The great David Owen reviewed a history of bridge (the card game) recently in the New Yorker. Among other things, he noted the decline in popularity of bridge and the rise of poker. Both poker and bridge have routine elements. But in bridge, the routine elements are crucial and require a lot of focus–play out those cards right, or you lose. In poker, the key routine element is to fold crappy cards (most of the time), and that’s easy. This is one reason I find poker to be more fun—I can focus on the important moments. (Yes, I’m sure it’s different for good players of either game.)