The debate  over whether poker is a game of skill or luck is a vital one in countries where online poker is outlawed, in particular the United States of America. 

As long as the people in power keep defining poker as a game of luck, then it is always going to be classed as just another form of gambling.

In August, a federal judge in New York concluded that in the battle between skill and luck, skill was the dominant force when it came to playing poker. 

This was great news for the poker people desperate for their game to be recognised as one of skill so they can get back to the daily grind. 
        
A quick glance at the current top ten live tournament players in the world (according to the Global Poker Index) shows a strong group of top quality players, but there are also a few whom the top players in the game will argue have a weak set of fundamentals. 

If this is in fact true, then it means they are in the top ten because they have stumbled across a hot streak of fortune; the foundation of luck.

The debate will rage on like a forest fire, and the eventual return of online poker in the U.S. will no doubt ring the final bell, with the referee holding the hand of ‘skill’ triumphantly in the air. 

But, just like a controversial boxing match that has ended on points, the discussion will be like a good old-fashioned English soap opera: never ending.