What are the stakes if I self-publish and traditionally publish?

You have to do all your own marketing, shipping and advertising if you self publish.

If a publisher buys your manuscript THEY do all the hard work, plus get the book onto the yearly catalog that bookstores and libraries order from. Legit publishers don't 'cheat' their authors, that would put them out of business. If you can't read and understand a contract then you use an agent, they work FOR you, since they're paid 15% based on what advance they can get you from the publisher.

If you self-publish, you will likely make no money and people will laugh at you when you tell them you're a published author. Most likely the only people buying your book will be relatives and people who want to laugh at you. There are only a handful of people who make a living or are successful self-publishing. If you self-publish, you will need to edit your book by yourself, which is almost always a joke. That or pay someone, money which you will likely never recover.

With traditional publishing it is likely you'll never get published. Even if you do, the average author won't even make enough to live on for three months.

What do you mean by "stakes"? And Girl Puncher (horrible name) is 100% right on this.