April 8, 2009 – Someone You Should Know

Sean McCulloch

Photo by Hersey Liu ’09

A Game of Skill or Chance?
OWU professor holds the cards in online poker study

Although he “plays online poker for pennies,” OWU Assistant Professor of Computer Science Sean McCulloch says he’s not ready for the professional card-playing circuit. But his statistical analysis skills have earned him a research royal flush.

McCulloch’s expertise was utilized in a major study of 103 million hands of online Texas Hold ’Em released last month. Results indicate that the outcome of each game is determined by player decision, rather than by chance.

The distinction is significant. If poker is deemed to be a game of skill, it would not be categorized as “gambling” under laws that forbid games of chance. McCulloch recently participated in an online press conference about the research.

The study was ordered by Cigital, Inc., a software security company. Research data was provided by PokerStars.com.

Cigital Technical Manager Paco Hope, a friend of McCulloch’s from graduate school, approached the OWU faculty member to serve as a consultant and co-author for the report, which McCulloch completed during winter break.

“It was a lot of fun to work on the report together,” he says. “Maybe this will provide ammunition for making all forms of poker legal.”

McCulloch says online poker player forum conversations have indicated that some players would like more in-depth research on the topic.

Click here to view the report.

– Linda O’Horo