90 Poker Quotes to Help You Win at the Tables

Poker is a game of skill and strategy that can be incredibly rewarding when played correctly. However, like any other activity, it takes practice and learning to become good at it. If you’re looking for some inspiration before your next poker game, check out these 90 poker quotes from famous players and personalities that will give you the edge you need to win.

90 Best Quotes About Poker: Inspirational and True

Everyone has something to share. Many people have something to share about poker. These are the best poker quotes: inspirational, true, obscure, funny, and everything in-between.

To make it easier to understand, these quotes are divided into the following categories:

• Inspirational quotes about Poker
• Funny poker quotes
• Poker quotes about life
• A few obscure poker quotes
• These quotes are not about poker but could be used
• Quotes from poker players that don’t necessarily relate to poker

Enjoy!

Inspirational quotes about Poker

1. “Fold and live to die again.” – Stu

2. “Life, just like poker, comes with a certain amount of risk. It should not be avoided. It should be confronted.” – Edward Norton

3. “Poker does not allow the meek to inherit the Earth.” – David Hayano

4. “You will be judged on the hands that you fold, not what you play.” – Dan Reed

5. “Poker is a skill game that pretends to be a chance.” – James Altucher

6. “Serious poker doesn’t involve gambling, but rock climbing is about taking chances.” – Al Alvarez

7. “Poker may be a form of psychological warfare, an art form, or a way to live, but it is also merely the game in which money is just the means of keeping score.”  

– Anthony Holden

8. “Just play every hand. You can’t miss them all.” – Sammy Farha

9. “Poker can be considered war.” People pretend it’s a game.” Doyle Brunson

10. “People would be amazed to learn how much I learned about praying from playing poker.” – Mary Austin

11. “Underestimating your opponent is the most common mistake in history; it happens all the time at the poker table.” – General David Shoup

12. “In the long-run, there’s no luck with poker, but the short-run is longer than most people realize.” – Rick Bennet

13. “What I know about poker, you can fit in a thimble with space left over, but that’s what I’m learning.” – Wilford Brimley

14. “If you always start from the worst hand, you will never have a bad beat story.” – Chuck Thompson

15. “Forget about a chair and a chip; give me a hand, and I’ll stand.” – Warren Karp

16. “Don’t get mad at losing, get mad that you didn’t win.” – Michael Gersitz

Funny poker quotes

17. “Last night, I stayed up late playing Tarot cards and poker.” “I got a full house, and four people died.” – Steven Wright

18. “Avoid people who have gold teeth and want to play cards.” – George Carlin

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

20. “Money isn’t everything unless you’re playing a tournament to rebuy.” – Unknown

21. “If luck weren’t involved, I would win every single time.” – Phil Hellmuth

22. “Trust everyone, but always cut the cards.” – Benny Binion

23. “If you are playing poker and you can’t see who the sucker is, it’s you.” – Paul Newman

24. “Poker feels like a sport, but it doesn’t require you to do push-ups.” – Penn Jillette

25. “Bad beats can, from time to time, still rob you like crack addicts with an empty pipe.” – Rick Dacey

26. “Going on tilt does not mean ‘mixing up your plays.'” – Steve Badger

27. “Poker is a lot like sex. Everyone thinks they’re the best. But most people don’t know what they are doing.” – Dutch Boyd

28. “You played that hand as a vegan.” – Erick Linderer (to Daniel Negreanu).

29. “May the flop be yours.” – Doyle Brunson

30. “Poker requires 100% skill and 50% luck.” – Phil Hellmuth 

31. Grantland Rice: “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but how many bad beat stories were you able to tell.”

32. “I have never seen a poker player’s cash that I didn’t like.” – Oklahoma Johnny Hale

33. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist for to be good at poker.” – Phil Gordon

34. They say poker is a zero-sum card game. It must be, because I always get zero when I play poker.” – Max Shapiro

35. “No river, no fish.” ~ – Amarillo Slim

36. “The beauty of poker is that everyone thinks they can play.” – Chris Moneymaker

37. “The guy who invented poker had a bright mind, but the genius who invented the chip was brilliant.” – Julius “Big Julie” Weintraub

38. “I must complain that the cards are ill-shuffled until I have a good deal.” – Jonathan Swift

39. “Dogs are terrible poker players. They wag their tails when they have a good hand.” – Unknown

40. “No-limit hold’em: Hours of boredom, followed by moments of sheer terror.” – Tom McEvoy

41. “If you play bridge poorly, you make your partner suffer. But if you play poker poorly, you make everyone happy.” – Joe Laurie, Jr.

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

43. “I don’t play any two-suited cards. I play any two non-suited cards. This way, I can draw at two different flushes.”  – Amarillo Slim

44. “Every poker player, just like every fisherman, needs a story in his box. Most poker stories are boring.” – Jason Alexander

45. “Omaha is a game invented by sadists and played by masochists.” – Shane Smith

46. “They say that sex is good, but poker lasts longer.” Al Alvarez

Poker quotes about life

47. “If a player wants to have you fund their poker career, then you need to look at the reasons they are broke.” – James Guill

48. “There’s more to poker than life.” – Tom McEvoy

49. Mike Caro: “Aces are bigger than life and more than mountains.”

50. “Poker is a combination of luck and skill. Although people think mastering the skill is difficult, they are wrong. “Mastering the luck is the key to poker.” – Jesse May

51. “The one who wagers the most wins. Cards just break ties.” – Sammy Farha

52. “I learned poker that you don’t count your winnings because that’s when it starts to lose.” Kenneth Langone

53. “I think one thing I like about poker is that you can let your ego go and you’re done.” – Al Alvarez

54. “The two most important things to succeed in poker are first, find the muck and second, don’t play your money.” – David “Devilfish” Ulliott

55. “Nobody is ever a winner and anyone who claims he is, is either lying or doesn’t play any poker.” – Amarillo Slim

56. “Life isn’t always about holding good cards. Sometimes it’s about playing poorly.” Jack London

57.  “A Smith & Wesson beats 4 aces.” – American proverb

58. “Hold ’em” is to study what chess and checkers are to each other.” – Johnny Moss

59. “Everyone is lucky once in a while, but no one is consistently lucky.” – Doyle Brunson

60. “Living in history is a Jethro Tull album, and not a smart poker strategy.” -Richard Roeper

61. “What’s true in poker is true in life.” Most people are suckers and don’t realize it.” – Michael Faust

62. “Baseball is a poker game. “Baseball is like a poker game. Nobody wants to quit when they’re losing.” – Jackie Robinson

63. Lou Krieger: “Most of what you’ll win at poker is not due to your brilliance, but the ineptitude and skill of your opponents.”

64. “Aside from lovemaking and singing in a shower, there aren’t many human activities where there is more difference between a person’s self-delusional ability or their actual ability than poker.” – Steve Badger

65. “Don’t challenge the strong players, challenge weak ones. That’s what they are there for.” – John Vorhaus

66. “One day you’re a chump, and the next day you’re a champion. What a difference one day makes in tournament poker!”  – Mike Sexton

A few obscure poker quotes

67. “It is said that patience and stubbornness are the two most important psychological characteristics of snipers. Some might argue that the same holds true for poker players.” – Stephen Bloomfield

68. “Is it really possible to touch the gaming tables without being infected instantly by superstition?” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

69. “Poker is the only game that’s suitable for grown men. Then, your hand is against all men’s and every man’s is against yours.” – W. Somerset Maugham

71. “Poker reveals to a frank observer another important thing. It will help him understand his own nature. Many poor players don’t improve because they can’t bear self-knowledge.” – David Mamet

72. “I’m certain I’ll win it because I’m ruthless. I’m a poker player and my job is destruction.” – James Woods

73. “Poker is a wonderful, fascinating, and intricate adventure on high seas of human nature. – David A. Daniel

74. “Poker, no. A game with cards for some purpose that is not known to this lexicographer.” – Ambrose Bierce

75. Limit poker is a science, while no-limit poker is an art. Limit is shooting at a target. No-limit means that the target is alive and firing back at you.” – Jack Strauss

76. “Poker is a microcosm of everything we admire and disdain regarding capitalism and democracy.” – Lou Kreiger

These quotes are not about poker but are also applicable

77. “No wife can bear a gambling husband unless they are a steady winner.” – Lord Dewar

78. “Depend on rabbit’s feet if you like, but remember that it didn’t work out for the rabbit.” – R. E. Shay

79. “Life is a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism. But the way you play it will be free will.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

80. “A person should always gamble because it is so bad to be lucky and not know it.” – Robert Turner

81. “Bad health is the only thing that can bring down a good gambler. Any other setbacks can be a temporary aggravation.” – Benny Binion

82. “Take some time to think, but when it’s time to act, stop thinking and get in.” – Andrew Jackson

83. “Life is too short to play bad cards.” – Frank DiElsi

84. “The luckier you are, the smarter you play.” – Mark Pilarski

85. “It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.” – Gore Vidal

86. “To be a successful gambler, you must have complete disregard for money.” – Doyle Brunson

87. “If I lose today, I can look forward to winning tomorrow. If I win today, I can expect a loss tomorrow.” – Chico Marx 

88. “Cards are war disguised as a sport.” – Charles Lamb

89. “Play like a champ. Win like a champ. “Act like a champ.” – Frank Henderson

90. “Money won’t be earned is twice as sweet as it is money won.” – Paul Newman

Conclusion

If you’re looking for some inspiration before your next poker game, these poker quotes from famous players and personalities will give you the edge you need to win. Thanks for reading!