How much luck/ skill is in poker?

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cheeeer

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You never know. Until you are busted. Then it all looks like luck.
 
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jova1994

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I think there is much more luck than skill because if it were more skill than luck we would never lose, well I think so ... not luck always ahead
:eek::evil:
 
DanyDGD

DanyDGD

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I think is a 80% skills and 20 % good luck
 
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kristersb123

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Playing freerolls or tournaments with a lot of people then luck is really important
 
iosif18

iosif18

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bbbb

Hello .Playing poker is a variety of combination.Skill luck experience reads etc....I think skill is more important than luck .You can play your cards like AA even if you got 72 .
 
flattershay

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70-30%skill on MTT's and 85%-15%skill on cash I think.
 
fa1920

fa1920

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It is skill and luck, but it is also very true that you are only able to win a tournament based on pure luck while winning a tournament at pure skill I see it quite hard, if so the pro-players would always win. So I'd say it's 75% luck and 25% skill, you're never going to win a tournament without luck
 
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Streetwylde

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Donks

Thing that gets me is when you know you have someone and they make a terrible call and need miracles to beat you and they get it. Sure I understand it happens now and then but it seems to happen a lot more then the odds say it should, way more... Then the same donk that donked you goes out playing his donk ways in the next few hands or so.
 
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gatoozo84

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hello,

I just wanted to ask you about the softwares authorised in the rooms. I just installed 'PokerStrategy Equilab', I recived an email from pokerstars :tomato:warning me that's prohibited to use such a software.
any advice guys, TYYY. :confused:
 
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Dontnonothin

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100% Skill long term

There is no such thing as luck. Mathematical chance is the same for everybody, so if you play longterm it all depends on your skill.

Short term you could get on the bad side of mathematical chance.:(
 
Lorpugo

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It all depends on you and your bankroll management. Poker is such a game that you can gamble or you can play with skill. The difference is your byuin. Example. If you have 10 000 $ bankroll and you play 1$ byuin there is no luck only skill. Your aces will get cracked but on long run it does not matter. Now if you use 10 000 for one byuin then for sure luck is involved. So it is your choice.
 
hutzpaf

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Hard Evidence: is poker a game of chance or skill?

Drawing on a database of 456m player-hand observations from a year’s worth of online games, we first investigated how consistent player performance was. This revealed substantial evidence of the role of skill in successful play.
For instance, players who ranked in the best-performing 10% in the first six months of the year were more than twice as likely as others to do similarly well in the next six months. And, players who finished in the best-performing 1% in the first half of the year were 12 times more likely than others to repeat the feat in the second half. Meanwhile, players who fared badly from the start continued to lose and hardly ever metamorphosed into top performers.
So we know for sure that poker can’t be a game of pure chance.
http://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-is-poker-a-game-of-chance-or-skill-39224
 
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dregan

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As for me, I think that in poker there is 45% luck and 55% skill. But this is my personal observation of my game. Maybe someone has a different aspect ratio.I think that Pro players skill reaches 80%.
 
MishkaZL

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I think that in poker the player's success depends on his experience and skill. Only skill and experience will allow you to become a successful player. I believe that 80% is a skill and experience, and only 20% is luck.
 
1sunchin

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The greater your skill, the less often you will get into a situation where your winning or losing depends on luck. Accordingly, play, learn, increase your skill and you will see that you became more lucky than ever before!
 
vov4ik

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There are many different types of tournament, if you choose a normal tournament mtt, then I think that 60-70% of skill is in it and the rest is luck, but there are tournaments in which the rate grows very quickly and in it almost impossible to focus normally and such tournaments play only on luck , well, if you take a cash game then it's easier to play there and you can freely decide how to play and on what and the most excellent thing in a cash game is that you can exit the game at any time!
 
keontayB

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How do i beat these super lucky players then, its really frustrating because in the unlucky sessions im always a huge favourite to win the pot but always get outdrawn :(


I feel you, i have the same problem. Almost everytime. My opponents are ridiculously lucky.
 
xbronk

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poker is a game of numbers and if you have a year playing you know that you will not always win a pocket AA hand a percentage of times you will win and it depends on how you play there are too many factors it is not about playing only premium hands it is about bluffing bluff semifarolear play with the positions know against whom to fight the boats and against whom not attack the weakness and manipulate aggressiveness play with luck will make you win several times play with skill will make you win many more conbinalas and you will be a great player:sheep:
 
Spaceman

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Both. At higher buyins you need more skills but in micro and small buyins luck is a big factor especially with those any two gamblers on those stakes.

But..

When dealt dream hands and players keep calling only to outdrawn you in my opinion is not always a problem of luck but also of skills.

When you play against a calling station, a fish, a donk, a crazy aggro you should adjust your game to them. Adjusting to your opponent and knowing how to get maximum value is a skill.

When you bet to get folds you should have a read on what betting size can get your opponents to fold.
If you bet little and give your opponent a cheap shot to see a turn card he can outdrawn you. Having a read and knowing your opponent is also a skill.

When you know someone is a calling station you could save yourself from some brutal variance swings and shove with monster hands like sets, straights, flushes and higher in order to not get outdrawn by some stupid two pair. Proper preflop betting to get them fold their stupid hands is a skill. Minimizing bad beats and getting maximum value is a skill also.

Your example of runner runner straight donked is extreme but typical in micro buyins or freeroll. Those things wont happen when you move to higher buyins. But sharks will eat you alive when you shove just a top pair on the flop and you will appreciate the micro buyin donks that can call you with 27.
 
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Bertie Wooster

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I feel like some sessions im unbeatable, dealt dream hands and players calling. Other sessions im not allowed to win, no matter how good i flop i will bet big and get outdrawn by a backdoor full house or something sick. Constantly outdrawn even when im an 80% favourite on the flop.
So my question if poker is so much skill how do you consistantly win when the cards are very much against you?
And please dont say 'youll win in the long run' ive been playing for a year now and cant consistently win because of the sessions i get horribly outdrawn almost every hand when i should be winning them most of the time!


Both. In MTTs over the long haul, the better players are going to win. That's a fact. If you look at the top players in both live and online poker...it's the same players year after year. Are they just always lucky?

Good players maximize wins and minimize losses in cash games...they lay probabilities regardless of whether they feel "lucky" that day.

In MTTs, the best players get aggressive near the "bubble" and the weaker players ry to "make it" into the $$.

It's also human nature to remember bad losses and forget the many times we "draw out" or get lucky.

It's a massive ploy on the part of our egos to keep us safe and feeling good...but inability to recognize our mistakes keeps us from growing as human beings AND as poker players.

I have been playing many many years. I generally don't make too many mistakes, if any, in a big, live tournaments. I still don't win every tournament because of VARIANCE...no one does!

Last month, I was on a roll, then I made an absolutely terrible rookie mistake at a final table that cost me my chance at a 25K seat to the pokerstars Caribbean classic, plus 20K for first... I busted out 9th for $800+...an absolute disaster. My terribl mistake threw me out of whack for a few tournaments, and 8 live tournaments later, I am just now getting back to myself.

We all need some luck to win, but luck doesn't help bad players over time...they will lose. Good players will be able to take advantage of good fortune, bad players won't.

Discipline is the key...keep looking at your game for mistakes and areas of improvement.

I took step waaaaay back. I wouldn;t allow myself to enter big tournaments and started playing very low buy-in (including the $100 free roll here (came in 4th after leading with 4 players left when my AK lost to JJ) and a $10 1K GTD Limit HE tourney yesterday. The limit is a different game, but for me, well it makes me slow down and think and grind ad stay patient. Wound up winning that yesterday.

Played the free roll Venom on ACR this morning for the $10 seat tonight. 348 players, 3 seats...got one!

No it's only a $10 seat... but sometimes going to lower stakes and committing to winning at lower levels before playing the levels you feel you "deserve" is a good way to develop discipline and bankroll management.

Don' worry...if you are truly a good player, you will win over time. If you are not winning, that's okay too...1 year in poker is the embryo stage. There is plenty of time to LEARN to play better.

The key element for me was having a great poker partner who would tell me the truth and a good dose of humility and willingness to see where I was making mistakes. I had to stop blaming "bad luck" for my losses and learn from them.

There at a ton of good basic skills poker videos you can find for free. You can find more advanced FREE videos from people like Doug Polk on youtube. I have been playing longer than Doug Polk has been alive... but I can learn a lot from a guy like him and others, too. There is always more to learn...the game is always evolving. If you have the instincts, you can be great. If you don't, you can still be pretty decent by learning.

Get back at 'em!
 
U

UncleConRon

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My opinion

The trick is to take a break when the cards are going against you and play another card game. Cards for one card game are not good for another card game. A site I go to is pogo.com for hearts spades and gin. Those games shuffle your memory so the cards in poker rock again.
 
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aaRoriWriter

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I think that probability (not luck) is more than important. But if U got skills, U have this system - U will definetely win something. If U don't have one - hey, lady luck herself may be w8ing for ya, but u'r just not getting there.
 
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abyk

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A lot of people say 60% skill land 40% luck
 
Lena M

Lena M

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Hello.
In my opinion, this ratio is 70% skill and 30% luck.
 
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