When Day Traders Do Well, It’s Probably Just Luck

In my mind, day trading is like poker in the sense that it’s a game of skill and luck, and, more importantly, the sharks eat the minnows. I refrain from day trading because I presume I lack the capability to outsmart the sharks.

The article mentions there exist hedge funds that consistently perform well, but it doesn’t mention that they’re likely making their profit by feasting on the errors of less skilled traders.

If you have a big enough starting pool of people engaged in a mostly chance-based activity and they all have low odds for success, after a few iterations you still end up with a hefty number of people who look like they've got it all figured out.

Suppose that's true, how can people after they get training get so lucky they outperform even most software engineers with their earnings - consistently, for decades?