how many players are winning players

[loco55]

how many players play the game for a long-life profit? at a site like partypoker.com i thought it would be maybe 30% but literature told me all in all there are only 10-15% that win on the long run.

[bigpooch]

You mean "life-long", right?

Only considering regular players (with 10000 hours+) that
have ever played, I would think less than 20% are up money
during their playing career and out of those, I am quite
sure that less than 1/4 of them are up any substantial
amount ($100K or more) during their playing careers. Most
of the players that may be in the black are not winning a
significant amount.

There are a lot of hurdles players have to overcome. In the
past, it may have been drugs, marathon sessions, ego
problems and who knows? Nowadays, there is also the house
rake, collusion and internet connectivity!

[pretender2k]

I would venture to say about 5%. In life in general from studies I have seen really step out and make the effort it takes to become sucessful in their chosen area whether in be in starting a business or following a talent they have. I am only starting but I consider myself a 5 percenter looking for my chosen talent. I think poker maybe it because I have stuck to it longer than anything else so far and it is still fun.

Most really sucessful people do what thay do because they love it. They work longer and harder than anyone else doing the same thing and don't see it as unusual. Most of them probably wonder why so few do it because it doesn't seem to them as a big deal because they enjoy it so much.

[brownie]

I find it hard to believe that most people would continue playing if they were losing. Most of the money in the vast "trickle-up" pyramid that is poker comes from people who throw down a few times and leave penniless. A lot of money leaves the system in the form of rakes, one-time winners, and (what concerns us here) true winning players. Of players who play once a week or more, I'd say that 1/4 or so are ahead for their lifetimes. It's the guy with the scotch at the end of the table and the kid with an oversized allowance that pay for all of our successes, not the everyday players.

Why on earth would you commit yourself to playing more if every time you sat down it was a grind to the felt?

[brownie]

Then again, no one ever went broke underestimating the American public /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Wake up CALL]

"I find it hard to believe that most people would continue playing if they were losing."

This is an odd statement. Don't you see the casino table games full? How about all the State run lotteries? The bingo parlors? Bars? Shopping malls? Automobile dealerships? Movie theaters? Need I go on? All these are -EV yet people flock to them like flies on watermelon.

There is absolutely no chance that 25% of poker players are winners. After all it is entertaining, right?