About "Skill"

Where "chance" can easily be defined, skill remain a subjective term which compounds when law enforcement and regulators attempt to determine the level or degree of skill.

Regulations in different jurisdictions range from the application of "some" skill to "preponderance of skill".

"Some" skill would seem to start at 1% above no application of skill, whereas preponderance would seem to start at 51% on a scale of one to one hundred percent.

 The determination of a skill level, a numerical assessment and assignment by law enforcement or regulators is often the difference between legal and illegal.

About the Courts  

Where law enforcement has relied primarily upon the appearance of the device and  observation of player and operator interactions,  the Courts have taken a more methodic and analytical point of view.

The following aspects are requisite to a scheme where skill predominates over chance:

  1. Participants must have a distinct possibility of exercising skill and must have sufficient data upon which to calculate an informed judgment. The test is without skill it would be absolutely impossible to win the game.
  2. Participants must have the opportunity to exercise the skill, and the general class of participants must possess the skill. Where the contest is aimed at the capacity of the general public, the average person must have the skill, but not every person need have the skill. It is irrelevant that participants may exercise varying degrees of skill.
  3. The scheme cannot be limited or aimed at a specific skill which only a few possess. Whether chance or skill was the determining factor in the contest must depend upon the capacity of the general public - not experts to solve the problem presented.
  4. Skill or the competitors efforts must sufficiently govern the result, not just one part of the larger scheme.
  5. Where chance enters into the solution of another lesser part of the problems and thereby proximately influences the final result, the scheme is a lottery.
  6.  Where skill does not destroy the dominant effect of chance, the scheme is a lottery.
  7. The standard of skill must be known to the participants and this standard must govern the result. The language used in promoting the scheme must sufficiently inform the participants of the criteria to be used in determining the results of the winners. The winners must be determined objectively.

About Bona-Fide Games

"Bona-Fide"  is a Latin  word  that  is  defined  as "in good faith, without dishonesty, fraud or deceit". A gambling device may or may not have those characteristics; a skill game must possess and exhibit those characteristics.

Certified, licensed, approved, independent testing laboratories test for these attributes.

About "Chance"

Chance has been clearly defined as follows:

  1. The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seem to have no assignable cause.
  2. A force assumed to cause events that cannot be foreseen or controlled; luck.
  3. The likelihood of something happening; possibility or probability; often used in the plural.
  4. An accidental or unpredictable event.
  5. A favorable set of circumstances; an opportunity.
  6. A risk or hazard; a gamble.     

"Games of Chance"

Wikipedia defines "Game of Chance" as a game whose outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device, and upon which contestants frequently wager money.

Common devices used include dice, spinning tops (slot machines), playing cards, roulette wheels or numbered balls drawn from a container (lottery, bingo or raffle).

Some games of chance may also involve a certain degree of skill. This is especially true where the player or players have decisions to make based upon previous or incomplete knowledge, such as poker or blackjack.

The distinction between "chance" and "skill" is relevant in most jurisdictions as games of chance are either illegal or regulated and skill games are legal and may be regulated or unregulated. 

About Court Decisions

The decided cases hold that in order to be a "game of skill" the elements of skill must predominate over those of chance in determining the outcome. That general rule is set forth in the California decision, In re Allen as follows:

 "The term "game of chance" has an accepted meaning established by numerous jurisdictions. Although different language is used in some of the cases in defining the term, the definitions are substantially the same."

"It is the character of the game, rather than a particular player's skill or lack of it that determines whether the game is one of chance or skill."

"The test is not whether the game contains an element of chance or an element of skill but which of them is the dominating factor in determining the result of the game."

About Pachislo Games

Another name for a Japanese Pachislo slot machine is a "skill stop" game. This is because a button starts the game and the player pushes buttons to stop each spinning reel.

It is important to note that the maximum payout on these machines is set by the operator, so no matter how skilled you are, you can't beat a Pachislo game any more than you can a traditional slot machine.

The illusion of skill is not sufficient to reclassify a "gambling device" as a game of skill.