Are online poker players motivated to expend effort for monetary rewards?

Motivation in poker players has typically been studied through monetary incentives rather than physical effort expenditure. In this exploratory study we hypothesized that poker players' protected decision-making performance might be associated with a heightened willingness to exert effort for monetary rewards. We recruited 69 participants: 49 online poker players, 20 classifieds as low-risk gamblers (LR) and 29 as problematic gamblers (PG; one participant was excluded due to a psychiatric comorbidity), and 20 non-gamblers (NG). Participants completed self-report personality questionnaires (BIS-10, BFI, BIS/BAS) and two behavioral tasks: the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), assessing decision-making under uncertainty, and the Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task (EEfRT) measuring willingness to invest physical effort for monetary rewards. IGT performance was similar across all groups, supporting the hypothesis of protected decision-making in poker players. Contrary to our initial prediction, both gambling groups selected effortful options less frequently than NG participants in the EEfRT. Moreover, PG participants scored lower on BFI agreeableness and openness. These findings indicate that, while decision-making under uncertainty appears intact, poker players are less willing to invest physical effort for rewards and display a less agreeable and aggressive personality profile, suggesting that preserved IGT performance is not underpinned by greater effort expenditure.