Skill Games: Are They Worth the Gamble?

There is an ever increasing number of Internet sites that host so-called skill games. They are advertised in the "get paid to play games" directories and elude to making money while playing games. These sites allow players to open a funded account then pay an entrance fee to play games for cash or other valuable prizes. The venue may be in multi-player tournaments, or head-to-head competitions against other online players, and in some cases you can play against your previously attained high scores.. Depending on the site, the games can vary, but commonly are card games like solitaire or hearts, board games such as backgammon or Scrabble, word games, or popular video games, and billiards amongst others.

Skill games are not under the same laws and jurisdiction as casinos. Their proclamation is that the games are predominantly skill (relying on timed moves and logical decisions) and less reliant on chance therefore it is not considered gambling in the true sense of the word. Is this really the case? Dictionary.com defines gambling as: to stake or risk money, or anything of value on the outcome of anything involving chance. Therefore in order for these to be true skill games, the element of chance must be completely removed and the playing field leveled so that each player has an equal opportunity to win.

All of the sites I have visited take measures to ensure more equitable outcomes, but I have yet to find one that has completely removed the chance factor. Some sites rank players and pair them according to their skill level, while others start with identical games to see who plays the best, and still others offer the user choices for the difficulty level at which they choose to play. Even so, by incorporating these methods into their games, they still have not eliminated the chance factor. The player is at the mercy of the cards, dice, or whatever instrument used, to be able to make the logical decisions necessary for a skill game. Are the cards dealt, dice rolled, games loaded in a random fashion? Are some of the games "engineered" so that enough games are played that the house makes back the prize money plus a rake before allowing a winning hand to take place? Sometimes a player must play multiple times just to get the "right" game that may lead to the winning score, thus lowering the value of the prize amount. Then, there is always the reality that another player may beat your score.

I am not promoting any sort of agenda against these sites. This is more of a buyer beware opinion: All things considered, skill games should be considered gambling because just like the casinos, the real winner is the house.