Do motivation, grit, working memory and math make four of a kind in poker?
Authors
Czirok, Katalin
Issue Date
2019
Degree
Higher Diploma in Arts in Psychology
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
Items in Esource are protected by copyright. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/copyright holder.
Abstract
It has been debated whether poker is a game of skill. Professional and recreational poker players show different traits and attitude towards poker. Further differences were aimed to be explored in Motivation for Gambling trait and Working Memory capacity which had been widely researched while an increasing literature on Grit suggests correlation with performance. Participants (N=54) completed an online survey which included a Modified Gambling Scale, a Short-Grit scale, a 12-item Math task and a simplified Flanker experiment to examine whether professionals would outperform recreational players on these variables. Although hypotheses were not supported by results, there were significant differences revealed by post hoc analyses in grit level and extrinsic motivation.