And this week research gave them scientific ammunition to throw back at the claims too; after years of study into the matter, academics have laid their cards out and said definitively that poker is a game of skill. Players will argue they have worked hard for the money, spending years learning card strategy.

Poker: Will the government start taxing player's winnings? | The Independent

As well as making quick calculations, they learn to read tell-tale signs from other players on what kinds of hands they hold — all arguably very skilful. As a complete novice — and, I must confess, a total poker cynic — there was one clear way for me to test the theory.

Two cards in a hand, 25 points to play, royal flushes are great, a seven and a deuce is bad. So far so good, but as the drinks flowed the cards were soon flying and the atmosphere in the room grew tense. I struggled to understand how people could think so deeply into playing a game which they really had no control over; part of what makes poker so unique is that there are no trades or exchanges of cards.

I could see no way of telling if bored-faced Sarah or turtle-necked James across the table had a better hand than me.

It was all a matter of bluffing. And I was the bluffer of all the bluffing players because I still had no idea what was going on.

Poker Taxation - Do Poker Players Need To Pay Tax?

Through the tactic of copying other players with a series of simple knocks on the table and confident throwing in of chips, I was left with just one opponent as our table decreased from a party of My hand was good, if not quite good enough. With my mentor gone, there was perhaps even less skill involved in my second — but, this time, I won hands down, so to speak.

Was I any closer to understanding the game now? But the prize was still deservedly mine for the taking. We use cookies to enhance your visit to our site and to bring you advertisements that might interest you.

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Click here to view instructions on how to disable your ad blocker, and help us to keep providing you with free-thinking journalism - for free. How to disable your ad blocker for independent. Rachael Pells - a novice - tries her hand at the game to find out. Click to follow Indy Politics. Researchers have agreed that the amount of skill involved in playing poker outweighs the impact of mere chance Charlie Forgham-Bailey.

Copying other players worked surprisingly well Charlie Forgham-Bailey.

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