Is Free Poker Online Luck or Skill?
Posted in Fly Fishing Gear on the March 9, 2010
I have been playing poker, both pay and free poker online, for nearly a decade, which to me is quite a long time. During those years I have come across many discussions on whether poker is really a game of skill or luck, hopefully this article will shed some light on the situation.
In my opinion a skilled player is one who can recognize betting patterns, understand flop odds, and percentages, and have a solid concept of strategy and theory. I have noticed however, not matter how well skilled one may be, you must account for variance, and sometimes aggressive, even poor play from others.
I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck.
The assumption would be based on this conclusion that you have to be both pre flop aggressive, as well as post flop smart. Many times one might find themselves in a position where they made the proper call, yet they find themselves behind due in part to an opponents luck hitting a one or two outer.
This is something that wont be easy to get out of. This is more common in online poker as opposed to playing in a casino, due to the fact that more hands are dealt when playing poker online. Online poker is played at a quicker pace and making choices must me made at speed.
Many individuals feel that they take more bad beats online as opposed to live play. This mathematically can be attributed to the number of hands both seen, and played. As well, there is a tile factor involved when one feels that they are being pushed too hard, or perhaps have suffered a bad beat.
The decision making can become irrational, and typical hands that would be thrown away are now played, or even pushed pre flop out of anger in trying to win back lost funds.
An experienced player will more than likely notice the tendencies of opposing players, and exploit these factors to their gain. To the loosing player the loss seems coincidental and becomes another defeat in their mindset based on luck. The truth of the matter is this is not the case, and the loss is due to the flaws in their technique due to lack of experience.
I believe poker is made up of two primary skills both considered on par to each other: knowledge and fortune. To become a successful poker player one must understand how to engage both of these techniques before taking a seat at a money table. The key to building these fundamental attributes is experience, and the best way to build experience without loosing a pocketful of money in the process is by playing free poker online games.