Skat and Poker: More Luck than Skill?

Chess requires playing ability and strategic thinking; in roulette, chance determines victory or defeat, gain or loss. But what about skat and poker? Are they games of chance or games of skill in game theory? This classification also determines whether play may involve money. Jörg Oechssler and his team of economists at Heidelberg University studied this question, developing a rating system similar to the Elo system used for chess. According to their study, both skat and poker involve more than 50 per cent luck, yet over the long term, skill prevails. "Whether a game is one of skill or luck also determines whether it can be played for money. But assigning a game to these categories is difficult owing to the many shades of gradation between extremes like roulette and chess," states Prof. Oechssler. Courts in Germany legally classify poker as a game of chance that can be played only in government-sanctioned casinos, whereas skat is considered a game of skill.