Whats riskier, the stock market or playing poker?

Question

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Answer 1

For someone more skilled in one than the other, whichever one he is less skilled at is riskier.

For some equally skilled in both, poker is riskier. By definition, every penny one person makes in a poker game is a penny someone else lost, so the net return for all players is zero. (It is less than zero in a casino or anywhere else that the house takes a rake or charges an entry fee.) In the stock market, however, the average net return is greater than zero. The total value of stocks, on average, goes up over time.

Answer 2

It's a really interesting question.  And very hard to answer.

People tend to invest larger sums of money in the stock market.  Many people try to invest more than they should, and lack the knowledge to really make a lot.  Some people get into day trading and higher risk strategies that can probably get them into a lot of trouble.  All the time kidding themselves that they are investing their money as opposed to gambling.

People generally tend to be a bit more sensible when it comes to poker.  Not many people would open their first online poker session with $2,000, and immediately start playing $5/$10 blinds.  Most people would deposit $100 or less, and dip their toe in the water with very low stakes games.

However, in both activities it would only be too easy for someone with a thirst for gambling to get in way over their heads and start playing beyond their means and skill level.

Answer 3

You can play online poker 24 hours a day.  You can normally only trade on the New York Stock Exchange from 9:30-4:30est, Monday through Friday.  I heard that there is an after market but have not found the tools/website that allow me to do that.  That says that there is more liquidity in the poker market which makes it less risky.

Answer 4

I'm a pretty good poker player, so I'd say playing the stock market is a lot more risky.

For someone like Warren Buffet, probably playing poker is more risky.

There's skills to both of them, depends which one your more skilled at.

Answer 5

both

Answer 6

imho, i think there are many many poker players who are consistent over time. however, of the stockbrokers, I can only think of Buffet.