Poker: a Game of Chance or Game of Skills?

By: Jamie Wagers

American players are still reeling from the lost opportunities of online gambling thanks to their country’s decision to ban it. The ban unfortunately includes the game of poker. Whether this is fair or not depends on how you view poker. Is it a game of chance…or a game of skills?

Poker as a Game of Chance
Perhaps the only time chance or luck will be able to play a factor is when the dealer starts dealing out cards and you get a hole pair of aces. That’s the best of luck, isn’t it? But there are still players out there who are able to muck their hands either by overestimating their card, misreading their opponents, or unwittingly folding. As these scenes show, the element of chance has a very minute influence on who wins the game.

Poker as a Game of Skill
On the other hand, there are many reasons why poker may be considered as a game of skill. Skill is different from talent. Skill is something you’re not born with, but something you hone through practice and experience. It is skill that mostly distinguishes calling stations or rookies from the veterans.

It is skill that allows players to do their best with their hole cards. If you’ve been a spectator to any of the games played by the big names in poker, you no doubt have seen countless of times champions turn the tables around their opponents and beat unbeatable odds. How do they do that? They do it because they’ve got skills.

Bluffing, they say, is an art, but bluffing should also be referred to as a skill. Wearing a pair of sunglasses may effectively conceal your eyes, said to be the windows to your soul, but they won’t do you any good if you can’t practice controlling the rest of your face and body. A lot can be derived from the movements of your mouth and body. And the only way to have control over your facial expressions and body signals is by training. Simply put, you need the skills for it. And that’s just for controlling them. You’ll need to learn a slightly different skill in order to use them to your advantage and convey a contradictory meaning to your opponents.

Sizing your opponents up is also a skill you need in order to win in poker. Having a holed pair of aces may not require you to do anything but wait for the pot to come to you, but what if you have a lower hand? That’s when you feel the need to size your opponents up, don’t you think? You would want to know, for instance, which of the players have a mouse strategy; these are players who are extremely allergic to risks and would only indulge in high stakes when they’re holding a terrific hand. And of course, you’ll be on the lookout for the hot-blooded players, those who charge in recklessly often and turn the game into a test of courage.

But still, it’s up to you to judge. Do you think poker is a game of skill or chance? There’s one more way to find out. Enter a poker table and see how you fare!

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