How much skill and luck do you need to be a great poker player?

How much skill and luck you need to be a great player in Poker?

  • Total voters
    83
MXZT said:
I honestly believe it's 70% Skill and 30% Luck. There is a reason why certain players keep on winning and are professional poker players. And that's because there highly skilled players. But no question there is an element of luck involved. That's also why you see those bad beats.

You can't control what cards you get or what the cards come at the flop, turn or river. That's where some luck is involved. And how you play your cards and how you play post flop is where the skills get involved.
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You don't see all the times big names get washed out. You play the odds and whatever else and hope you get the cards.
 
Mostly skill I think. I only have played casually and for a few hundred bucks at the tables and I have a decent understanding of the probability of being delt the various hands.

I would imagine someone that plays all the time has a far better grasp on that knowledge, and that's why you see the same people playing in the big leagues.

They are just making solid bet after bet when they know the odds are stacked in their favor.
 
jericksen5 said:
Fedor Holz is kind of your epitome example of the newer wave of mathematical genius poker players.
fedor-holz-interview-poker-strategy-tips-1030x579.jpg


Young guy that barely talks at the table, about as exciting to watch as watching paint dry. Yet by the age of 26, has accumulated something like $32M in tournament earnings alone.
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I've seen this retard shove all his chips in repeatedly with the worst of it and get extremely lucky. Reminds me of a young gus Hansen
 
kahiljabroni said:
I've seen this retard shove all his chips in repeatedly with the worst of it and get extremely lucky. Reminds me of a young gus Hansen
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It may look like that, but the kid is far from a wreckless player. Everything is calculated.
 
Red Beard said:
I posted a very general article regarding what I meant. The calculations are based upon what is showing and what you are holding. This is common practice in Texas Hold'em and it certainly increases your odds of winning a hand. Many casinos rotate decks during games to make it much harder to track cards...that's not a mystery either.





I've played in many one deck games of course. I'm aware they don't use two decks in the game at the same time. I'm referring to rotating the decks...
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Not gonna read the article, maybe you can summarize. I'm thinking maybe you're playing a different version of poker than we traditionally play in the US.

Almost all casinos in the US play nl Texas holdem. You are playing against other players, not the house. There is 1 deck always....and it gets completely shuffled before every hand so there is no counting of cards. Whether they shuffle the deck or rotate them means nothing. One hand has absolutely no bearing on the next.
 
jericksen5 said:
It may look like that, but the kid is far from a wreckless player. Everything is calculated.
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He must be decent to be where he is. I'm just going off the small sample I've seen and he made the wrong move many times.
 
kahiljabroni said:
He must be decent to be where he is. I'm just going off the small sample I've seen and he made the wrong move many times.
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I’d be curious what plays he’s made that struck you as the wrong moves?
Not sure how familiar you are with MTT play, but there will be a lot of spots in MTTs where you’re pushing with hands that would appear to your average poker player to be “junk” hands. However, those plays are GTO correct.
 
kahiljabroni said:
Not gonna read the article, maybe you can summarize. I'm thinking maybe you're playing a different version of poker than we traditionally play in the US.

Almost all casinos in the US play nl Texas holdem. You are playing against other players, not the house. There is 1 deck always....and it gets completely shuffled before every hand so there is no counting of cards. Whether they shuffle the deck or rotate them means nothing. One hand has absolutely no bearing on the next.
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I’m guessing he’s confusing 3-card poker or another “poker” pit game with Texas Hold’em.
 
80/20..

Probably percieved as more for someone like me who plays a lot of weak hands.. (it's up to the other to make me pay for it..)

You've got to know the math to play with the probabilities..
 
Cpt Migraine said:
80/20..

Probably percieved as more for someone like me who plays a lot of weak hands.. (it's up to the other to make me pay for it..)

You've got to know the math to play with the probabilities..
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I’d say in most average home games, the “small ball” strategy of playing a lot of weak hands for cheap can be a very profitable and correct strategy. As long as, like you stated, you know what your doing post flop and can control the pot size.
 
There are people who have won the biggest prize in the world, but it's pretty apparent they did so because they got lucky and they weren't considered great players. (Jamie Gold is a good example)

It's pretty apparent how good of a player you are once you play in a televised event and your hole cards are shown.
 
I barely know the rules

all red cards is the best hand right?
 
I remember when Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP with an Ace high. I also remember some black guy who looked borderline homeless who would consistently piss everyone off by going all in in the dark. I was in high school at the time and that’s literally all me and buddies did all summer was play poker. We were hooked.

Did anybody watch that movie Molly’s Game??? It made me want to round up all the boys and have a poker night again.
 
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jericksen5 said:
I’d say in most average home games, the “small ball” strategy of playing a lot of weak hands for cheap can be a very profitable and correct strategy. As long as, like you stated, you know what your doing post flop and can control the pot size.
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Yeah.. i've outplayed "better" players by playing conservative until i get enough to get me through the firefight where people are fighting for their lifes..

then people berate me for having the audacity to play low suited connectors with only 3 or 4 people left..

Some of my friends became professionals but it was a lonely life for them living here (awake at night and asleep at day) and they made a normal salery.. not worth it..
 
Cpt Migraine said:
Yeah.. i've outplayed "better" players by playing conservative until i get enough to get me through the firefight where people are fighting for their lifes..

then people berate me for having the audacity to play low suited connectors with only 3 or 4 people left..

Some of my friends became professionals but it was a lonely life for them living here (awake at night and asleep at day) and they made a normal salery.. not worth it..
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Wait, I’m not a professional by any means and probably below average in general but you’d get berated for playing a potential straight flush draw?
 
StewDogg11 said:
Wait, I’m not a professional by any means and probably below average in general but you’d get berated for playing a potential straight flush draw?
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He’s saying he was playing low suited connectors, not a straight flush draw. And while you rarely want to be playing these types of hands at the late stages of a tourney, especially with only a few players left, there’s definitely good reasons to play them. Like, if your opponents are weak and allowing you to sneak in hands for cheap.
 
@redbeard @kahiljabroni @jericksen5
Just wanted to point out that redbeard is referring to "counting outs" as "counting cards".

Redbeard "counting cards" is what you do in blackjack when you are keeping track of the high and low cards to determine when to raise your bet.
"Counting outs" is in poker when you count how many hands can beat the hand you are currently holding.
That article you posted was referring to (edit): " Texas Hold’em odds, counting your outs and pot equity" and just lumping it all under the title counting cards which is the wrong term for all of it.

Source: 8 1/2 years as a Casino dealer.
 
jericksen5 said:
He’s saying he was playing low suited connectors, not a straight flush draw. And while you rarely want to be playing these types of hands at the late stages of a tourney, especially with only a few players left, there’s definitely good reasons to play them. Like, if your opponents are weak and allowing you to sneak in hands for cheap.
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So what is a “connector”? Like a 3-7?
 
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