[waarior]

I think there is a general unwillingness to accept such a conclusion because it runs contrary to the American ideal. If you work hard --> success will follow. The ethos doesn't really allow for someone to work hard and fail, even if it was just bad luck.

There is obviously a spectrum of luck----skill with poker falling somewhere in the middle. Clearly more towards the luck limit than skill in the short term.

I think the most interesting comparison would be to sports. One of the reasons I believe they are so popular is the belief that the winner "deserves" to win through their hard work, preparation etc. Luck is grudgingly acknowledged sometimes but its contributions discounted.

On one hand, you have poker where most view it as predominately luck and on the other, sports where it is primarily viewed as completely skill based. Interestingly the more games ones plays in both activities the less luck involved. But that is no consolation for the team that suffers from the bad call, or the hand of god in the final.

Definitely an interesting topic though.