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by: michaelmonroe
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Word Count: 665
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 Time: 4:10 AM
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Without a doubt the most controversial argument in poker is the skill vs. luck factor. Anybody who knows the game of poker knows that there is a lot of skill that goes into the game. If someone says that poker is all luck and no skill, they simply do not know the game of poker. There is no arguing that point; it is just a simple fact. Where the argument comes in is how much skill is involved versus the amount of luck in poker. Just like stated about the skill, same goes with the luck. Any poker player that says there is no luck involved in poker is just kidding themselves or full of it.

There is a tremendous amount of skill that goes into the game of poker. To be successful you have to have many of the following skills:

• Mathematical Skills

• Psychology Skills

• Discipline (a major skill)

• Focus

• Patients

• Guts

• Decision making

There are a variety of personalities in poker but you can bet that all good players have all the same traits above. These traits are all SKILLS that are necessary to play this game called poker. Without those skills, you are relying on pure luck which will not win for you on a consistent basis. The only way to consistently win poker is by using the skills necessary to achieve success.

Luck?

Okay so now that you understand that there are many skills involved with poker, it is time to examine the luck portion of the game. Of course, the whole entire game is about cards that are dealt. In the end, what will determine a win is when all cards are flipped, is the player with the best hand. Most of the time the decisions in poker are based on odds and probabilities, which many times do not work out as planned. All you can do as a poker player is use all your skills to make the best decisions as possible, and let the rest all fall into place.

The luck in poker is short term not long term

While there is a lot of luck that goes into poker, it is not a long term thing. The skill is going to override the luck in the long run. Anybody can win at poker on any given day due to luck. There is not anyone that can win consistently due to luck. Players with the skills that make them good poker players are good because they have what it takes to be good. They are not good over the long run because they are “lucky”. Luck has very little to do with long term success. It can definitely make or break you on any given night, but not over a long period of time.

The fact is that the probabilities and odds do not lie. Of course, there may be times when you have only a 5% chance to win a hand and you will still win it. The thing is that you will lose the other 95% of the time. That is what people do not understand. The odds and the probabilities only work out accurately over a long period of time. If you play by the odds and kept track of all your hands you would see that the probabilities and percentages did match up fairly well. It would take hundreds of thousands of hands to get accurate numbers, but it would work.

The biggest problem with this topic is that it depends a lot on the type of player you are. For someone who plays poker to win and they play a lot, the skill overrides the luck 100%. Somebody who only plays a tournament here and there is going to be better off getting lucky.

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