How much luck...How much skill??

[Mark S.]

Reading the endless 'bad beat' stories that appear on forums across the globe it can probably be argued that to be a successful poker player, in terms of rewards, that luck plays a greater part in the game than ever before.

In the 'old days' (pre Late Night Poker) you'd be unlucky to run ito a field of 100+ players in ANY poker tournament. (I think I mentioned that the biggest games, in terms of turnout, were at the Rainbow in Birmingham where 140 would play in the £100 MAIN EVENT) Nowadays I play in tournaments that have in excess of 3000 players (Sunday $200 game on Pokerstars). Just how often are you going to do well in these games?

Are players just 'lucky' or do they have a real skill in being able to play cards & situations better than the person sat next to them?

Last night in an EPT satellite event on Stars I called an all-in bet with KK for my opponent to show 99. Of course the inevitable 9 arrived on the flop and I'm gone. Unlucky? Certainly! Bad Beat? Of course! (Although a 1/6 shot being beaten is never THAT bad)

I suppose what I'm getting at is that in order to be successful in todays world of poker you need to be extremely lucky yet, as we all know, we're happy to play in the knowledge that none of us are!

[AdamM]

come on Mark, this reads not like a conversational stream started, more like a blog or editorial statement.  You're a writer. think about the tone and how you want your reader to feel when reading it.

Was I on the list of Book recipients by the way?

[rivered]

and i was once told it was 20% skill and 80% luck, but i wouldn't have a clue coz i rely purely on the luck part.... i did an experiment last night - went all in on every hand in a $5 STT.... i won!!  won't be doing that again lol.

[pokertruth]

The idiot UKPOKER strikes again