Is it skill or luck?

I've been watching the World Series of Poker (WSP) on ESPN for a few weeks now. I find it facinating to watch "the pros" play hand after hand after hand with guys (and some babes) who coughed up 10K to play because they won a couple games of kitchen table poker on tuesday night at Amber-D's house while drinking a Gin and Tonic. These so called pros look stunned that "Don", the physics teacher from Grosse Pointe (feel free to insert your own character here, Don is just a made up person to add flavor to the story) has the nutz (that is a poker term by the way) to go "all in" with pocket jacks when the "pro" tries to bluff them out of the hand... No, when the pro tries to bluff them out of the game... No, when the pro tries to bluff them out of the tournament... No, when the pro tries to bluff them off the planet because nobody but a "pro" has the right to play in the WSP. Right?

HOW DARE YOU CALL MY BET DON?
Don't you know I'm a PRO!!!
YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE.
Says the "pro"...
to himself
with his inside voice
(because cameras are rolling, can't say that kinda thing on TV)

Anyway, "Don" got me thinking, is it luck or is it skill that wins a poker game? I'm convinced that over time, oh say a brazillion days or so a "pro" will win more than, um... Don. But the problem is that every now and then Don will catch five wild cards (not talking holdem anymore) and beat a pro with five queens. And the cycle begins... Bluff enough, play it slow enough, catch on the river enough, GET LUCKY ENOUGH and you just might think you are, in fact, a "pro" yourself and plop down 10K to play in the WSL (world series of luck)...

So, Luck or Skill? If you ask me, the difference between a "pro" and "Don" is TV, money and time. See, we all think these "pros" are "pros" because they show up in movies (you gotta see Rounders), all they do is play poker, and more poker and even more poker to the point that they get on TV every tuesday night. Money because they can afford to live in casinos playing poker game after poker game. Time because they don't have the kind of jobs we have like teaching our youngsters the importance of doing more physics homework to get a magical "A" on their report card. Rather than grading "more" homework, "Pros" play more poker. What happens when you play more poker? You get on TV, you make more money and you can afford to waste your time playing more poker... see how that cycle goes?

Take away the TV, the money and the time and what do you have left that differenciates a "Pro" from a "Don" LUCK, LUCKITY LUCK LUCK LUCK. Which any "pro" will tell you, without luck, they'd never be a "pro" in the first place.

Since we all get lucky some times be we rarely get the TV, money and time the "pros" do, When and if you get the chance... I say GO ALL IN with your pocket jacks when that "pro" puts you all in. Chances are it's YOUR turn to get lucky! And the cycle begins again... only this time the "Pro's" name is "DON"!!!