A group of Canadian researchers found time away from watching Olympic hockey to conduct a study on the effects of playing poker on stress. The results, were actually quite surprising. The Canadian researchers have proven, not sure to what degree, but they have found significant evidence to make the claim that playing poker online actually reduces stress. Read more.
It’s all about cortisol, a hormone termed as the stress hormone, increased levels of this hormone in your blood means you’re stressed the fuck out. I bet guys wish they had a cortisone meter attached to their arms, so when the lady starts in on you…just tap the meter and say, “ you’re killing me again”. Apparently, during the study, the players being monitored playing online poker showed decreasing levels of cortisone as they became more engaged in the game. These findings add to the previously known findings that online gambling improves cognitive function and can reduce the aging process.
So what have we learned? Well science is telling us that gambling and playing poker online not only makes you smarter and look younger, but, it reduces your stress levels as well. I’m not sure if even the pharmaceutical companies have been able to develop a drug that can do all of that, shit, even sex can’t make you smarter, might make you dumber, depending on who your having sex with.
The results of the poker study are particularly surprising, because I’ve always thought that playing poker can be one of the most stressful and nerve racking activities to engage in. You would think that with money on the line, and the tension involved in competition would increase stress levels, turns out that engaging oneself so deeply into the game actually relieves stress by forcing the individual to forget about the stresses of everyday life. I wonder if that’s true for everyone. What about the compulsive gambler who just put his house and his children’s college fund on the line, not sure if he’s in pure tranquility as he waits on the river.
Continuing with the addiction aspect, it’s a little puzzling why researchers haven’t made the leap to tie in these positive effects of online gambling with negative side effects. What I mean is, can you really blame someone for his excessive online gambling habits if its his or her only relief of stress during the day? The answer is a resounding yes, because, life is stressful for everyone, suck it up. But it is worth noting that the positive effects of gambling can also become addictive. It’s easy to understand why someone does something that makes them feel good, makes them feel smarter and makes them feel and look younger.
