Does the Best Player Always Win?

Hi, I'm 16 and think I've become a serviceable poker player, especially for my age. But I'm wondering if I'm the best player at my table should I win every time? I'd say I win about 7 out of 10 times in both my regular games and I'm wondering should I win every time? I just can't help but think since the pros like hellmuth and Ivey probably mop the floor with lesser players then that means I should. So I guess what I'm wondering is how often should I expect to win?

The "better player" has a much bigger advantage in cash games than in tournaments, especially freeroll, where lunacy and variance are so dominant.

b1atch said:

Hi, I'm 16 and think I've become a serviceable poker player, especially for my age. But I'm wondering if I'm the best player at my table should I win every time? I'd say I win about 7 out of 10 times in both my regular games and I'm wondering should I win every time? I just can't help but think since the pros like hellmuth and Ivey probably mop the floor with lesser players then that means I should. So I guess what I'm wondering is how often should I expect to win?

Click to expand...

The Best Player Does NOT Always Win... That's Why Phil Hellmuth is famed for his quote "If there weren't luck involved, I would win every time."

I'm 44 and if life has taught me any thing, it's that EGO is a very Dangerous Thing, and..... I wish I was 16 again knowing what I know now...

You Do sound so much like Stu Ungar... It will be interesting to see how far you go...

Good Luck...

From what I understand, if your playing MTT. Most pros with cash about 30%, final table about 10% of the time, and win about 2.5% of the time.

Great question, the better player is always subject to bad luck. When I play a heads up SNG especially against a poor player, I like to bleed him down so I am taking very little risk when he wins a hand. Never want to turn it into a coin flip. Against the non agressive bad player, I almost always win. The diver will beat me about 1 in 3 because he relies on luck and bullying.

I believe that for a successful player, the winning percentage should be at least 20%. And even with 10 percent of the winnings out of 100, it is also a pretty powerful result.

b1atch said:

Hi, I'm 16 and think I've become a serviceable poker player, especially for my age. But I'm wondering if I'm the best player at my table should I win every time? I'd say I win about 7 out of 10 times in both my regular games and I'm wondering should I win every time? I just can't help but think since the pros like hellmuth and Ivey probably mop the floor with lesser players then that means I should. So I guess what I'm wondering is how often should I expect to win?

Click to expand...

Well, if you are playing online, you can expect to lose big time, as you are underage. Home games & such, your business. but if you are finding a way into casinos & online, you are most likely going to lose any winnings you manage to accumulate as well as getting yourself banned. Ivey & Helmuth play the wsop pretty much every year, multiple events & Helmuth has, I think, 14 bracelets. If he only played 5 events a year over the last 30 years,, probably a low guess, then he has about a 10% win rate. I have played most my life & of the players I have met, approximately 159% of them overrate their own ability. You are playing a game requiring both decision making with incomplete information & random chance. Slow down, learn & understand the game & spend less time standing in front of the mirror. Good luck, it's a great game for a lot of reasons beside your winrate.

The best player doesn’t always win, in fact, in a single tournament it is often far from the best player that wins—hence the saying, “I’d rather be lucky than good!” [emoji38]

Seriously though that is awesome that you’re already a good player at 16! Remember that poker results, especially when it comes to tournaments, should be viewed in the long run. Almost anything can happen in a single tournament, even when we play our best. I’d suggest reading up on poker variance in order to get more of an idea of the specifics. Best of luck!

Not always I think

I watched a documentary about different poker players. They showed a hand played in one of the tournaments and just replica the same hand without telling the different players about the result. The same hand played way differently everytime depending on the player. I do not think it is always about being the best player at the table but it is a very important feature

Of course not !!! There are no players who always win. But there are successful players who have a purpose and do everything to achieve it. I recommend that you start setting goals, this will allow you to better evaluate your performance.

the better player dose not always win, as we all know bad beats are always there.

I think the better players have a winning percentage. But still lose.

hi hi
best players no always win
proof?
even i sometime win a rare mtt & i suck lol
think of who community thinks are best players on planet ok?
then see how many tournaments they win

Hmm, I think it's unrealistic to look at it that way. As an analogy, you can take chess.

One of the best AI chess engines at the moment is called stockfish (ELO rating Approx ~3.5k). It beats any human player by a significant margin but even then, the top players in the world (Grandmasters have ratings of ~2.5k) can still beat it 3-5 times every thousand games. The point being, even the best of the best can lose a game here and there for whatever reason.

I think it's more pragmatic to measure your success in those terms, scaled down of course, and see if you can regularly come out on top at the stakes you play.

b1atch said:

Hi, I'm 16 and think I've become a serviceable poker player, especially for my age. But I'm wondering if I'm the best player at my table should I win every time? I'd say I win about 7 out of 10 times in both my regular games and I'm wondering should I win every time? I just can't help but think since the pros like hellmuth and Ivey probably mop the floor with lesser players then that means I should. So I guess what I'm wondering is how often should I expect to win?

Click to expand...

I did not understand quite what you meant more poker sites are not for people with higher age and how you could be playing poker 16 years old?

The one thing that will allow for lesser players to win is variance. That’s why recreational players would be willing to play. If the best player one EVERY time they would just gamble their money somewhere else. If you’re winning 70% of your sessions you should focus on bankroll Management(BRM) it’s what gets winning recreational player to the next level

not always win, if you win more tournaments than a recreational player and approach to a game exelencia !!!

I don't think in any sport the best always wins, he is more likely to win, but something can always happen that changes the outcome. Whether the opponent is on a great day as well as the best player is on a bad day or sometimes just luck.

No,there is no poker player that always win.He can have a good percentage of winnings but variance, luck and downswing are part of this game..

there is a bit o luck involved as well...

You can win 5 and lose 5 and even worse but the only thing that counts is that the ones you win have more chips than the ones you lose, for example lose 9 pots of 800 and win one of 10000 still makes you a winner as an extreme.

I don't think so

I think it is impossible to win every time when you play poker, there will be moments when you lose even when you make the right choice and it doesn't matter if you are the best player in the world I think lose in poker is something natural and learn hhow to deal with is what makes you a good poker player. Think about it even in any other sport the best team or the best player could lose anytime and anywhere

Hi There

One thing you must understand
There is no winning player specially when you get AAs and you oponnent wins
with a 22 and get another 2 in the river.....lolol
Rgds