Is it accurate that 96% of players lose money?

Mogulkahn

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Good evening, let's just look at a simple example and conclude that the theory about 96% of players is not true.

Its just fortune telling on coffe what a % of players is a lose money
 

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BelFish

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It would probably be more accurate to say that only 5% of players win a lot in poker. 50% of players lose. And the rest lose or win small amounts, and it can be considered that they pay this money for the pleasure of playing. Or we can to say that those who are too lazy to study poker strategy, then they pay for it by simply playing without profit or at a loss...
 
DiazPoker3101

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It's like this so that you can win someone has to lose and to be a winner it takes time and study, this makes the game interesting but it is difficult to become a winner, a lot of discipline is is what makes fais what is needed
 
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I think the stat is probably correct but misleading, as it will include players who play a few times then quit and not weighted towards hours played. E.g. When I sit at a cash table most of the players are regs and most I expect are profitable or break even, so at a table of 9 you probably have 6 or 7 winning players and 2 or 3 fish/weaker regs who pay the rest!
 
Mimo..Mach

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The percentage always varies but it is above 75% and it is still a very high percentage. A period of time should also be taken into account, such as a period of one month. The worst thing is that there are people who lose their money thinking that they can multiply it at the tables and that is a big mistake. It is probable that we will win a great prize but that illusion is shared by too many people who play the same tournament, that is, there will be more losers than winners. Let's play responsibly and don't spend money we can't lose.
 
Leomil

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I guess we need to set the time window... at the long run, i believe its probably really like the statistics, but by the day, the variance would easily win it over
 
neptunas888

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I think 96% is way too high. In my personal opinion, the percentage of players who play plus is around 70%, those who play 0 such percent are 20, and plus, respectively, about 10%. Also, don't forget that there is an element of randomness in poker and you can play for a long time at a loss or at 0, and then win one tournament and be already in a good plus :)
 
infonazar

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It is obvious that 50-60% of players treat the game as entertainment for which they are ready to pay. Overall, I think at least 75-80 percent of players lose money.
 
badbanking79

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It sounds high, but probably 80% are just recreational players and loosing 10 or 20 dollars a month.

But would be interesting to know the numbers, this survey is from automaticpoker.com

"So what percentage of poker players are profitable? Out of a sample size of 609 players from my Hold’em Manager database who had played at least 10,000 hands, only about 30% were profitable after the rake. While 18% of players were solid winners, 49% were moderate to significant losers. The 33% remaining players fell into the category of either small winners or small losers."

That states about 30% were profitable.....
 
Mati532

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I don't really think it's that number, because otherwise people wouldn't play, I think that a great poker player would never lose, he would always be on top, but beware a losing streak if he can have it!
 
ratbat615

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I can Speak for myself I judge 👩‍⚖️ my strategy on tournaments 🏟.I I think 🤔 the Percentage of players that make the money 💰 is %20 with perfect 🤩 play so I make the money 💰 about %30 of the the time.over 100 💯 games only because that I have been running 🏃‍♀️ good 😊.but sometimes over 100 games I make the money 💰 about %10 of the time.running bad so I don’t think that %96 of poker ♥️ players lose money 💰. Thank you for your comment .
 
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Gritz18

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Is it accurate that 96% of online poker players lose money? I have seen several users on this forum in several threads throwing this statistic around. I would like to know if there is any basis for it; what study or source is this 96% figure based on?

And if you do not agree, what do you figure the statistical breakdown is amongst winners, break even players and losers? Thanks! 5️⃣
I'm one of the 4% who win money, I only play freerolls, so I don't lose.:ROFLMAO:
 
Pokerpoet2

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Whatever the percentage is you only have to look at the pay tables in any Tournament to see how many get paid out and how many get ZIP!
It only takes common sense to see there are more losers than winners, all it takes be a profitable player is solid bankroll management, don't try becoming rich over night because it very rarely happens.
Don't play at a higher level because the prize money is greater, remember for every winner there are hundreds of losers.
 
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So the info online I found is One of the reasons why players lose often at poker is due to the inability to plan ahead. A lack of a tested and trusted strategy results in a poor play that leads to loss. Inability to plan causes players to make pie choices that all lead to a quick loss of liquidity hence reducing their time and chances at the table.
The sad truth is that most people lose at online poker in the long run, even if they have lots of experience in live games.

And transitioning from live poker in a casino to online poker can be a difficult adjustment in and of itself.

Especially if you are used to looking for physical tells from your opponents in order to make informed decisions at the felt.

The speed of action is also lightning fast as opposed to live poker, and it can get overwhelming quite quickly.

However, with the right adjustments, these differences can work in your favour as well. You just have to follow the right strategy and be aware of some critical differences between live and online poker.

The game is fundamentally the same, though, and online poker can also be profitable, with the added bonus of not having to put pants on to play.
So what percentage of poker players are profitable? Out of a sample size of 609 players from a Hold’em Manager database who had played at least 10,000 hands, only about 30% were profitable after the rake. While 18% of players were solid winners, 49% were moderate to significant losers. The 33% remaining players fell into the category of either small winners or small losers.The biggest winner won $7,840while the biggest loser lost $15,151. Clearly, it’s a lot easier to lose than it is to win. Only 18% of players had what is typically considered the standard of what is a good win-rate.
The exact percentage of long-term poker winners cannot be known. However, if you factor in rake and the fact that variance can make players quit during a losing streak, the actual number of players who are profitable over their entire lifetime is almost certainly very small; likely somewhere around 15% or even less.If you think about it logically, losers are much more likely to quit poker and thus make up a much larger percentage of players represented in an active sample size.Basically, if a person is winning he or she is much more likely to play a larger sample size over a lifetime.In poker, the long term is one of those concepts that is completely subjective. Even so, what it boils down to is the number of hands played where one can be confident that he or she is either definitively a winner or definitively a loser.For live players who might play somewhere around 30,000 hands a year, if they are lucky, the long-term typically starts to come into focus at around 100,000 hands. However, since they are playing just 1 table in typically really soft games you can expect the average live winning players win rate to be higher than the average winning online player.

Much love
Danny
🙏❤️
 
ToNy70929

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Quite an adequate figure of losers, given that the structure of the tournaments themselves includes prizes in the region of 10% of the total number of players:cool:
 
MattRyder

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96% sounds about right.
 
Duxflux

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Is it accurate that 96% of online poker players lose money? I have seen several users on this forum in several threads throwing this statistic around. I would like to know if there is any basis for it; what study or source is this 96% figure based on?

And if you do not agree, what do you figure the statistical breakdown is amongst winners, break even players and losers? Thanks! 5️⃣
I would say as soon as playing poker on a daily basis is no longer fun and you look at the game as a source of income, you are in the 5%. However, many play poker because of the emotional ups and downs or to win a lot. Statistically, you have to play a lot of hands and not everyone can do that.
Therefore, in my opinion, it is not a question of talent, but much more of stamina, discipline and willingness to take risks. Not everyone has these qualities. That's what makes it so hard to be in the last 5%.
 
BetterThanAvgButNotByMuch

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There is more to being successful at any form of poker than just playing.

There are people that can grind low stakes for a living but want the thrill or some ego pleasing nonsense of going outside their bankroll to prove that they're better when their winnings don't justify such moves.

I wouldn't be surprised if a site like sharkscope came out with stats like 96% of folks or whatever lose money because even if you're good enough to beat people at one level you can lose because there are a lot of folks that can't control their emotions and they end up destroying themselves.

And that's just folks that can actually beat others on a consistant basis with a track record of winning. How many people do you think go bust before getting of that phase of developing the skill, patience and psychology to deal with playing?
 
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I don't know the exact numbers but i agree with you
 
YevheniiKobliuk

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I have repeatedly heard one curious thought from professional grinders and poker experts that at least 70% of players after deducting the paid rake in the long run remain in the red. Most likely, the way it is. And I'm pretty sure the number could be much higher than 70.

Often, the problems of losing players do not begin because of ignorance of strategies or insufficient theoretical knowledge, but because of fundamentally wrong thinking.

In modern poker, everyone has more or less learned how to play correctly. Frankly weak fish, who play almost any two cards and call to the end on the minimum match on the board, are extremely rare at the tables.
 
jordanbillie

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According to Sharkscope's monthly leaderboards, about 80% of MTT players are "in the red" each month. So roughly 20% make money, while 80% lose. I would assume (based on how I see my own statistics move around on a monthly basis) that most players either win or lose modest amounts while the large amounts are the outliers.

I make it a personal goal to attempt to be in the top 5% each month (my best was top 1% one month!).
 
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