[bapadna]

Poker is an education and entertainment product.

Entertainment, because professional players are allowing amateurs to pay to meet better players, and test their skills against them. There really aren't many other games where this is the case.

Education, because there are huge numbers of available lessons (in both hard and soft skills) for players who decide to think about the game deeply.

I don't see anything "empty" about it. But then again, I'm a winning poker player who ported lessons from poker into everything from business to my golf game. It's had such a positive impact on my life that I can't view it negatively.