95% of online players losers?

I read on a site that 95% of online poker players are losing players? Can this be true?

I am currently winning about 4bbs per 100 hands (or 16c per 100 hands) at 4NL shorthanded. I haven't been feeling too happy about that, but if the above stat is true then I am not doing too bad.

I know that most of the players are losers in the long run playing online, but I don't think that is 95%, this is just too much.

I know that most of the players are losers in the long run playing online, but I don't think that is 95%, this is just too much.

I don't know if that's true, but mostly everyone I know are on the plus side. I think 95% is a little too high. Whats the point of playing if the ratio is so high. LOL

I think 95% would of been true a number of years ago and that's what many articles you read are from, like nearly 5 years ago.

95% is defiantly not true in this age of poker I don't think. Far to many sites/forums out there.

that if only they were playing on full tilt.....too soon!!

Ouch about FT. I lost about $200 there after BF.

Not my original investment, but still, it's $ that I won.

*shrugs*

I dunno if we've got any real way of confirming whether the stat is accurate or not. It feels a little high to me too, but maybe not by that much - especially if they're including players that would otherwise be losers if it wasn't for rakeback and bonuses.

I concur.

Very, very unlikely. Oddly enough, not everyone tells the truth (or even necessarily knows).

I defiantly agree!

The majority are losers, but not 95% IMO.

I know a bunch of people who put in the min back in like 04 lost that and went on the "it's rigged" or "everyone is such a bad player I cant bluff to save my life" and never played again. I'm sure there's a bunch of people who deposited a few times and never won it back and never play now. If the stat includes players who no longer plan to play, I'm sure the number of losing players is higher than current players who are losing players.

I've been gambling since the 60's////pool,sports,golf,the track, and for the past 10yrs poker. I've never met a loser at the track,with a bookie, on the golf course, or in a pool room. And never met anyone who says they are a bad card player.
Everybody wins...its a great world...lol
" believe nothing you hear and 10% of what you see " ....Seattle Sam

Can someone with a massive Database give us a number?

I don't call mine a database, my number is 10"

Zorba, I speak for everyone when I say that this is the internet and those kinds of comments will not be tolerated. This is, and always has been serious business.

Im gonna straight up tell ya,, Im not in positive territory, but I dont have a very big investment (money wise) in the game. Now time is a different story

All I can say is it's very hard to beat the rake. It's killing me when I play double up or bust.

I would guess it's more along the lines of:
1-2% are Big Winners
5% are Winners
10-15% marginal winners &/or break-even (no pun intended on the choice of words here)

Just a guess

Again, let me see a DB

Pretty much what hawtshawt said, alot of people have deposited lost and never returned, so I can sort of believe that only 5% of people that have played are up overall. Although I'd expect it to be more around the 15% mark.

95% is probably too low, maybe more like 98%

How many people who post on this site are lifetime winners? Probably no more than 50-70% and surely people who bother to post regularly on a poker forum and try to get better rank about the 99% percentile of poker players. Of course, the people who are really really good don't bother to post strat.

Lol wat.

I know quite a few players who deposit, lose it ,
then deposit again, lose it, etc.
some are friends and friends of friends etc.
I try to explain to them to study the game, practcice BRM etc.
mostly they say " I already know that , I know how to play"
so most of them think they are 'good' and they blame bad luck.
If I mention 'pot odds' or 'fold equity' or 'set mining' etc.
they get a glazed look in there eyes and they obviously have no clue what I'm talking about. Most of them are just playing for excitement.
Most of the people who play poker never actually bother to study it beyond the basics and they think that winning with a bluff makes them a good player.
(takes breath)
So I can quite believe 95% are losers.
but these are only the people who I come into contact with.
How many people do you know in your daily life or local area
who play poker and make an effort to study it ?
How many people do you know who just play it ?

From experience in playing at house parties at what not, most people that play "recreationally" are terrible. The one who wins is usually the luckiest fish of the night. Maybe one or two of the people I"ve played with I can see being a sustainable winner online.

I do ok overall, a small winner at cash online and done pretty well at the CC freerolls. I'm no shark for sure, but compared to these folks I've played with, I know much more about the game.

PS, I am very conservative with my money and have never gambled poker at a casino. (Yet I"ve been losing thousands lately at stocks in my IRA, go figure) Stocks are a far worse gamble than poker but that's another rant.

This....probably 84-88% of players lose, this would be both regular online and live players. I never play online but I usually find that in live games, 3 players at the table are bad, 3 are marginal, and 3 are good, and believe me there is a wide range to the "good" definition, and if its a Friday night there may only be 1 good player.

its too high i dont think so , anyway i lose whole time now downswing , but im addicted by poker , hehe , if u have a poker skill then u dont have to be afraid of those "95%"

What you mean you never play online? I always see you in the Cardschat Carbon Wednesday freeroll.

I think this is probably pretty accurate. Rakeback programs have gotten a lot better in recent years and it allows quite a few people to breakeven or be marginal winners.

I think it's all kinda speculation though. Only the sites really know. My database has 6 million hands in it. I don't have a big enough sample on anyone to really hazard a good guess. I think you need 100k hands on someone before there can even be a discussion.

everyones up lifetime, just ask them

Just me and my hubby.
Roger talks to loads of people at work that play online poker recreationally, but none seem to have read any poker books. Most play tournaments. None of my friends play poker.

Interesting post - I would like to know if there is an exact figure.Since I have never deposited my own money - that is money I earned outside poker I would put myself in the 5%. But does mean I've never lost at online poker - absolutely not. My ring game
results are atrocious (don't play long enough at a table) and my tourney results varty from site to site - some have been fantastic, some dismal. But over all I have taken thousands off poker sites. My biggest losses have not been on the tables but when sites: Spade, Wingows, FT, AP/UB, and others stopped paying out and I had decent sums on them.

The thing is with these losers, some of them losing thousands of dollars at 4NL, I just can't beat them sometimes.

They don't fold and when running bad, with 0 fold equity, I just lose bingo poker with unfavorable turns and rivers falling in. I am lucky to be just down 45bbs tonight in 65 hands.

Mostly players that say they are Winning players.

Simply put many so called "Winning players" are on the loosing end after rake ...

My guess is that the 80-20 rule applies to those who play fairly often and up. The extreme suggestions (95+) probably must include everybody who ever made a deposit and soon departed.

It depends what you consider a poker player really. If you only ever played money addeds/freerolls you could have a negative ROI but still be a "winning" player.