Im sure youve all read where people have said poker is a game of luck, not skill. We all know thats ridiculous but alot of people including the senator trying to ban online gambling really believe it. Heres a hand to demonstrate how wrong the senator is. There are any number of millions of hands that could prove him wrong, but here is one.

$1/$2 NL 6 max

I open raise to $8 in the cutoff with [Js]. A new player with a full stack calls in the SB.

Pot $18. Flop [8d][4h]. He leads $2. I raise to $12 , he reraises to $32. Ok, Im a little worried. Players at Prima love to min bet, get raised and then reraise when theyhave a monster. Im not ready to fold yet though. I call.

Pot $82. Turn . He checks. I check behind. I feel better now because I now beat KK and QQ. If he has those hands he may bet the river if I check behind on the turn. If he has a set and I bet the turn, Im going to pot commit myself.

Pot $82. River . I have the nuts He leads $40. I raise all in and he calls with AT.

Now, I just won $200 with this hand and this fool with FPS just lost $200. If it was played in reverse and I was the SB with AT, guess what? I lose $1 on this hand and he makes $3 because I fold preflop.

Now, if we both play millions of hands, we will both be on both sides of this scenario multiple times. The BEST PLAYERS WILL WIN IN THE END. Poker is a game of skill Mr Senator. How about doing some research before trying to legislate my rights away!


Edit: For those of you who havent seen it, there is an excellent "CardPlayer" article that goes into detail why even if this proposed law is passed, nothing will change. The proposed law WILL NOT stop online poker.

sorry in the UK poker's tax free status is dependent upon it being a game of chance, so if the Revenue ask me I'd say it was a game of pure luck


On this topic the BBC Breakfast program ran a slot on the 'perils of gambling addiction'; last week and had a guy on from a charity that helps problem gamblers..uh-oh I thought - here we are in for a slagging off...

They showed two clips before he commented - one an internet sports bettor who was in deep financial trouble, and another a single mom who was a B&M poker pro at her local casino and doing quite well.

As soon as the presenters started trying to lump poker in with problem gambling the guy from the charity jumped in and said 'but poker is a game of skill, in gambling the house always wins because it has an edge; in poker the better player wins'

I was impressed - even the anti-gambling lobby has no issue with poker here..