Poker got its start as a game on the riverboats floating up and down the Mississippi river in the 1800s.  Then the all-American game found its way into saloons and eventually casinos.  Now, in this current century, poker is attempting to disassociate itself with casinos, particularly online casinos.

Online casinos have an unsure fate in the United States because many states have laws against gambling on games of chance, the types of games typically found in online casinos, such as the slot machine.  But poker players are arguing that poker is largely a game of skill with elements of chance.  Poker opponents scoff at the idea that the poker community is attempting to separate itself from online casinos.

According to John Stemberger of the Florida Family Policy Council the efforts of the poker community to have the game seen legally as a game of skill are “hilarious.”  Stemberger believes that the resources being spent by organizations like the Poker Players Alliance may be more useful if spent on analyzing the negative effect gambling in general has on a community.

However, the research in to the game of poker has been useful, and poker pundits have mathematicians on their side.  A recent study, conducted by associate professor Sean McCulloch of Ohio Wesleyan University revealed the overwhelming role of skill in poker.

After studying 103 million hands of Texas Hold ‘Em poker, it was reveal that three out of four times, the winner was decided by betting with the hands of opposing players never being revealed.