Skill? Not A Chance.

Apparantly, the game of poker is more about skill than just luck according to the many players I talk to and books I read about the game (written by players, in the main). So a case is currently hearing in London as they decide whether a gambling den needed a license to operate. If the game is mostly about luck, it is gambling and therefore needs to be licensed. If the game is made up of a skill factor, then it is not gambling and therefore, no license is needed (this was roughly the gist of the piece on the news). This den never got a license and I am watching very intently to see how the court decide.

Obviosuly if this was online, there would not be a shadow of a doubt. Anyone playing the lower levels of online poker will know there is not a cat in hells chance of this standing up in court. Skill? Where?
Any average online player (like me) would only have to show their hand history and the evidence is plain and clear. People are happy to put all their money in a pot with A3, knowing they are probably way behind (unless they are even more stupid than I think), but happy to take their chance that they may hit a couple of 3's or maybe 2 pair. It means not a jot that you hold AK or a high pair as online, essentially, every hand is a coin flip.
Mr (or Mrs) A3 will think, it happens, why not this time? I've blogged previously about the fact that AK or AQ can rarely stand up against hands like A3, and another 5000 hands in Poker Office show this stat to be very true.
So how can we, as players of online poker, justify how skilful we are? Getting your opponent to call your massive re-raise when he only holds KQ to your AA? Then, getting him to commit the rest of his chips on a Q high flop, still thinking he has the best hand despite your huge bet? If so, I am one of the most skilful players online, as I have managed to force my opponents in exactly these situations on seven occasions so far this week. Unfortuantely, the most skilful does not make me the most richest as the K or another Q hit the river every time and saved the luckier player against the more skilful. I could throw you several dozen more examples, but no one wants to hear them, they happen to us all. At the end of the day, my hard earned profits from January were erradicated in a dozen hands of incredibly unlikely hands hitting their incredibly unlikely outs.

I try to make the right decisions at all times, and think I succeed most of the time. Having said this, even when I make the right decisions, it is still in the lap of lady luck as to whether I win or lose. Also, when I make the worng decisions, I may get paid. So where's the skill? OK, making the right decisions in the long run will make me a more profitable player than not. But it does not take away the fact the over riding reasons between winning that hand and losing it, is luck and nothing else.

I await the results of this court case and will be very interested to hear how they decide, in the meantime 'good luck' at the tables.