Quote:
Originally Posted by browni3141
No not everyone goes broke eventually. You don't understand statistics. Many go broke because they aren't prepared, either with enough skill or enough discipline, to make it. If you play with a significant edge, are properly rolled and get sufficient volume the chance of going busto over infinite time is mathematically close to zero. This is fact, not opinion.
Most "pros" do go broke. It's easy for poker to fool you into thinking you're better than you are when you're on a heater when you're really not ready to quit your day job. Poker also attracts many people who want the freedom of being their own boss but don't have the discipline to manage their time properly or the mental toughness to play their best game and not miss volume when they're running poorly. This is not the fault of poker.
I taught a Masters level class on advanced statistics but I guess I don’t understand it
Clearly, there was hyperbole in what I said.
Your second paragraph is accurate but your first is filled with gambler fallacies. Convince yourself you have a “significant edge”, convince yourself you just haven’t “put in enough volume” (i.e. just need to keep gambling), and/or you just need to increase your skill level. That’s the trap.
The ONLY possible way of sustaining a lifestyle as a professional poker player is to play a strictly mathematical based game, don’t gamble on anything else, never deviate from your math based game, find other players who are able to play somewhat competently but not perfectly AND who are willing to play with you regularly even though they have a track record of losing to you, and to have a substantial bankroll that you manage like your life depends on it.
Those rules basically exclude 99.99% of all potential “professional” poker players. It’s a pipe dream marketed by the WSOP, WPT, 2+2, other publishing companies, online poker sites, and training sites.
It’s a money making machine for them and they need to sell the dream to keep the cash flowing. That’s why they all loved the “Moneymaker Effect” and encourage people to do what he did. It’s a sham.