While there doesn’t appear to be that many similarities between poker and baseball at first glance, the fact is undeniable that there are actually a number of factors in both sports that are similar. Baseball has long been considered the quintessential American game, and poker has wasted little time in establishing itself as the nation’s favourite mind sport, challenging players’ tactical thinking in the same way baseball does – becoming one of the most popular casino games around.

Poker has long been accused of being more about luck than skill. However, a recent study compared the outcome of professional poker players appearing at the World Series of Poker to the success rate of the strongest MLB teams against lower ranking teams, coming to the perhaps unsurprising conclusion that the better skilled the poker player, the more likely the victory.

“Since the year 2007, teams that made the playoffs the previous season win 55.7 percent of their games in Major League Baseball against teams that failed to make the playoffs in the previous year. Thus, in some crude sense, the predictability of outcomes for pairs of players in a poker tournament is similar to that between teams in Major League Baseball,” the report revealed.

Poker has also become a useful tool for baseball teams, who have all seen the benefits of playing poker as a way to keep injured players focused and their minds working. While injured players work their way back towards full fitness, baseball teams clearly believe playing poker is a great way for players to keep their minds active amidst the often-monotonous routine of rehabilitation.

Poker has also become a favourite pastime with a lot of retired baseball players, particularly pitchers, with a number of former players making the transition from the diamond to the poker tables. Three-time All Star pitcher Orel Hershiser has appeared at a number of major poker events since hanging up his glove in 2000, including the 2008 World Series of Poker and the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and all his fans will be well aware that the former Dodgers pitcher has the determination needed to succeed at the felt tables.