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Stock Market vs Poker?

How is the stock market in comparison to playing High Stakes Poker. I used to play high stakes poker and I am used to the ups, and downs of winning big, and losing big. Would the transition to the Stock market be pretty much the same or is it more stressfull or less? Basically is the Stock Market more Risky then Playing High Stakes Poker?

Public Comments

1. That's exactly what the stock market is. It's a legitimate way for rich people to gamble.
2. Depends on how you play the stock market, the amount of risk and potential reward. There are litterally hundreds of stocks that each year will double your money. There are also litterally hundreds, maybe thousands, that you can loose 1/2 or more of your money each year. If you really want high stakes action, try options.
3. i gave up sports gambling to play the over the counter and pink sheet stocks- many ups and many downs but still a form of gambling
4. Let me tell you something. If you are investing long-term in the market, that is one thing. But if you are trading everyday, what makes you think you have an advantage over the wall street gurus? At least with poker, you are responsible for your own actions, and you make the decisions. You just have to be better than everyone at your table some of the time. And get lucky occasionally. But you are still going to pay the vig, just like the market.
5. Charlie M, I've been in the stock market for twenty five years and I'm telling you the risks are minimal. I am very confortable financially and consider the stress over the years as mild. I think gambling is for fools, but everyone must take there own risks in life and so it's up to you. I go to casino's once in a while, but I go for intertainment and not for financial investing. Good luck, after all it's your money. There is a big differnce between Gambling and Gaming. TDCWH
6. Actually, day trading or swing trading can be considered a type of gambling, because people who make their trading decisions make them based on past performance of the stocks through charts and they "bet" on the next most likely move of a stock. However, long term investing is more of a business then a gamble. If you are a long term investor, you are basically buying a part of a business because your research tells you that the business is going to have good profits or revenues in the future. People who "guess" for the short or long term may be gambling. But people who buy shares as if they are buying a business are actually investing.
7. Of course it is not. Can take little or no risk in the market based on the portfolio you build. Proper diversification of industries, countries, assets ,income help reduce risk. I live in Vegas & gamble every day. Stock Market bears no realtion. vegas_iwish@yahoo.com
8. Great question! I think there's a inverse relationship between luck and skill. With Poker, long term skill will make money; short term luck can make money too. With investing in the stock market, long term "luck" will make money; in the short term, skill can make money too.
9. The stock market is not like poker to the small investor- in poker, you can pressure the other participants if you are in a position of strength, even if your hand isn't so good. As a small stock investor, that is strength you will never possess. A small investor really should make longer-term decisions. The stock market IS like poker when you are a hedge-fund or mutual fund manager. When you are capable of making multi-million and sometimes billion dollar moves, you wield tremendous power. The small players have little chance- if they are day-trading, they have to hope that they were on the same side of the trade as you... Often you can crush them at will. So to answer your question, the stock market is a situation of less stress for a long-term oriented small investor, but you have little control, and it might be more boring to you. High stakes poker is certainly more stressful and fun, but you'd better be really good if that's your long-term financial plan...
10. That depends on your definition of risk. Certainly a stock (if well-chosen) is likely to lose less rapidly than you could lose a hand of poker. If you really want to GAMBLE on the stockmarket, that's easy. Don't research and get into traded options or futures. Turn the question around, though, and poker is like investing. I prefer to think of it as investing in Aces and Kings, rather than gambling. The money from investing comes by seeing value when others oppose your opinion, and the same is true in poker. I invest my bankroll in the better hands and win in the long run.
11. There are ways in which to minimize risk when trading on the stock exchange. All in all you're right its pretty much the same as playing high stakes poker as tomorrows outcome is always uncertain for reasons that are out of our hands, and poker is a luck of the draw and the skill of reading and controlling body language.
12. Two different things. One game is about reading the people around you and the other game is nothing but research. The stress level you place in the market is determined by you. Invest in strong and established companies and the stress is little. Invest in the penny stocks where a 1 cent change will determine if your up 100% or out of money then the stress is a little higher. Poker relies on your cards and the ability to sell yourself to those around you. The Market is all you and how well you do your homework.
13. One huge difference to consider is that you have absolutely no control over the stock market. You can do your home work but you have to work with same information that everybody else has. By the time you act on the market has already changed. In poker even though the cards and your luck are random there are many other things you can influence that can change the out come of the game. You can't bluff the stock market. If you are used to playing high stakes poker and were good at you've probably got what takes to succeed in the stock market. Personally I play poker for a living and invest a portion of my winnings in mutual funds.