Report: Poker a Game of Skill

A new statistical study has been released showing that poker is a game of skill, not a game of chance as is claimed by anti-poker advocates.

The Statistical Analysis of Texas Hold 'Em, conducted by Paco Hope of Cigital, Inc. and Sean McCulloch of Ohio Wesleyan University's Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, provide raw data showing that the outcomes of games are determined predominantly by the player's decisions, rather than by chance.

Alfonso D'Amato, the head of the Poker Players Alliance, said the report backs up the arguments made my poker players worldwide that poker is a game of skill, and that players do not just rely on pure luck.

"As a poker player I can tell you that knowing when to hold or fold is not based solely on the cards that are dealt, but a series of decisions based on skill and the actions taken by other players," D'Amato said.

The study used data gather from 103 million hands of Texas Hold 'Em played online at PokerStars in December 2008. According to the report, more than 75 percent of the cases saw an outcome determined with no player even seeing more than their own cards and the community cards. Nearly a quarter of the hands required all the cards to be revealed to determine a winner, but only half those hands were won by the player with the best five-card hand.