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All you'd discover is that poker is a very very volatile game and the number of tournaments it would have to play in to prove anything would be beyond time avai

All you'd discover is that poker is a very very volatile game and the number of tournaments it would have to play in to prove anything would be beyond time available. It's worth noting that most poker pros will constantly re-buy in early rounds in big tournaments. It's a general recognition that it takes money, not skill to survive. Being at the later tables helps them maintain their fame, which is really their business. Of course, if you're playing against amateurs or drunks, you can always win. But usually at the real tournaments they are few and far between.

mmanfrin 10y ago
It's a general recognition that it takes money, not skill to survive. This is complete bullshit. Rebuys in the first round only help to insulate you from the chaos of the first round, where there tend to be a lot of wild players who gamble. Tournaments go on for 20, 30, 40+ rounds. The fact that people have won multiple championships and that many people continue to reach the final tables is evidence against the notion that it's just about money.
- blazespin 10y ago
  Wrong. The rebuys let you build up a big bankroll as you feed your table. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Series_of_Poker_Main_Event_champions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Series_of_Poker_... Notice how there is never any repeat winners? (Well, except maybe Chan and one other.) Try sitting down at a table in vegas and play tight. Watch as everyone leaves. They just can't make enough money, you just lose it all to the rake.
  - xapata 10y ago
    You're mixing your analysis of tournament and cash games. There is no rake in a tournament, at least not in the same fashion. Also, I'm not aware of a tournament that allows rebuys or top-ups that give a stack larger than the initial stack. I don't really play tournaments, though. Cash games only. I play often enough. If the table is too tight, I go loose and take all the blinds. Sure, beating the rake can be tough, but it's not impossible.
  - abduhl 10y ago
    The WSOP main event does not allow rebuys.
- thinkloop 10y ago
  > The fact that people have won multiple championships and that many people continue to reach the final tables is evidence against the notion that it's just about money. In modern poker (not the old days where few were playing), the max bracelets anyone has won is 5. Assuming that past a basic threshold of skill it's a 50/50 crapshoot, there's a 1 in 32 chance you get that on luck. There are thousands of people above the basic threshold. "Professional" poker really is about tourists and drinkers. The grind is too slow, painful, and volatile. I know a couple of people who support themselves on only poker. That's their strategy year round between tournies. The reason they play the big tournies is to get lucky, and parlay their fame into sponsorships and such.
gozur88 10y ago
>All you'd discover is that poker is a very very volatile game and the number of tournaments it would have to play in to prove anything would be beyond time available. A pro in an adjacent seat once remarked "There's so much luck in tournament play you'd need a dozen lifetimes to know if you're actually beating them."

mmanfrin 10y ago

It's a general recognition that it takes money, not skill to survive. This is complete bullshit. Rebuys in the first round only help to insulate you from the chaos of the first round, where there tend to be a lot of wild players who gamble. Tournaments go on for 20, 30, 40+ rounds. The fact that people have won multiple championships and that many people continue to reach the final tables is evidence against the notion that it's just about money.

blazespin 10y ago
Wrong. The rebuys let you build up a big bankroll as you feed your table. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Series_of_Poker_Main_Event_champions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Series_of_Poker_... Notice how there is never any repeat winners? (Well, except maybe Chan and one other.) Try sitting down at a table in vegas and play tight. Watch as everyone leaves. They just can't make enough money, you just lose it all to the rake.
- xapata 10y ago
  You're mixing your analysis of tournament and cash games. There is no rake in a tournament, at least not in the same fashion. Also, I'm not aware of a tournament that allows rebuys or top-ups that give a stack larger than the initial stack. I don't really play tournaments, though. Cash games only. I play often enough. If the table is too tight, I go loose and take all the blinds. Sure, beating the rake can be tough, but it's not impossible.
- abduhl 10y ago
  The WSOP main event does not allow rebuys.
thinkloop 10y ago
> The fact that people have won multiple championships and that many people continue to reach the final tables is evidence against the notion that it's just about money. In modern poker (not the old days where few were playing), the max bracelets anyone has won is 5. Assuming that past a basic threshold of skill it's a 50/50 crapshoot, there's a 1 in 32 chance you get that on luck. There are thousands of people above the basic threshold. "Professional" poker really is about tourists and drinkers. The grind is too slow, painful, and volatile. I know a couple of people who support themselves on only poker. That's their strategy year round between tournies. The reason they play the big tournies is to get lucky, and parlay their fame into sponsorships and such.

gozur88 10y ago

>All you'd discover is that poker is a very very volatile game and the number of tournaments it would have to play in to prove anything would be beyond time available. A pro in an adjacent seat once remarked "There's so much luck in tournament play you'd need a dozen lifetimes to know if you're actually beating them."