Poker should be considered a game of skill because it requires a specific set of talents to be successful. The combination of mathematical analysis, psychological profiling and emotional control that make up the components of many top-level pro poker players are also the same ones that you can find in successful people in many walks of life, from business to sport to the arts.
Poker should be considered a game of chance because, for all of their talents, professional poker players do not win as often as their talents should allow. No matter how intelligent or experienced they are, poker players are still subject to the turn of a card for their income. One bad card can ruin an entire week’s work in an instant.
Poker should be considered a game of skill because it teaches the player about himself. One old saying goes, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” Most players will not run into many more adverse situations than playing with all their money on the line. Anthony Holden, author of Big Deal, wrote, “Whether he likes it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at the poker table.”
Poker should be considered a game of chance because professional players are wasting their time and their talents by spending hours on end in a cardroom. For recreational players, a few hands of poker can be considered relaxation. For experience players, with their analytical abilities and insights into human behavior, using their knowledge to play a card game is squandering their potential that can be used in more productive and beneficial areas.
As one poker player famously put it, “Poker is 100% luck and 100% skill.” Each side of the argument has their benefits and drawbacks, but neither side is likely to slow the explosive growth in the game in the foreseeable future.
