Is Poker Like the Lottery?

Nick301274 · Feb 20, 2018

how often did you happen to have a 100% confidence on the flop that you should win, and on the river you lose

terryk · Feb 20, 2018

A royal flush is 100%,,,all other hands can and will lose.:wavey:

NHequalsFU · Feb 20, 2018

Poker is a lottery, where the better players have more tickets.

Vp888 · Feb 20, 2018

this is the whole point. you can count on luck when played badly

8bod8 · Feb 20, 2018

It took me a while, but now I think terryk's answer is almost perfect.
First I thought it was largely rubbish, but realized that was due to my limited brain.

Now I think: it's a straight flush where one of your hole cards is either the highest card of the straight, or T+.
p.s. I think a royal flush is not really another level of hand rankings, it's just the best possible straight flush

natasha555 · Feb 20, 2018

I was so flopped kare and on the river to another straight flush

Anders1616 · Feb 20, 2018

Poker is unfair, you have the best starting hand, but you loose.
I had QQ and the man to my left vent all ind, and i followed, he had 2 x 10, first card ind the flop 10.

I even lost a with a straight flush, i had the lower card, he had the upper card.

Jam_V92 · Feb 20, 2018

It's not a lottery, it's simple variance

ubo · Feb 20, 2018

In terms of the game it is now a lottery is 50% because a lot of players who do not care.

NBB · Feb 20, 2018

Anders1616 said:
Poker is unfair, you have the best starting hand, but you loose.
I had QQ and the man to my left vent all ind, and i followed, he had 2 x 10, first card ind the flop 10.

I even lost a with a straight flush, i had the lower card, he had the upper card.

If you understand mathematics, it is difficult to believe you would make such an assertion.

Also, depending on your poker experience, you would of realize that if you made a low end Flush, that there was a possibility that someone could have a higher Flush, this type of beat is very common in poker.

Aremaz95 · Feb 20, 2018

It is not a lottery, you must simply adapt to that there is always a minimum percentage that you lose and while that percentage is there nothing is written

LevySystem · Feb 20, 2018

Guys if poker were so easy to play noone would work anymore.

If you use your time to improve youre game, instead of whining about variation you will most likely become one of the 10% that actually win at this game

lets leave rake aside for a moment, but if i were to play headsup SnGs and win 51% of my games I will make money in the longrun. It will still "feel" like I am losing half and winning half of my games, but mathematicaly i will be a winner

vapandrei · Feb 20, 2018

Nick301274 said:
how often did you happen to have a 100% confidence on the flop that you should win, and on the river you lose

Ok, answer me this. If poker is a lottery, how many times have you won at poker and how many times have you won the lottery?

kalon breeden · Feb 20, 2018

Poker is definitely like playing the lottery...Unless you flop a royal flush theres always a chance the turn or river can work for or against you...odds=gamble

hugh blair · Feb 20, 2018

I dont know how many hands i have played when was ahead preflop behind on the flop ahead on the turn again and then lose behind on the river thats just the way it goes you got to bet big when your ahead make opponent fold or really evaluate your hand on river and do not be afraid to fold a set ect if you just know your opponent hit dat flush good luck.

radartodd69 · Feb 20, 2018

I have to say tough beats are pretty normal in poker, not just online either. It's just the nature of the beast. Murphy's law constantly in effect. Real fun trying to crack the code though ain't it?

don1980 · Feb 20, 2018

I only count on luck when i'm behind in the hand.

asalco94 · Feb 20, 2018

I think luck is poker is very important, and just as there are times when you have 90% of winning a hand and you lose, there are times when you have up to 2% turn your hand and win, as long as the possibilities exist nothing is said in poker

grumblbrumbl · Feb 20, 2018

Sorry, but I do not agree. Poker is not a lottery. Poker is a game of skill. Here, not the one who has a strong hand wins, but the one who is competently distributed by his chips.

vapandrei · Feb 20, 2018

grumblbrumbl said:
Sorry, but I do not agree. Poker is not a lottery. Poker is a game of skill. Here, not the one who has a strong hand wins, but the one who is competently distributed by his chips.

I wouldn't go as far as saying it's purely a game of skill or even further, but it's certainly not a lottery.

I asked the OP to tell me how many times he has won at poker and how many times he won the lottery. No answer yet.

Richardszabo · Feb 20, 2018

Poker is not a lottery, you have more chance to win, and you decide to take the risk or not!

grumblbrumbl · Feb 20, 2018

vapandrei said:
I wouldn't go as far as saying it's purely a game of skill or even further, but it's certainly not a lottery.

But do you agree that poker consists of making difficult decisions? In any case, I think everyone chooses his own poker philosophy. My philosophy is that poker is not a game of luck, but skill.

vapandrei · Feb 20, 2018

grumblbrumbl said:
But do you agree that poker consists of making difficult decisions? In any case, I think everyone chooses his own poker philosophy. My philosophy is that poker is not a game of luck, but skill.

Yes, I do agree that to play poker successfully you need a healthy percent of skill. The confusion for some, comes from the fact that if you strip either skill or luck from poker, you'll never be successful. Both play a huge role in poker, sometimes simultaneously (good plays on nuts for example) or alternately (skill wins you pots with bluffs, you play position well, you steal blinds etc and luck gives you nuts, outs when they are unlikely, keeps you in a tourney when you have no chance of playing the next blind, etc.)

Regardless of the percentage of SKILL versus LUCK, a good player must have BOTH.

To take my idea further, I think the following, with conviction:

1. Those who say poker is a lottery or a luck game, came into poker to win money thinking that it's slots and when they inevitably lose, they blame it on luck like this: "Poker is a game of luck and I am an unlucky person"

2. Those who say poker is only a skill game are a bunch of smug a-holes, who like to attribute everything to themselves to look smarter, better for others or are constantly losing in poker, they know they need skills which they don't possess, and they usually don't admit they're always on the losing side.

LevySystem · Feb 20, 2018

vapandrei said:
2. Those who say poker is only a skill game are a bunch of smug a-holes, who like to attribute everything to themselves to look smarter, better for others or are constantly losing in poker, they know they need skills which they don't possess, and they usually don't admit they're always on the losing side.

I dont really get what you are saying here...

Like lets asume somone would think poker is only based on skill. And he is constantly loosing. This person would have 2 options. A. Improving B. Quit the game. Or am I wrong? Like do these people play a game they are bad at without the will of improving? Sounds quite masochistic to me.

vapandrei · Feb 20, 2018

Luepso said:
I dont really get what you are saying here...

Like lets asume somone would think poker is only based on skill. And he is constantly loosing. This person would have 2 options. A. Improving B. Quit the game. Or am I wrong? Like do these people play a game they are bad at without the will of improving? Sounds quite masochistic to me.

Trust me on this one, while it is masochistic, the mental gymnastics will keep you playing (hypothetical you who's in this situation). I've a few buddies in this situation and there was a recent thread on CC with someone who looked at how much he lost in the last year and didn't even realize it. Yet he still was playing.

Is Poker Like the Lottery?

Nick301274

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terryk

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