Online Poker Room Introduces Real Money "Skill" Poker

Perhaps in an effort to help the legalization of poker in the United States, or perhaps simply in an effort to differentiate itself, online poker room e-PokerUSA.com has opened its "Duplicate Poker" games for real money. According to the website, this form of the game "eliminate(s) the 'luck of the draw' element from poker."

It is quite an interesting concept. In "Duplicate Poker," at least two tables of players compete simultaneously, each using a deck of cards shuffled in the exact same way. The community cards at each table are identical and the cards dealt to corresponding seats at each table are identical. While, of course, the players seated a table together are competing against each other from hand to hand, they are really competing against their counterparts at the other tables.

Why is this? This way, it is a game of skill, rather than luck. When the players in each Seat 1 are presented with the exact same scenario as each other (same hole cards, community cards, and opponents' cards), skill is what determines which Seat 1 player prevails over the others. If you get a great hand, you very well may win the pot at your table, but what determines whether or not you actually win money is how many chips you win compared to your counterparts at the other tables. Same with if you get dealt a terrible hand - can you minimize your losses better than the others?

There are two variations of "Duplicate Poker" ring games: "Winner Takes All" and "Get Fair Share."

In "Winner Takes All," everyone at the table starts with the same number of "hand chips," which are reset after every hand. Everybody wagers the same amount of money per hand. At the end of the hand, each players "hand chips" are compared with the chips held by the players in the same seat at the different tables. The winner is the one who has the most "hand chips." He is then credited with a dollar amount totaled from the losses of the other players in his same seat, less the rake. The losses are calculated by taking the difference between the end "hand chips" of the losers and winner and dividing it by the starting chips. This difference is then applied to the amount wagered. For example, if, on $10 wager, the player at Table 2, Seat 1 ends up with 1,200 chips and the player at Table 1, Seat 1, ends up with 1,300, and both started with 1,000, the player at Table 2 would win $1 (less the rake). This is calculated by dividing the difference in their chips (100) and dividing it by the starting chips (1,000) and multiplying that percentage (10%) by the wager ($10).

In "Get Fair Share," the prize money is doled out based on the proportion of chips each player has at the end of the hand. So, on a $10 wager, if Table 1, Seat 1 ends up with 1,500 “hand chips” and Table 2, Seat 1 ends up with 500 chips, the first player would receive $15 (75% of the chips multiplied by $20 in total bets) and the second player would receive $5.

Tournaments work similarly, but "victory chips" are added to determine which players are performing the best. Victory chips are won and lost based on the results of each hand, but unlike in ring games, a very complicated formula (explained on the room’s website) is applied to adjust victory chips based on the quality of the starting hand.

So, with "Duplicate Poker," the game really does become skill-based, as players are only really competing against others that see the exact same game conditions as they do. If one player gets a terrible run of cards, all the other players in the same seat at different tables get the same horrible cards, too. It will be interesting to see if this game can catch on, and if it will help the image of poker in the eyes of critics who see it as simply a game luck.

Originally published September 25, 2006