The Lifetime Poker Grind

April 13, 2009 by cal

Whether you want to be a doctor, professional athlete or poker player you must persevere through all obstacles in your way. The wash-out rates of highly esteemed professions are staggering. The grind and hard work is a high price to pay for the majority of people. An interesting and obvious correlation exists between odds of becoming a given profession and salary – the harder it is to become something the more you get paid. Here are some interesting odds numbers on professional careers and occurrences in life.

Odds Of…
Winning Olympic Medal: 1 in 662,000
Professional Baseball Player: 1 in 470,000
Struck by Lightning: 1 in 576,000
Dating a Supermodel: 1 in 88,000
Audited by IRS: 1 in 180
Professional Blogger: 1 in 10,000

Long Term Winning Poker Player: 1 or 2 in 20 (5%-10%)
Top Poker Player: 1 in 5,000 (Winning $XXX,XXX+)

If you can’t spot the sucker at the table in the first few hands – its you. A similar line from the movie rounders supports the estimated percentages of profitable poker players. Many theories are out there, but roughly one person at each table makes money playing poker, maybe even less. If you think you can just sit down at an online poker table and make money right away you are sorely mistaken. Poker takes just a few days to learn and a lifetime to master. The game is measured in terms of thousands or millions of hands, not a quick rush. The rake taken from each pot hits you and your opponents are always getting better. Next time you sit down at a poker table and have a losing session, realize just how difficult it is to profit long term. The game of poker and many careers often start off as a grind.

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