Luck or Skill?

Tebeezy420

Tebeezy420

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I know many players whom have studied poker and spent hours obtaining knowledge to become the best poker player they can be. There are others that play on pure instinct and feeling (intuition); They let that intuition guide their game and, at many times, take down those Poker Scholars. What type of poker player are you?
 
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Joselmb31

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I believe that the lower the level of the tournament, the more percentage of the variance is luck than ability. So much so that in freeroll tournaments it is practically impossible to bluff because having a flush and straight draw, they pay with only a pair of 4.
 
Igor G

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Players who play relying on instincts, intuition, feeling are actually bingo players. I believe that skills will always be more important than luck. I always count on skills.
 
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odonob

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There is a rhythm to getting to the last table in MTTs. Of utmost importance is the couple of big hands that you fold. These keep you in the tournament and you look at those afterwards.
 
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1nsomn1a

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Luck alone will not help without skills, but skills are useless if luck does not participate, since even your strongest hands can constantly break on bad beat if today is not your day.
 
redboy23

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Luck is always an asset in poker regardless of skill. The less skill you have the more luck that is needed. Using good old fashion time tested mathematics is the best way to go in poker - reading players, bluffing, slow playing and the like will come with experience and to a large extent has to be learned as well.

I enjoy playing poker and believe that learning to calculate my pot odds and outs, practicing bankroll management, pot control and betting plays are an important part of my game.

Have fun and never gamble what you cannot afford to lose!
(Live by this to avoid pitfalls)
 
Alizona

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Perhaps I'm not answering the exact question being asked, but let me pull out my soapbox for another rant. :D

Short term results are more dependent upon luck of the cards.
Long term results are more dependent upon the relative skill level between yourself and the players you face.

ALL poker occurs in the SHORT TERM.
Skill only reveals itself over a long period of time - over our "career" - that length of time. A lengthy length indeed.

This is why we can't ever really be sure if we're winning because we're getting lucky, or if we're winning because we're more skillful than the players we face. As is often said, it takes thousands if not millions of poker hands before we can make a reasonable estimate of where we are at on the scale.

Most poker players want the answer after one session, or even after a few hands. It's very silly and such players reveal they do not understand poker very well, if at all.

This discussion then goes into what is called 'variance' which is short for 'variance from a normal distribution', but I've made my point and won't go into all that math and statistics gibberish.

Adopt a long term viewpoint and forget about short term results! Most poker players don't seem to be able to do this, IMO. They don't have the right concept of what the "luck vs. skill" argument is all about.

Poker is quite clearly a SKILL game, but NOT over the short term. So, from a lawyer standpoint, you can literally "prove" either side of the coin if you frame your arguments properly and slant them the "right" way (which is what lawyers do LOL).

There's no such thing as "lucky" players over the long run, because after enough poker hands have been played, the good luck cancels out with the bad luck and all we are left with is the skill factor to determine who becomes a winning player and who doesn't. Another way to put it is... over the long run, statistical variance converges on zero - it goes completely away. But we are talking MILLIONS of hands played - over your lifetime career, basically - not just a few hundred. The long run is very long indeed, which is why so many players don't get it. Hope this helps someone understand.

P.S. So I guess to answer the OP's question, ALL poker players are BOTH lucky AND skillful. We're all lucky (or unlucky) over the short term (where all poker games occur), but we're also all skillful to a greater (winning players) or lesser (losing players) degree over our careers.
 
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Luisma231

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hello

Poker shouldn't be just luck. but in these last times luck is being played is what I see in all the sites .. I mean it is more luck than study and logic!
 
Shrops

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Skill

I believe skill will defeat luck in the long run.
 
Izzeee

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As others have stated, luck only will get you so far. Without study and practice you are at a severe disadvantage. The players you see winning on a regular basis, they put time in to study.
 
takinitSLEAZEE

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I consider myself skilled, to a degree. In the words of the immortal Jimi Hendrix, "Are you experienced?" :icon_rr:
 
Kenzie 96

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I know many players whom have studied poker and spent hours obtaining knowledge to become the best poker player they can be. There are others that play on pure instinct and feeling (intuition); They let that intuition guide their game and, at many times, take down those Poker Scholars. What type of poker player are you?





Many times eh, no doubt true, but over time, the more skilled player will win many more times.
Really depends on what your goals are, playing at a buy in level that you can afford to lose & just for the enjoyment & really don't have all that much free time, relying on luck & gut feelings is perfectly fine. Personally I am trying to improve my decision making & am happy to invest the time, but I never buy in for an amount I can't walk away from if something more important or interesting comes up.
 
Zvezda kz

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It seems to me that this dispute has been going on for a long time. In my opinion, the main thing is experience, skill, but at the initial stages, naturally, a beginner needs a solid basis in the form of theory. The more experience a player has, the stronger the player.
 
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Nik990

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I am a gambler by intuition, I have been playing poker for a long time, but I have never learned anything, now I have tightened up my theory, so I registered here :)
 
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nutself

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First, to win money consistently in poker like the pros, skill is undoubtedly the primary factor; second, intuition is not related to luck, I think it is a special way of apply your poker knowledge instantly, for someone doesn't know poker, there is no way for him to have any kind of poker instinct.
 
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alabos

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I think its mix of those........i think good player need luck sometimes but the good player need. To do is luck too
 
Luvepoker

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Poker is all about the skill. One hand does not mean anything but its the long term accumulation of hands that bring out the skill aspect.
 
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Clutchdenier

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Intuitive player 100%

A decent understanding of GTO helps in knowing ways to exploit

Definitely would like to get Charlie carrel or better yet, Phil Hellmuth to coach me one day ;)
 
Zapahlohotrona

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In poker there is such a thing as patience. What I don’t have lately. We are adults and we understand that luck is present, but the skill has not been canceled either.
 
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Lol1x1

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I know many players who have studied poker and spent hours learning to become the best poker player they can be. There are others who play on pure instinct and feeling (intuition); They let this intuition guide their game and often beat these poker scientists. What kind of poker player are you?
There is luck in any game! It's my opinion)
 
Luka22guro

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What I like poker is that you teach do not teach it all to the ideal, I mean% that you will get what your opponent may have, but everyone probably had that you even put up on aces and you 2 2 or some 3 2 will be slammed so that my personal opinion 50/50 luck and skill
 
TheNutz4You

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gut and feeling for me, with some sound poker sprinkled in sometimes tbh.
 
VikyGia

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Hi

everything is probability, in which they say it is luck.
 
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Rabinachman1

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Hi def skill. Luck comes with great skill.
 
henriquemaduro

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I know many players whom have studied poker and spent hours obtaining knowledge to become the best poker player they can be. There are others that play on pure instinct and feeling (intuition); They let that intuition guide their game and, at many times, take down those Poker Scholars. What type of poker player are you?


I think there is those both kind of players, but with a winning and lasting carrer just those who play with the math, and use intuition sometimes.... In my case, always when I try to play just with intuition I go nowhere.
 
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