Joined: Jun '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 1343
for many years I've played poker and agreed that like darts it is a skill and therefore should be a sport....I was wrong,its 99% luck...there's no way you can control the cards,yes the way you play them counts but in the long run your lucky or your not. Vanessa Selbt,one of the best poker players ever,always hits when she shouldn't and screams like a baby when she misses...there's ways to max your winnings but the way i see it is your either lucky or your not.....POKER is LUCK,darts are skill.......run good mobsters....
Joined: Oct '14
Location: Serbia
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 4358
I think you couldnt be more wrong... in short terms luck is factor, but in long run luck doesnt mean anything in poker... all you should do is make best decisions and you should do fine...
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 5713
It's a difficult one and I think the best way to resolve the conundrum is to accept that poker is a game of both skill and luck. The luck element is in relation to the way the cards are dealt (there's certainly no skill from the player there) and then skill in relation to how you make bets, size your bets and make plays......of course luck still comes into it once you have applied your skill due to the probability of the cards falling for or against you at showdown.
I agree its all luck and winning the coin flip battle only real skill is bluffing on the river which you don't see too much now online as most games are hyper turbo lotto all in shootouts.
Joined: Jun '13
Location: Canada
Age: 81 (M)
Posts: 3700
Posted by StheP: I think you couldnt be more wrong... in short terms luck is factor, but in long run luck doesnt mean anything in poker... all you should do is make best decisions and you should do fine...
I would agree with you if we were always play against same players then skill % over luck for sure would be winner.
However this is not reality you never know all the players you are playing with and also never know who will be the lucky one. IMO to go very deep or win a tournament you have to win most of your coin flip and your pre flop advantage.
And there is no comparison with dart which is pure skill game.
Poker is obviously a combination of both. What you forgot to mention though is the rake... The reason why most players are not ev+ is simply the rake. 10% may not seem like much, but in the long run, trust me it adds up to a huuuuge number, even for a low/micro stakes player.
So basically you should only play home games with your friends in real life... or be lucky online or find fish
I not going to give you a thumbs down for your post as everyone opinion is interesting but I can't agree with you, maybe for a short term thing it is all about luck but in long term poker if you don't have the min skill then you will be in the red mark...
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 56 (M)
Posts: 7371
I think that there is a lot of skill involved but you do need a bit of luck along the way as well. I would say it is 80% skill and 20% luck in my opinion. Even the most skillful of players need that extra bit of luck to win consistently
Joined: Oct '08
Location: Germany
Age: 50 (M)
Posts: 2025
Posted by callie28: for many years I've played poker and agreed that like darts it is a skill and therefore should be a sport....I was wrong,its 99% luck...there's no way you can control the cards,yes the way you play them counts but in the long run your lucky or your not. Vanessa Selbt,one of the best poker players ever,always hits when she shouldn't and screams like a baby when she misses...there's ways to max your winnings but the way i see it is your either lucky or your not.....POKER is LUCK,darts are skill.......run good mobsters....
well first of i wouldnt call it "sport". just like golf, its no sport in my eyes. some may say its "mind sport" yet i dislike the word sport in it
if you see gus hansen or other pros, can you still call it skill in the long run?
i my self have been very unlucky past two months that i was almost about to write a mail to the technical support to ask if something is wrong (sarcasm), because i lost 80% of the time hands im over 94% ahead - thats not normal. yet i made some small profit due to rakeback, but its not worth to mention compared to the TIME i invested in poker. i normaly should of double my bankroll.......serious.
i would say its 60% skill 40% luck. the luck factor is to huge to say its all about skills.
------------ yea...whats with the thumbs down ? i think everyone has the right to have a opinion.
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Posted by TheMachineQC: Poker is obviously a combination of both. What you forgot to mention though is the rake... The reason why most players are not ev+ is simply the rake. 10% may not seem like much, but in the long run, trust me it adds up to a huuuuge number, even for a low/micro stakes player.
So basically you should only play home games with your friends in real life... or be lucky online or find fish
Good luck!
this is very true. either rakeback, lots of reloadbonuses or whatever. best is rakeback. if your breakeven you still have small winnings.
Joined: Nov '11
Location: Netherlands
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 120
Its a skillgame and that is 100% sure. If u play all hands all-in then its luck since u cant control the cards. However u can control which cards u play, which positions u play & when to bet. If u take the right spots u can make so much dead money. In 6-max f.e. A10 in first position 90% off players call a 3-bet while u in position Ace on the flop u are going to pay for that
U have to create an edge on the other players. Learning and reading about poler from forums & books . And start understanding why u bet and why u fold and u will avoid spots like A10 vs AK etc. Everyone knows how to play Aces but only a few know how to play the others.
Joined: Oct '11
Location: Sweden
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 1410
Poker is a game of skill with a minimal luck factor. The luck factor will only affect the very short term results while the skill will affect the long term results. This means that in the long run, your skill determines if you win or loses, meaning the small luck factor doesn't really play that much part in it.
Roulette and slots is basically pure luck. The house always has the edge. Sure, there are strategies to use that will increase your odds of winning, but the fact remains: The house ALWAYS wins, simple as that. Even in a game like black jack where the player have a lot of control and skill plays a part, the house still has the edge. Unless you're counting cards which only works on live casinos since online casinos, from what I know, puts all the cards back into the game again and just shuffle the deck/-s and deal.
Bottom line is that as long as you're playing online, poker is based on skill and casino is based on luck.
Joined: Oct '11
Location: Sweden
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 1410
Posted by T3ddyKGB:
Posted by erru9107: casino is based on luck.
i disagree. casino...you could throw your money in the trashcan aswell
Yeah, couldn't agree with you more! Only time I ever play casino games is when I get free spins or lately winning a bonus on the party casino promo. I could count the number of times on my one hand that I've actually played casino just for the hell of it. You always lose unless you are extremely lucky and hit gold.
Joined: Jan '13
Location: Philippines
Age: 58 (F)
Posts: 857
just won a calendar ticket at last for over 1 year of waiting well thats luck anyway and thanks for the great oppurtunity bankroll mob have a great day!!!....
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 48 (F)
Posts: 14196
I may be a little out of topic, but i have to say that i like darts. As a kid i destroyed many walls and doors by targeting outside the board. Good memories of me running away from my parents lol.
Joined: Oct '08
Location: Germany
Age: 50 (M)
Posts: 2025
Posted by Mober: I may be a little out of topic, but i have to say that i like darts. As a kid i destroyed many walls and doors by targeting outside the board. Good memories of me running away from my parents lol.
i guess they only run after you because you had no talent for dart. if you at least once hit the board they might have been happy