"Does luck or skill prevail in poker?"

TeUnit

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In the short term - luck.

In the long term - skill.

The bigger the sample size the more skill will win out.
 
pep12343

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Actually, skill wins in the long run, but we have to be aware that if you meet a lucky player in a tournament, you won't beat him.
What I mean is that if you look at the result of a single tournament, a lucky player will probably beat a skilled player. But luck isn't infinite, that would lead to the skilled player beating the lucky player most of the time.
 
jaymfc

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takes skill to have the most consistent luck but I like the saying:
I would rather be lucky than good.
 
john_entony

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What do you consider more important: luck or skill in poker?
This is the eternal question in poker! In fact, skills in poker mean a lot more than luck. But without luck you will very often lose in situations where you are the favorite on pre-flop or even turn. :unsure:
 
pentazepam

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In the short term - luck.

In the long term - skill.

The bigger the sample size the more skill will win out.
This is correct.

But in the long term can sometimes be VERY long.

Especially in LIVE play and MTTs.
 
Lena M

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What do you consider more important: luck or skill in poker?
I think it depends on your goals. If you want to be a profitable player in the long run, then skills will be more important. If poker is just a weekend pastime for you, or a bingo game in general, then perhaps luck will be more important to you.
 
Leandro6803

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In the long run skill will be greater than luck, so study and be prepared for when luck will lead you to a big win in the future.
 
Pokerpoet2

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You can bandy about giving different percentages all day long, Luck and skill are immeasurable, You cannot possibly say how much luck or skill differs because there is nothing to see! It's all in the hands of the Poker Gods!
Personally I believe that Skill in the game gets you to the Final table, Luck is something we all get, just not always when we need it most. Even the best players need a little luck now and again, but they don't rely upon it.
Skill will inevitably Win in the long term, The lucky may win 1 in 100 but a skilful player will win perhaps 10 in 100 and place in the money in perhaps 30% or 40% of the games they play. It's those kind of percentages you can measure on a personal level by keeping records of your cashes, I used to keep records, but now I just keep an eye on my account balance and as long as it keeps climbing I really don't care if I win or come 2nd or 3rd or even lose a game or two!
Am I Lucky? Sometimes, but I believe it is my 20 years of experience that helps me more when I play a poker game!
 
thetick33

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What do you consider more important: luck or skill in poker?
Skill to win a tournament you need luck to get rich playing poker and keep it skill wins out every time over year after year decade after decade....So you need both...A 4 hour tournament you might need luck 20 to 80 times depending how many times you go all in lol....With any type of flip etc...Smartest statement any pro ever told me was you only need to win once in a tournament one hand IF YOU GO ALL IN...thats the last hand...I got it he is a champion he taught me limit holdem and ive won so many times using that... Now its more aggressive then like...Like that in omaha PL but not so much in nl holdem tournaments want to play trapping style but now got to mix up more it seems to be successful so need to change ways at times i guess :) but ya you still need that luck a 5 day tournament you cant count how many times you need luck lol but the skill the knowledge of playing a million hands ? more etc...is priceless learn people is what would say learn people is biggest advantage you can have...and give a majority of my winnings on understanding opponents using weaknesses messing with their minds etc...i dont really do that here im nice thetick33 or Elvis55rulez on replay lol...but ya live im a different animal and people i dont know ? ya i can be a jerk mind messing for sure....
 
rawbad

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I've been playing poker since I was a kid playing with my mommy, she taught me how to play and i was really lucky at cards but as I got older, I learned the game better and now I know that its 50% luck and 50% skill that's the best way I've seeing this card game played!
 
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As they say, you can't drink mastery
 
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Since it's impossible you have luck 100% of the times, skill is definitely more important on the long run. I've read many years ago that you can win one big tournament if you're in a lucky day, but you only can be a successful player if you have skills.
 
ninocabral

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Without a doubt, skill prevails, and luck doesn't influence that much if you play constantly
 
Newzooozooo

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What do you consider more important: luck or skill in poker?
In general, I think skills are more important. I think the ratio of skills to luck is about 75% to 25%. But this is a very generalised ratio, and if we talk about super turbo or hyper tournaments, then everything looks the other way round :)
 
MK_

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I think it's obviously skill, anyone can get lucky once in a while but overall it takes skill,

....I think this is an unhealthy way to look at poker generally, don't waste time on

external forces you can't control, work on your game👍
 
eberetta1

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I think most games I money in, it was more luck than skill. Today, my 3 jacks were no match against 3 kings. My skill did not put me in the money today.
 
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In any discipline, skill plays a crucial role, but luck also plays an important role in poker, without it it will be much more difficult to win.
 
dreamer13

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No one will argue that the game of poker is based, first of all, on pragmatic mathematical laws. Mathematical calculations have long been included in the training program for those who want to play poker professionally.However, one can be absolutely sure that luck and fortune always went hand in hand with the player's skill. It is this circumstance that makes poker battles full of unexpected turns.
 
hardongear

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Pretty easy question to answer for me as a player who always believed the more times you start with the best hand preflop the more times it's gonna hold up long term. Simple math and simple facts it's hard to hit flops in Holdem/poker. So I depend on not being unlucky. So far it's worked awesome for 20+ years and counting.

Since none of us are playing for the short term. I mean none of us are gonna quit after winning a single MTT. So all that matters is long term for the majority of us. Long term skill, talent and hard work simply kill it and always will. No different then any other part of life hard work, skill and talent always beats luck long term.

Cheers!!!
 
bablovod

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you are a competent and skillful specialist, you are playing the right game, you know how not to frighten your opponent away, but a great deal of trouble awaits you on the river...
 
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