Poker Luck or Skill – Poker Skill vs Luck

Is Poker a Game of Skill or Luck?

The argument about whether poker is a game of skill or a game of luck has raged for decades. Once it was a purely academic discussion, but today the debate has taken on a more significant meaning because its outcome could change the course of current legislation.

For example, some countries have laws that either completely outlaw the practice of gambling online, or make it difficult. But all of these laws are designed to regulated gambling – which, in every legal definition under the sun, is described as a game of chance. If poker is confirmed as a game of skill, then gambling laws don’t apply to it, meaning it would be completely legal to play online poker even in countries that ban the practice of playing over the Internet.

The issue is muddied by the fact that in practice, both luck and skill play a factor. Let’s take a look at the base arguments that the two camps put forward.

Poker as a Game of Luck

In the poker luck vs skill debate, the luck crowd make the case that poker is determined strictly by which player has the best cards in any given hand – and that poker skill plays no part in determining the outcome of a game. According to this school of thought, poker is a game exclusively of “the nuts”.

In this scenario, it matters only what a player’s hole cards are. Players receive their cards and choose to either play them or not. If they decide they’re in, they’ll stay in all the way to the bitter end, and will bet or call to the river. Then the showdown happens, and whoever has the strongest cards takes the pot.

If poker were truly like this, we would have to conclude that when it came down to poker luck or skill, luck would be the decider.

The only problem is, this is hardly ever how a real game plays out.

Poker as a Game of Skill

The other side of the poker skill vs luck debate makes the argument that what a player is dealt is less important than how they play them. According to this point of view, a skillful poker player will on average make more money and be more successful long term than a player who relies on luck.

Unfortunately for the former camp in this debate, there is mounting evidence to support this. Harvard University recently released the results of a three year study into problem gambling. They tracked the online poker habits of more than 3,000 players, and analyzed the results.

Although the study was focused on incidences of problem gambling, it revealed some interesting data relevant to the poker skill vs luck debate: more than 60% of poker hands are resolved by one player folding, not by showdown.

The significance of this can’t be overstated. In a game of poker, a player will fold a hand because they believe they are beaten, or because they do not wish (or cannot afford) to risk calling. But whether they were actually beaten or out-gunned is not known *because they folded*.

The winning player hasn’t won because they necessarily had better cards, but rather because their actions convinced the other players to retire rather than risk the added expense of a showdown. This is without question a skill. Find the best online gambling sites.

Conclusion

The data proves that skilled players will be more successful than those who rely exclusively on luck. Luck certainly plays a factor in that a player’s hole cards cannot be predetermined, but the manner in which a player plays those cards has far more impact on the outcome of the game than purely the face value of the cards.