New Study supports 'Poker is a Game of Skill'
30th March, 2009
A study on poker by Cigital Inc, in conjunction with PokerStars, was praised by The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) on Friday.
According to the PPA, who have more than a million members across the US, the report provides facts and figures from more than 100 million hands, and supports the notion that poker is a game of skill and not luck.
The study played 103 million hands of poker, and recorded the outcome of each. It found more than 75% of hands were won with players never seeing more than their own cards and the community cards. 12% went to a shown down, and were won by players with the best hand, while 12% went to a showdown we won by players with the worse hand due to the opponent folding.
Senator Alfonse D’Amato, the Chairman of PPA said, “This study provides the raw data to back up the compelling arguments made by poker players around the world that it's skill, not pure luck, that determines the outcome of this game.”
The PPA has been campaigning for years to stop poker being classed as gambling making playing legal, and has seen some success with judges from Colorado, South Carolina and Pennsylvania all ruling in poker is not a game of luck.
John Pappas, Executive director of PPA said, “The question of whether poker is a game of predominant skill or chance is not about the player's ego, but the nature and legal protections of the game. In courtrooms across the country, judges and juries are finding that poker is a game of skill not chance like lotteries or slot machines, and this study confirms that fact.”
By Rommon
