I have been playing poker, both pay and free poker online, for nearly a decade, which to me is quite a long time. During those years I have come across many discussions on whether poker is really a game of skill or luck, hopefully this article will shed some light on the situation.

Being a skilled player is always going to get you a little further when playing poker than an inexperienced player. Skilled players understand the basics of poker, such as patterns, odds and they usually have a plan. However, no matter how skilled a player is, they are always need to account for the actions of other players and the way the cards play out on the table.

I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck.

The assumption would be based on this conclusion that you have to be both pre flop aggressive, as well as post flop smart. Many times one might find themselves in a position where they made the proper call, yet they find themselves behind due in part to an opponents luck hitting a one or two outer.

This is something that wont be easy to get out of. This is more common in online poker as opposed to playing in a casino, due to the fact that more hands are dealt when playing poker online. Online poker is played at a quicker pace and making choices must me made at speed.

A lot of players calculate that they take more bad beats when playing internet poker rather than in a casino. This could be down to the fact that more hands can be played when playing online as it goes so much faster than if you are sitting at a table with players in the flesh, but this can also be because a player feels they are being pushed too hard online.

When playing online players can play more irrational and play hands that they normally wouldn't play to try to get back money that they have lost.

An experienced player will more than likely notice the tendencies of opposing players, and exploit these factors to their gain. To the loosing player the loss seems coincidental and becomes another defeat in their mindset based on luck. The truth of the matter is this is not the case, and the loss is due to the flaws in their technique due to lack of experience.

This is a game of two equals, luck and skill, neither in my opinion more important than the other, however the successful poker player knows how to manage both aspects of the game, learns skill playing free poker online before moving into money games and uses skill, in effect, tweak luck and so sustain consistency in winning.