What's the Biggest Advantage Pros Have Over Rec Players?

This will not be a popular answer amongst people who consider themselves pros, but I think the biggest advantage for pros is bankroll. They are in it for the long haul and have the ability to sustain losses that Rec players simply don't have. That gives them the ability to play a little more aggressively compared to Rec players.

When I play a live tournament at one of the wsop Circuit stops, I scrimp and save to scrape together the buy-in. I use my hotel points to get a free room at a hotel with free breakfast (and I take yogurts and milk cartons and the small boxes of cereal back to my room for dinner), I pack a lunch for the five-hour drive to the casino, and I only bring enough money for one bullet plus another $100 to play some $1-$2. That naturally affects my playing style. I'm not going to risk my stack 40 minutes into the tourney to try a bluff, or call off half my stack chasing a flush on the second level.

Pros, however, bring enough cash to play multiple events. They are more than willing to chase and bluff early in a tournament to try to build a big stack and take advantage of us tight Rec players. If they bust, it's part of the cost of the business they are in. They'll fire another bullet or wait for the next event.

teepack said:

This will not be a popular answer amongst people who consider themselves pros, but I think the biggest advantage for pros is bankroll. They are in it for the long haul and have the ability to sustain losses that Rec players simply don't have. That gives them the ability to play a little more aggressively compared to Rec players.

When I play a live tournament at one of the WSOP Circuit stops, I scrimp and save to scrape together the buy-in. I use my hotel points to get a free room at a hotel with free breakfast (and I take yogurts and milk cartons and the small boxes of cereal back to my room for dinner), I pack a lunch for the five-hour drive to the casino, and I only bring enough money for one bullet plus another $100 to play some $1-$2. That naturally affects my playing style. I'm not going to risk my stack 40 minutes into the tourney to try a bluff, or call off half my stack chasing a flush on the second level.

Pros, however, bring enough cash to play multiple events. They are more than willing to chase and bluff early in a tournament to try to build a big stack and take advantage of us tight Rec players. If they bust, it's part of the cost of the business they are in. They'll fire another bullet or wait for the next event.

Click to expand...

Hi , that sounds plausible , however the pro's weren't always pro's , so how would your theory account for that ? and not all players with big bankroll are pro's , having rivals that are willing to bluff and play loosely is good though yes ? I mean if everyone played tight aggresive then maybe you would have to be the loose player ?
to add to this , maybe the good players before they became pro's realised they needed more than 1 bullet after some experiences they may have had , and only played when they had enough bnkroll ,? I was always targeting WSOP main event for 10k buyin,
however more recently I've changed plans to use less or same 10k to play as many smaller events first and only play main if prize money from these side events were enough for next year rebuy small events + this year main event , i.e maybe a 100k cash would easily cover the same year main + following years events .....ideas perhaps
.
on a side note to big bankroll horrors , a friend once asked me what would I do in a cash game vs a player who alway brought and rebrought in at max everytime in home cash games , where at times there wasn't a good max limit set , i.e $10-20 buyins vs $100 buyin ?
I had told him it would be juicy game and I would play specifically aiming at this player , however he said that this player would easily go allin at any decions/resistance , and I aggreed that until I played in this game it would be hard to give best advice , what do you all think about it ? and the relative idea as the OP ?
in essence in a cash game a reasonable max limit should be set, however if big roll player gets lucky vs other big stacks just 3 or 4 times his advantage chipwise could be huge ....

Experience, nothing else needed.

I think confidence is a huge factor, and boldness

Understanding of variance. Therefore they don't get tilted easily after a couple of bad beats, don't let this influence their decision making and are able to go through a streak of unfortunate events. The understanding helps with upstreaks too, they aware when they run above EV or realize how lucky they were to win, lets say, two large field tournaments in a row. What a recreational will think in this situation? Something along the lines that they've "solved poker" or beat that limit.

Of course, a proper bankroll management helps regs to better understand variance and accept it

Experience

I think the biggest advantage a pro can have over a Rec is the expirience when you are a pro you can recognize when a Rec is playing bad because the rec is angry and is making bad decision for that reason thats something that a pro can see immediately and take advantage on the other hand is too difficult for a pro get angry when they are on the poker table and this is a good advantage cause if you are always good and relax it is gonna be easier play and make good decisions.

I think it does not go through a banking issue or how much money you have in your ATM.
There are many recreationals with more money than many regulars.
The greatest advantage that their professionals or aspirants have is their knowledge of the game.
So you give thousands of buy ins a recreational one will end up busting if it does not play correctly.

Main advantage of the pro players is their experience and general knowledge about the game. When a recreational player need to take decision in certain situation he needs time to calculate odds, possibility of bluffs and so on and in many cases he will still not have enough time to take the best decision. The pro player calculates same things for brief seconds and he has enough time to think about the individual specifics of the situation and take the best decision.

teepack said:

This will not be a popular answer amongst people who consider themselves pros, but I think the biggest advantage for pros is bankroll. They are in it for the long haul and have the ability to sustain losses that Rec players simply don't have. That gives them the ability to play a little more aggressively compared to Rec players.

When I play a live tournament at one of the WSOP Circuit stops, I scrimp and save to scrape together the buy-in. I use my hotel points to get a free room at a hotel with free breakfast (and I take yogurts and milk cartons and the small boxes of cereal back to my room for dinner), I pack a lunch for the five-hour drive to the casino, and I only bring enough money for one bullet plus another $100 to play some $1-$2. That naturally affects my playing style. I'm not going to risk my stack 40 minutes into the tourney to try a bluff, or call off half my stack chasing a flush on the second level.

Pros, however, bring enough cash to play multiple events. They are more than willing to chase and bluff early in a tournament to try to build a big stack and take advantage of us tight Rec players. If they bust, it's part of the cost of the business they are in. They'll fire another bullet or wait for the next event.

Click to expand...

Hi, forget the bankroll that they can have if you are in the tournament since you made a financial plan to collect the buy-in you also have to mentalize that you go in their same conditions to the tournaments if you are going out in the first 20 min, if they beat you in poker it's fine not because you were afraid to go out in the early stages of the tournament, remember that you are not touring that you are in a tournament where you have goals to reach if you do not reach them, it will be in the next year or the next tournament. Also as many have responded in this post, most of them did not start with a great bakroll. I did not want to be disrespectful just wanted to express my opinion about your post, greetings and good luck.

P.S. I do not believe in such a thing as a recreational player who sits in a poker tournament to have a good time, has everything to lose, it can be a nice experience but it is not profitable

While it is an advantage to be properly rolled, this is clearly not the reason they have an advantage.

It’s knowledge and discipline. It’s managing the skill and luck. It’s understanding the pace and changing dynamics. It’s getting through the long trudge to the $$$ & FT. Online MTTs are a few hours. Big buyin live tournaments last days.

From the perspective you presented, your disadvantages seem to be your own. Scrimping for a buyin &!playing like anyone cares about that. (This is clear to your opponent and give them power over you from hand #1. Obviously the play in a $10,000 tournament is a couple steps up from your normal $10 SnG. But if you can’t play the style you are comfortable at where have your skills gone?

Work your way up the ranks. Play a level that’s comfortable both to your bankroll and mindset. Build a stack which accommodates the tournament(s) you’d like to play. Be rolled for the cash games you know are there.

So yes bankroll is important. But IMO, it’s not theirs you need to worry about.

Hello and I have quite comments on the subject and everything is clear but as they say most publications professionals were not always takiva.Za me their great advantage over Reg players lies in the fact that they have a lot of experience to admit they have played more than us briefly occupied were mainly tova.Ot there comes everything you've often heard the expression difference between the two players is the fact that professionals play a good hand after preflopa.Matematika, variations decipher hands.:heeeellll

The main difference between professionals is that they are confident in themselves and their game! when they bluff - they are not afraid to lose everything, they are sure that the bet is correct

Understanding of structures they put themselves in.

I think one of the biggest advantages if not at the top is that they have seen more hands. It all comes down to learning and polishing every aspect of the game and that comes from seeing as many hands as possible.

In my view, banking and trust

Experience

I would have to say intention is the biggest factor. PROS treat it as a business they manage their finances around it have goals and strive for them. Treat it like a business you have a business treat it like a hobby you have a hobby.

I liked your statement. I agree that they are a lot ahead in the stacks, but also, I think they prepare a lot more and have more experience in big games, which certainly makes all the difference to their side.

they know how to give away as little information as possible, and they're ready to adjust based on the play at each table.

I would say experience is the main thing.

Most pros didnt start with huge bankrolls, also to play tournaments you need a bigger bank roll than cash games, if you are scraping up $100, you should probably stick to online low buy in tournaments imo

Experience which translates into three advantages
1. Identifying and categorizing opponents (Nit, TAG, LAG)
2. Hand-reading
3. Bet sizing
Pros understand all three of these things while rec players play the two cards in front of them.

The only thing that distinguishes a Pro to normal player is that you may make better reads ... and know when to Folden ... In the rough

Strong fundamentals and lots of experience.