What do you guys think is poker more skill than luck or it's 50-50.I personal think online poker is more luck than skill ( 70% luck and 30% skill) because you can't read your opponents as well as you would in a live game.In live tournments i think it's alittle more skill then luck (55% skill and 45% luck) because of the better read of your opponents.Give me a shout out guys.

i happen to disagree..I think it is 75% skill and 25% luck to consently make a profit mth after mth and year after year..I believe people do not have the proper bankroll to be able to see that..

Over a long enough period of time luck wont even be a factor.

Luck controles what happens in the short term, where as skill controles what happens in the long term.

You can still read you opponents well online...it just takes alot of experiece to reconise certain betting patterns.

topnotch said:
i happen to disagree..I think it is 75% skill and 25% luck to consently make a profit mth after mth and year after year..I believe people do not have the proper bankroll to be able to see that..

Even the best players will have a lossing month from time to time.

Variance, (or luck), plays a huge part in poker to a decent players benefit. Without it, the poor players would never hit their shotguts, two outers or fluke a second pair on the river when behind.

It is variance that lets the poorer players think they can actually play the game, and therefore they redeposit and keep playing, making the good players wealthier over the long term.

Long term the cream always rises to the top and the best players will be the most profitable. Quality players accept variance as part of the game and will not get too depressed in a downswing as it is part of poker. There are ways of reducing periods of variance and its effects and keeping a positive mindset, don't go chasing your money, and excellent bankroll management skills are integral parts in doing this.

So my view is, long term, if you are a good player then 'luck' has no negative effect on your game and therefore long term poker is 100% skill. Jonny is pretty spot on in what he has said, one of the top UK pros Neil Channing says that even the best players will play losing sessions a third of the time. That is an excellent way to put poker in perspective too, as it means in 3 sessions it is only your third that may be your profit.

So to summerise, good players accept variance as part of poker, and try and reduce its factors and time scale, whilst lesser players just call it bad luck, get themselves into a negative state, and just wait for it to change.

So if you are in a downswing, look at how you can change things and stop blaming it all on bad luck!

danutz said:
Variance, (or luck), plays a huge part in poker to a decent players benefit. Without it, the poor players would never hit their shotguts, two outers or fluke a second pair on the river when behind.It is variance that lets the poorer players think they can actually play the game, and therefore they redeposit and keep playing, making the good players wealthier over the long term.Long term the cream always rises to the top and the best players will be the most profitable. Quality players accept variance as part of the game and will not get too depressed in a downswing as it is part of poker. There are ways of reducing periods of variance and its effects and keeping a positive mindset, don't go chasing your money, and excellent bankroll management skills are integral parts in doing this.So my view is, long term, if you are a good player then 'luck' has no negative effect on your game and therefore long term poker is 100% skill. Jonny is pretty spot on in what he has said, one of the top UK pros Neil Channing says that even the best players will play losing sessions a third of the time. That is an excellent way to put poker in perspective too, as it means in 3 sessions it is only your third that may be your profit.So to summerise, good players accept variance as part of poker, and try and reduce its factors and time scale, whilst lesser players just call it bad luck, get themselves into a negative state, and just wait for it to change.So if you are in a downswing, look at how you can change things and stop blaming it all on bad luck!

Great post...couldn't be written any clearer than that.

The luck vs skill ratio acually changes depending on the table. If you were to sit down at the lowest limits of play chips, you will see many donkeys allin each hand. this is guaranteed pure luck. you can call with the best hands only and still lose to garbage or you will prob run out of big blinds before you get such a pre flop allin hand. Skills come in when you play mid-high limits where people will not be donkeys and allin preflop with any 2. However sometimes you might run into a rich person who doesnt care and allin preflop alot with garbage too. Luck and skill ratio depends on the table itselt.

Nope theres still skill involved...the loosser and sloppyer the opponents are the more aggressive you should be for a couple of reassons.

1) by been hyper over aggressive you will actual get 1 or 2 more of the donks to fold to would other wise call had you bet like you would in a money game.

2) aggresivness pays...and if there loosse and call sloppy you make them pay.

Danuts you always nail it on the head. If these sites didn't let the fools runner runner they woudl go broke. I can tell you I have seen a fool get lucky more times than I care to add, but if you watch that fool throught a tourny and especially in Sng play, if he doesn't have skill he gets clumsy and plays out of control, his false confidence puts him in too many hands, most of which he has no business being in. "the cream does rise to the top" when a player is getting lucky over and over i sit back and play tight and aggressive. So long as my game is right I can't fault myself for losing to the UB/Carbon/PS donk of the day. Alos, in the interest of throwing the fools off their pathetic game and making them play more recklessly, I don't hesitate to point out to them, that they must be shagging somoene at home office or be getting close to going broke so the site wants them to think they are lucky so they will reload. Because there is no way to read peoples faces and bodies on the net you almost have to resort to mental warfare. Good luck on the tables.

Personally, I think poker is a game of skill. 60-75% is skill. If you have enough skill, you will not get yourself into situations where luck takes over. I see a lot of people, needlessly get it all in with the best of it (yes, i understand that you want to get your money in with the best hand) but since there is the understanding that there are odds involved, you have to make sure you protect your money to some degree.

we r trying to get the us laws changed, if u read any poker book, will tell u this is a game of skill.luck plays a small factor in this equation,variance is the key to ur luck, skill is ur key to wins and $$$ if the government thinks this game is all luck, we will never change the laws, bring some congress fools to a poker table and let them see how much luck they have hahah great post peace all~~~