Whether a game counts as “skill” or “chance” isn’t just a pub argument — in many countries it’s a legal distinction. Roulette and blackjack live on the “chance” side; tennis and chess are filed under “skill”. Different rules, different taxes, different ways for people to lose money.
The trouble is that this line is usually drawn by tradition and gut feeling. Is poker really “more skill” than backgammon? Is snooker closer to roulette or closer to chess? A group of economists tried to answer that question more systematically: instead of arguing, measure how “skill-heavy” a game is in practice by looking at the Elo ratings of all its players. We’ll meet their work properly in a bit.
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