alvarez

25. “Life, like poker, has an element of risk. It shouldn’t be avoided. It should be faced.” — Edward Norton

26. “You will show your poker greatness by the hands you fold, not the hands you play.” — Dan Reed

27. “Poker is a wonderful card game, the money is just a convenient way of keeping score.” — Amarillo Slim

28. “The object of poker is to keep your money away from Phil Ivey for as long as possible.” — Gus Hansen

29. “The guy who invented poker was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius.” — Julius Weintraub

30. “Poker is a fascinating, wonderful, intricate adventure on the high seas of human nature.” — David A. Daniel

The top poker quotes about playing your hand

How you play your hand is essential to success in poker and life.

31. “The beautiful thing about poker is that everybody thinks they can play.” — Chris Moneymaker

32. “You will show your poker greatness by the hands you fold, not the hands you play.” — Dan Reed

33. “Last night I stayed up playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.” — Steven Wright

34. “Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn’t play poker.” — Amarillo Slim

35. “This fricking donkey stuffs $15,000 in with king-jack. I mean…the guy can’t even spell poker!” — Phil Hellmuth

36. “If a player is looking to have you fund their poker career, you need to look at why they are broke.” — James Guill

37. “They say poker is a zero-sum game. It must be, because every time I play my sum ends up zero.” — Max Shapiro

38. “One day a chump, the next day a champion. What a difference a day makes in tournament poker!” — Mike Sexton

39. “Poker is a lot like sex, everyone thinks they are the best, but most don’t have a clue what they are doing!” — Dutch Boyd

40. “Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when he’s losing; nobody wants you to quit when you’re ahead.” — Jackie Robinson

Poker quotes and sayings about understanding your opponent

Poker is a game where you have to know your competitors and read them.

41. “In the poker game of life, women are the rake. They are the f**king rake!” — Worm, Rounders

42. “The object of poker is to keep your money away from Phil Ivey for as long as possible.” — Gus Hansen

43. “The Main Event is the only tournament in the history of poker you never have to bluff.” — Mike Matusow

44. “What’s true of the poker game is true of life. Most people are suckers and don’t realize it.” — Michael Faust

45. “I learned playing poker that you never count your winnings because that’s when you start to lose.” — Kenneth Langone

46. “Poker is a combination of luck and skill. People think mastering the skill part is hard, but they’re wrong.” — Jesse May

47. “The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; happens at the poker table all the time.” — General David Shoup

48. “Poker is a combination of luck and skill. People think mastering the skill part is hard, but they’re wrong. The trick to poker is mastering the luck.” — Jesse May

49. “Really, if there’s one thing I’ve learned without question about poker, it’s that poker screws with people’s brains and drives them batshit.” — Ed Miller

50. “I believe in poker the way I believe in the American Dream. Poker is good for you. It enriches the soul, sharpens the intellect, heals the spirit, and – when played well, nourishes the wallet.” — Lou Krieger