By using the concepts of expected value of starting hands and comparing pot odds with probability odds I am allowing certainty to become part of the equation. I am positive that my starting hands will make me money in the long run. Why? Because I know from expected value (EV) charts that certain hands have a positive EV. Poker hands with a positive EV are profitable hands in the long term. By definition, EV averages out the luck or chance factor. So I know with 100% accuracy that if I play certain starting hands I will make a profit in the long run. By doing this, I am playing good statistical poker pre flop.  

 By comparing pot odds with probability odds, not only will you make Kenny Rogers proud, but you will be taking luck out of your post flop play. This is true because probability odds are statistical facts based on long term results and pot odds are current financial facts. Luck or chance do not enter into either of these statistics. When I know that the bet I am about to make will make me money in the long run, I am playing good statistical post flop poker.

 So when I hear players say that any two cards can win or that poker is 90% luck, I just sit there, smile and say to myself: “yes you are right, at least in the short term.”