The chance versus skill battle is still raging on in America. In light of more campaigns to legalize poker, the Cigital consulting firm in Washington DC released the findings of its recent study, which involved 103 million hands of Texas Hold’em.
The study provides some compelling statistics to support how players’ decisions determine the outcome of the games, rather than the element of chance factored in by the cards they are dealt.
The poker study used play data provided by Rational Etertainment Enterpises Limited, and was taken from play on their network in December 2008. It focused on how many hands went to a showdown, versus occasions where all but one player folded.
The study found that in 75.7% of cases, the game’s outcome is determined with no player seeing more than his own cards and some or all of the community cards. In only 24.3% of cases was there a showdown where another player’s cards hand was revealed. Interestingly, only 50.3% of showdowns were won by the player who could make the best five card hand. The other 49.7% were won by someone with a weaker hand, because the player with the best hand had already folded.
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