Poker Players Loneliness: How to Manage If You Aren’t People Person

What is Loneliness

The cumulative definition of loneliness is a subjective feeling of unhappiness due to lack of emotional attachment and/or social connections for spending time together and/or sharing hobbies or interests.

Occasional, short-term feelings of loneliness in response to changes in life are a healthy phenomenon and are not a sign of any psychological problems.

People can feel lonely because of a change in social circles due to moving or the end of a friendship or during the time between discovering a new hobby and finding people who share it or are interested in learning about it as well as when they have to give up social events due to illness or work commitments, and so on.

The feeling of loneliness becomes a problem when it not only does not go away, but also stimulates the development of psychological and/or physiological symptoms in a person.

How Loneliness Affects Mind and Body

The combination of the frantic digital development of society, growing international tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought people not only numerous medical and personal challenges, but also a growing epidemic of loneliness and all its attendant consequences.

According to the 2023 study “Loneliness, Social Isolation, and its Effects on Physical and Mental Health“, long-term feelings of loneliness:

• Increases cardiovascular risks related to stress
• Weakens immunity
• Reduces physical activity
• Contributes to increased bad habits
• Worsens depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation
• Deprives a person of a sense of self-worth and value

What is even more alarming: loneliness contributes to the earlier onset of dementia and other forms of cognitive decline.

Why Do Poker Players Often Feel Lonely

People online like to talk about poker as the loneliest job on the planet. And while that’s a bit dramatic, they’re not entirely wrong — for several painfully strong reasons.

Narrowly Specific Nature of Poker

It greatly reduces the number of people who can adequately perceive the professional problems of players and support them. Complaining about unfair variances, stupid runouts, and ridiculous decisions seems very strange to people in other professions.

Try to tell a surgeon about your fatigue after a 12-hour shift at the hospital. Tell a store clerk how difficult your session was after they spent the same amount of time interacting with a bunch of different people. You get the idea.

Moreover, even a courier can more easily engage someone with their job and the mishaps that occur there than a poker player with their probabilities and slang. Too much explanation is required for it to be suitable for small talk. Too much knowledge about the topic is required for someone to truly understand your problems in the game.

Also, getting sympathy, or at least understanding, for losing money at cards is quite problematic due to the following problem.

Complicated Reputation of Poker

Being closely associated with gambling, relying on luck, and not contributing much to society, this game is far from something that is openly discussed in many countries, families, and communities, even as a hobby.

To many outsiders, poker players are still just casino gamblers swindling money. Therefore, when trying to make acquaintances, poker players always remember that their interlocutor may be biased towards the game, and often try to avoid discussing this issue.

It’s kind of funny that even poker-related content creators suffer from this kind of treatment — I know this firsthand: I’ve encountered (more than once) sideways glances, emotional reactions, and people distancing themselves because I write for “troubled gamblers”.

Core of a Personal Competitive Game

Your success, both mathematical and financial, largely depends on how well you “close yourself off” — and this does not encourage openness in communication with other players.

By the way, this is exactly why unsociable or low-social-skilled people usually feel quite comfortable in poker: the game does not require excessive contact with others for development and achievement, and even, to some extent, encourages distancing and isolation.

Isolation of the Workspace for Online Poker

The classic online grinder plays at home or office on the computer, wearing headphones or earplugs to avoid distractions for many hours in a row. He’s completely immersed in the action, and he doesn’t want to be distracted — otherwise, he’ll miss out on value. And that goes on for hours. Poker isn’t a job with coworkers, cigarette breaks, and chit-chat: all those aspects often detract from the A-game, rather than enhance it. 

The downside is that as you progress through the game, it’s extremely difficult to network naturally. You either have to find a community in your region, which is simply impossible in many places, or connect with people online again — which increases the number of hours spent in front of a screen and can be simply inconvenient.

Three Practices to Reduce Sense of Loneliness

For poker players who connect easily with others, the advice is essentially the same: initiate meetings with friends and acquaintances more often, ideally not about work but focused on spending quality time together. Make time for this and don’t give up enjoyable social interactions for the sake of poker — believe me, your success at cards won’t be the thing you’ll look back on in years to come.

If you don’t particularly like people, but still feel lonely — or even just plain afraid that loneliness will harm your health — then there are alternatives for you (and they’re even more interesting!).

“Digital Diet” of Open-World and Low-Effort Games

Just start playing The Legend of Zelda and Yoshi’s Crafted World. Now to the next point…

I’m joking, of course, but only half-joking.

On June 17th, 2026, a multinational team of researchers published the results of a specific cross-sectional survey study, which shows that the combination of the challenges of open-world games and the easy, undemanding, and fun gameplay of simple platformers significantly reduces feelings of loneliness in adults.

Find an open-world game to suit your tastes: it could be classic Bethesda’s RPG, historical RPG with a fixed protagonist like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, stylized action game like Red Dead Redemption, etc. Then add to it some fun relaxing games like Animal Crossing, Gris, Chuchel, Dofromantik without gambling elements in it — and start mixing them in your free time.

Research has shown that this approach helps practice stoicism and receive psychological support without the involvement of others because it helps to increase self-worth perception and find a source of social validation inside your own mind.

As a bonus, you can periodically initiate online contacts on forums related to your favorite game, and you also have a potential topic of conversation when you need to discuss your interests with someone. All pros, no cons.

Attending Social Events Without Socialasing

In the modern world, there are countless activities that involve groups of people without the need for direct interaction. Music concerts, stand-up comedy shows, even going to the movie to see a film you enjoy can reduce feelings of loneliness by being surrounded by people who, at that very moment, share common interests and experiences.

The key here is to attend an event that interests you first and foremost. Personally, I recommend attending lectures and tours — they engage you in conversation, but you’re not expected to respond — and you also gain interesting information for potential sharing with others.

Becoming a Pet Owner

If you’re responsible and financially secure enough to care for someone else — but not a human — getting a pet of your choosing might be a good idea. Ideally, a social and outgoing animal that can provide you with a sense of companionship.

Cats are not only universally funny and fluffy, but also have a keen understanding of human emotions, allowing them to provide support in times of distress.

Dogs are not only generally very affectionate with people, but also encourage them to go out for walks and even help develop discipline through training.

Parrots are not only smart, but they can also talk to you.

Fish and reptiles are fun to watch, and caring for them is a fairly extensive hobby in its own right.

If you can’t or don’t want to have an animal at home, try volunteering at animal shelters: the animals there already have a place to live and do not demand long-time commitment from you — but they need care and company, just like you.

If loneliness is weighing on your life, be sure to seek a therapist or even a psychiatrist. There’s no shame in getting help when you need it.