Better players consistently make better decisions, manage their bankrolls properly, control their emotions, and extract more value from winning hands while losing less with weaker ones. Given enough hands, the stronger player will usually come out ahead. Research and poker analysis often point to the same conclusion: luck determines individual outcomes, while skill determines long-term results.
My view is that luck gets you the chips, but skill keeps them. Anyone can have a great session thanks to good cards and favorable situations. The real difference shows up over months and years, when strong players continue to profit despite the inevitable downswings. If poker were only luck, the same names wouldn't keep winning. If it were only skill, variance wouldn't be such a big part of the game. The truth is that both matter, just in different ways.
What kind of skill are we talking about? Many write and talk about it without giving luck the attention it deserves. I don't understand how anyone can make money off of luck; it's the same as a casino, even though many deny that poker is a casino.
I agree that luck is an important factor in the short term, you can put all the chips in the middle with the best hand and still lose.ferxo said:
The difference is that, in the long run, what weighs the most is not the result of a specific hand, but the quality of the decisions made. Luck determines who wins today; skill tends to determine who profits over thousands of hands and tournaments
Poker is undoubtedly a game of skill. That is why skill offers a huge advantage over the long run; at the same time, however, if luck isn't on your side on a particular day, you won't win a major tournament. Therefore, it’s 75% skill and 25% luck.
Luck definitely plays a huge role in poker, especially in the short term. But over the long run, good decisions and solid strategy usually win out. Even the best hand can lose sometimes—that's just what keeps the game interesting.🍀
It's an element that's present in poker and often causes frustration. I'm sure everyone here has their own stories about it. But if I believed it was the biggest factor, honestly, I'd stop playing. I think the worst part is the sense of injustice that bad beats create in the moment they happen. Very few people can deal with that in a balanced way and it's understandable, because it's genuinely difficult. We're emotional beings, after all.
For now, though, I'm still on the road between the next tournament and the risk of my monitor flying out the window.
For now, though, I'm still on the road between the next tournament and the risk of my monitor flying out the window.
Well you may be lucky one day at a tournament, I've seen bad players win a tournament, but in the long run those players are going to lose money, in the long run good players will make money, players who study and make the best decisions are going to have better results.
You only talk about good luck but you didn't mention the variance, the bad streak that affects me the most. In my case, I've been on a bad streak for more than two months, that I can't win with AA and they beat me all the time with 27.93, A2.53 and that affects me a lot. Sometimes it's better to give yourself a good time off, and find yourself.
Kirbs69 said:
'Playing poker like it was supposed to be' LoL well this certainly helps to explain some of your views.
I also think it's funny the way you associate 'playing aggressively' with 'gambling'. Maybe your perception of playing aggressively is more like playing overly aggressive and spewy.
I'm glad there are players with your view of the game.
The question about Luck or Skill in poker will always be around, mostly because we constantly have new players coming in that want to see (very) good results fast and/or players that don't want to put the 'work' and blame everything on bad luck... Like other members said - I also believe that it's very important to study and constantly improve your skills, aim to play close to your A game for most of your session/s and hopefully that 'luck' factor will be there for you, especially in important games and/or spots so you can see good results both short and long term...
