Poker Luck

By Alex

Its something that we can’t control when it happens but their will be times that poker players will experience streaks of luck that will help them create an illusion of great poker play when it was luck that caused them to win. This article will discuss the pitfalls and benefits of having “Lady Luck” on your side while playing poker.

All sports and games that can be wagered on offer some kind of luck element, without it you wouldn’t want to place a bet due to the lack of return on your investment. Poker is similar in that it has a luck element but more importantly it is a game of strategy and players have proven over time that the best players are the most strategic.

Lucky Play can Form Bad Habits

At times, having a lucky poker session can help form bad habits in a poker players game since they see that they are winning with their hand selection & bets (that they shouldn’t). Even the best players can lose their focus on what they set out to play and get involved into hands that were profitable before but because luck won them the hand not skill.

If your playing at an online poker room and you are placed into a situation where you require luck to win the hand and were never favored, you have to realize that getting into this situation can be a result of poor play. Finding yourself again and again in these situations where luck needs to play a large factor (where you only have a couple outs) can be detrimental to long term play because eventually coin flips will be even and over time with bad play, luck is all but eliminated.

The fact that luck is able to come in and save you from your predicament means that many poker players will over look their poor play. Instead feeling that they were owed that hint of fortune following a string of what they consider to be unlucky hands.

When I first started playing poker, I had to have being sharing the profits with Lady Luck because she seemed to have my corner almost 70% of the time and with that I didn’t address the faults within my strategy. I was blinded by the fact that I had won the hand, I just didn’t care how, I was happy with seeing the chips being sent over to my end of the table.
It is only when you truly look at what needing luck is all about when you realize that it’s actually your error that has placed you into the need to call on luck, which boils down to poor play.

Play Poker as a game of Skill

This isn’t to say that all situations that you need luck are because of your bad play it can be because of your opponents that leads you into the situations. You can only play your cards and your opponents play is out of your control so all you can do is put yourself in good situations to win…luck will eventually even out.

I have seen many players who play poker and their approach to the game is completely wrong. Instead of playing a game that has been proven to be more about the skill of the player than the luck of the draw they still play it as a game of pure luck, also known as ‘Lucky Man’s Poker’ which are also called “fish” and playing against them can be very profitable (Just don’t be one yourself).

This sort of player often has  a short term victory but most likely they will lose their bankroll quickly because they are playing without skill and depending on luck which they can’t control.

This not only takes the skill out of the game, instead it leaves them in a situation where if they don’t have luck on their side, they are sent away with nothing. It is much better to learn starting hands and how to properly bet your hands then push all-in hoping for a lucky win.
All this focus on players having to really read and understand poker strategy really comes into its own here, playing poker at a high and profitable level requires time, dedication, practice and research.

Don’t wait, Improve your Poker Game

Although time consuming and at points hard to do, the need to progress as a poker player is huge, with so many players opting to take up the game over the last few years and even more expected over the next few years, you really need to be a progressing poker player. Failure to do that will leave you sat at your current level of play while others around you learn the game and then take advantage of you, draining your bankroll and profiting from your lack of poker prowess.
Speaking to a couple of successful poker players, I asked when they thought that luck became a major factor within a players game. Most thought for a few moments and told me that the element of luck was out of their control and a good poker player will not change their game because of luck in previous hands helping or hurting them.

The fact is for poor poker players this isn’t the case and luck can push them to play un-profitable hands. Whether it be because they are bored or it’s their lucky hand they are still playing a risky style of poker that can backfire when they get into a hand where they can’t fold but most likely will lose.

The basis in which you are supposed to play the game is that you are only to wager on hands that you feel are strong enough to be able to win the central pot, anything else then the idea is that you are meant to fold.

Remember that relying on luck to win hands for you will become a very costly habit as its not going to be on your side every time, and failure to recognize that your poor play has put you into the situation will mean that your not able to improve as a player.