Proforma Hold'em: Skill-Based Game

Author: Krister Larson
Created: 9/17/08

This document is an informal summary of Proforma Hold'em as a solution for legal US poker.

Assumptions: Reader has knowledge of online poker's current legal climate and skill-based gaming.

The goal is to serve real money online poker to US players. This will most likely never happen with Texas Hold'em because it requires Texas Hold'em to be classified as a skill-based game. As poker players, surprisingly, we actually agree with judges. No judge doubts there is skill in poker and no player disagrees that there's luck in the game. A winning player knows that his edge is expressed over time. Over many hands or tournaments a skilled player can assume he will win. In a single hand, anything can happen; therein lies the problem. For a variety of reasons, defending long term edge in court is difficult. On the other hand, it is very easy for a lay person to watch TV and see a player holding a hand with a 90% chance of winning losing to luck.

The UEIGA is a horrible piece of legislation and a blow to online poker, but viewing it only in these terms will overlook the great opportunity it creates. There is a huge demand for online poker and few suppliers.

Companies are already running systems based on sweepstakes law and duplicate bridge. Our solution is different. When creating this game, the following goals were in mind:

It must feel like real poker. This is the most important aspect. All poker structures share common features -- a spirit. The legal solution should not damage this. Players expect certain things and those things should remain intact. The ideal game is simply poker: buy-in with money, play with cards using familiar rules and strategy, win and get paid.
Be considered a skill-based game. Proforma is a skill-based game, according to our Legal Opinion from Professor of Law I. Nelson Rose. Texas Hold'em, at best, is difficult to prove on paper as a skill-based game simply because anything can happen in the short term. Proforma solves this. Using simple logic, one can see how skill prevails.

Proforma is Texas Hold'em with the following rules:

Defines what "skill" is. Skill is playing with equal or better Expected Value. This is important because it is an already existing concept, both in poker strategy (important for game play and player acceptance) and in gaming (important from a legal standpoint).
Awards a portion of the chips based on skill, as opposed to just the best five cards. Eighty percent go to the best five cards and 20% to skill.
Ensures that no player can lose by a forced bet (big or small blind) without input.
Plays in a tournament format, which means the gaming event lasts until one player has all the chips, or more importantly until each player but one has lost all his chips.

What is the result of these rules? Luck never causes a player to lose. All players, regardless of luck, will remain in the tournament until they make a move that is incorrect. If a player gets unlucky, he'll still get back 20% of that wager and remain in the tournament, provided that move was correct.

Take the example hand above where a player has a 90% chance of winning yet loses to luck. In Texas Hold'em, that player would lose and be out of the tournament (unacceptable for a skill-based game since he played with as much skill as the game provides). In Proforma Hold'em, he would lose 80% of his chips, but still get back 20%, since he played skillfully. This, coupled with an infinite time limit, results in skill always prevailing. Texas Hold'em and Proforma Hold'em are complex games so these additional rules do not undermine game play.

Simple logic: If it takes ALL the chips to win, and SOME of the chips can only be won or lost by skill, then skill ultimately defines the tournament. No amount of luck can determine the tournament.

The magic of this system is that it balances the skill-based classification with "real poker." Game play is natural. This is a palatable solution for poker players since they are only asked to accept the following: A part of the pot goes to players who played correctly and there is an additional move in the big blind.

All Texas Hold'em game play and strategy apply to this structure. In less than 5 minutes, a player who knows how to play Texas Hold'em can play Proforma Hold'em. Proforma Hold'em can be run in all popular tournament formats, just like Texas Hold'em is now: Sit-n-Goes, MTT, etc. Most importantly, Proforma Hold'em can be played legally in the majority of US states for real money, including using credit cards.

To get a feel for the game play, visit pokerwest.com. You can view the game being played in your browser without having to download anything.

Proforma Hold'em is patent pending.