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Internet Gambling:does online poker or sports betting require more skill

written May 17, 2007

Does anyone besides me find humor in the ridiculous argument made by some poker advocates that online poker involves significantly more skill than online sports betting?

If that were the case, why do I know many successful poker players who can't win at sports betting even if they were given yesterday's newspaper? 

And to be fair, I know sports bettors who always lose to more talented poker players when they square off online playing poker.  

And let's also not forget that bookmakers always welcome a syndicate of poker players each year that try their skill (?) betting baseball, but more times than not they go belly up by June.  They are widely known as the "Poker Players" within the realm of sports betting. 

So if one is to objectively analyze results, I'd put my money against an excellent poker player vs. an excellent online sports bettor or bookmaking establishment.  Au contraire, I'd bet my house on the savy poker player against the "Wise Guy" in poker.  Both games requires skill and over the long run, the more skilled player will CRUSH his opponent whether it be at Poker or on Football games.

Sadly, its not just in the US that poker and Internet sports betting are under government attack.

A poker player from 2+2 forums had the following to say recently:

"I am a poker player and also a lawyer currently defending a poker club in Glasgow,Scotland which was raided by the Strathclyde police. The case hinges on whether or not poker is a "game of chance" as defined by the Uk legislation. If it is not the club can operate un impeded."
 
"The legislation defines a games of chance as including games which are "partly luck and partly skill." There is an additional proviso that it does not matter if someone "by exceptional skill" can still beat such a game.

In the past it has been difficult to persuade a UK judge that a game with a random deal can be a game of skill. It seems to me that this is because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the game of poker. It is not a game of one random deal just as golf is not a game of one drive and no other shot. A skilled player wins by making better decisions than his less skilled opponents over a large number of hands. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the poker tracker results given in stock traders recent book.In addition how can a man like Doyle Brunson win every year for a lifetime if poker is not a game of skill."

written by Michael Shapiro--EOG

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