Good poker player = good trader?

Discussion in 'Trading' started by a529612, Jun 9, 2006.

  1. lundy

    lundy

    I am a profitable poker player.

    Aside from having lots of experience as a trader, i am pretty much a newbie as I have not got the hang of it and am not profitable.

    eusdaiki,
    thank you for the article.
     
    #21     Jun 10, 2006
  2. So you hold this belief despite the fact that so many good traders are also good poker players?
     
    #22     Jun 10, 2006


  3. You hit the nail right on the head. Poker is very time consuming and you really have to play very high stakes to make your time worth the money.
    I think discretionary traders would make better poker players. I am very systematic and disciplined when it comes to trading but for some reason this rule based mentality does'nt work too well when I play poker. Im not a terrible poker player but my conservative style of play really cant get me to the next level.
     
    #23     Jun 10, 2006
  4. the analysis vis a vis TAG vs. LAG's is simplistic and not correct.

    many players have a skewed sense of perspective because they see on TV final tables of tournaments. the plays that are positive EV in that case are not necessarily reflective of the play that GOT those players are

    TAG's and LAG's can make money...

    i am a profitable tournament player, as well as a profitable trader. the similarities between poker and trading are amazing to me.

    for me, it is all about playing the other player, not just the cards, understanding implied odds, and having very detailed statistics on my opponents

    I play a pretty TAG style and do very well in Sit and Go's and MTT's, so don't tell me it doesn't work. one key is having a style that adaps to your opponents. if you are playing mainly LAG players, then a TAG style is beneficial , and vice versa.

    most traders lose money. so do most poker players.
     
    #24     Jun 10, 2006
  5. Have you witnessed this first hand? Who are these traders? I would just be careful about buying into a belief that may not be as clear as people think. I may be 100% wrong on this subject, maybe I just need some evidence.
     
    #25     Jun 10, 2006
  6. Don't you people ever get tired of the poker/trading debate?

    I would put it this way:

    You cannot run a successful trading business...
    And be a professional level poker player.

    Both worlds are so competitive...
    That they require a total commitment... and many years of experience.

    Many talented traders (the top 5% at ET) could do one or the other...
    So the decision becomes one of lifestyle...
    The place in society that you desire...
    And one's willingness to endure the dramatically higher income variance of pro poker.

    The place to debate poker is at 2+2 Forums...
    But, unlike ET, they do not suffer fools at 2+2.
     
    #26     Jun 10, 2006
  7. the analysis vis a vis TAG vs. LAG's is simplistic and not correct.

    many players have a skewed sense of perspective because they see on TV final tables of tournaments. the plays that are positive EV in that case are not necessarily reflective of the play that GOT those players are

    TAG's and LAG's can make money...

    i am a profitable tournament player, as well as a profitable trader. the similarities between poker and trading are amazing to me.

    for me, it is all about playing the other player, not just the cards, understanding implied odds, and having very detailed statistics on my opponents

    I play a pretty TAG style and do very well in Sit and Go's and MTT's, so don't tell me it doesn't work. one key is having a style that adaps to your opponents. if you are playing mainly LAG players, then a TAG style is beneficial , and vice versa.

    most traders lose money. so do most poker players.
     
    #27     Jun 10, 2006
  8. Yes I get tired of it, that's the point.

    If the two professions were so interchangeable do you think Daniel Negreanu and Johnny Chan would be playing poker? They'd make many many many times as much trading.

    Agree to disagree :)
     
    #28     Jun 10, 2006
  9. Yes, both on these boards and from reading Card Player and other gaming mags for the past couple of years and watching the WSOP on TV.

    I guess that having done both, and more importantly having heard losing traders talk about the problems they have with their trading and comparing those problems with the decision making I see in bad poker players, it is clear as day to me that the same mental errors (lack of preparation/game plan and lack of discipline) lead to losses in both pursuits. The type of mind that can take a problem like trading and solve it in a methodical and disciplined manner will be able to do the same in poker. It will be a small percentage of those who try.

    To take it one step further, there are traders who don't give a damn about theory or technique - they simply trade what they see and have an intuitive ability to make the right moves. I am certain that the same is true for poker. Whether one of these intuitive types could switch between the two pursuits as easily as the theoretician is unclear to me. I'm not one of them; I needed to take the research-based path.

    More about my perception of the similarities between the two can be found in the 'Poker and the Beginning Trader' thread.

    Anyway, as you say, agree to disagree.
     
    #29     Jun 10, 2006
  10. Not sure what you're basing this speculation on, but it isn't at all clear to me that this would be true. And anyway, why would they do that? They are already doing something they love and making good money at it. Personally, I'd rather be playing poker than trading - it's a lot more fun. Trading is about making money. Events at the poker table mirror events in life. Your approach to poker mirrors your approach to life, and watching personality traits come to the surface at the live tables is infinitely more interesting to me than picking stocks.
     
    #30     Jun 10, 2006