This is a serious issue. Some of you guys need to be more considerate. Gambling is a serious addiction. I've prob lost close to that much money in gambling in about 2 years and half, but not 1 week.
you have no idea what kind of bankroll he's dealing with. can't make any assumptions in either direction
This is a perfect example of perspective. For example, it may be sad to you, but maybe to the people who reamed you for $5800, it's like Christmas in July!
So losing money in Poker = Gambling addiction? I mean it obviously could be, or he might have just had a bad week. I don't like how some people automatically equate Poker to gambling. Yes, technically, any game involving chance is defined as "gambling". However, to me, this is too broad a spectrum. I view "gambling" as a game or act, involving chance, in which you have zero advantage, or a disadvantage. Otherwise, you could technically classify casino operators as gambling. No, I'm not talking about the average Joes playing in the casino. The House. The House is playing games of chance everyday. And the House loses everyday. They just happen to win more than they lose. A game of black jack played "by the book" yields a ~1% house edge. A game of roulette yields ~5% house edge, when you are playing with 00s. Slots is probably 25% or higher. This does not mean the House can't lose, even when there is a slim chance like in slots. They just have probability on their side. I don't call that gambling. I call that a business. When the odds are in your favor, it is only logical to take it. There however is a big qualifier here, and that is Bankroll Management. Simply put, Bankroll Management is allowing yourself enough chances to let the odds even out. This means your total dedicated capital needs to be a certain multiple of each successive bet amount. The multiple I like to use is 100, to eliminate nearly all variance. What this means is: if the odds are in my favor in a particular game, and the entry fee is $500, then my bankroll needs to be 100 times that = $50,000 for me to play. Now 100 is just a personal choice because I like to be safe. In poker it is common to use 20, 40 or 50. Proper observance of this tactic is key in any ventures involving chance. Just because you have a 60% chance of winning, that doesn't mean you should mortgage your house on it. Even a 90% chance isn't worth it. The lower your EDGE is, the higher this multiple should be. This is to allow yourself the cushion to survive the inevitable bad runs, and to allow luck to even itself out. Poker is a game of skill. However there is an aspect of luck. If you are a superior player though, probability is on your side, just like for the House. With proper bankroll management to allow for variance, it is not gambling. Now for Luckkky's case, hopefully he has followed this, and that this week was just a bad run. There is also a chance that he could simply be a bad player. In this case, just size down, or stop all together. Learn the game, better yourself, then give it another go.
Dude, you're wasting your breath and took all of these posts way too seriously. They made these responses because it's pretty much known that the OP is a loser that has no money management skills in any aspect of his life. We all want online poker to be legalized, just don't go off on these random tangents about poker being a game of skill in a thread that has nothing to do with that debate. You criticize people for essentially not knowing what they're talking about when it appears you're doing the same thing in this thread.
There were plenty of people who simply replied with "quit gambling", and I assume that it was because he lost. All I am saying is poker != gambling to those people. Now if there is some back story with the OP I am not aware of, then maybe I am wasting my breath. And how am I doing the same thing in this thread?
Wait, aren't you the guy that started the thread a few months ago about how you owed money to a bunch of relatives and wanted to get a loan to pay it back? And now you say you lost $5800 playing online poker? Bravo
On the bright side, over the last year and a half, Ive won over $15,000 at various casinos. When you realize things arent going your way...stop. Continuing to play despite being on a cold streak is the easiest way to lose money. Its never good to be on tilt.
No offense, but that wasn't what my post was about, at all. In fact there was only one sentence in my entire post claiming poker a game of skill. My post was about defining "gambling".
Honestly there is no way to beat the House odds. It is simple mathematics. It doesn't matter if you stop, or keep going. There are no such thing as streaks. The odds of your next bet will be the same, whether you have just won 10 in a roll or lost 10 in a roll. A year and a half is really too small a sample size. The fact is, if you keep playing, you will lose. The best way to look at casinos is just go for fun. If you go for the money then you will end up disappointed.