Is Texas Hold 'em High a Game of Skill or Chance?

This is a good question and one that can't be clearly answered, however, here are some opinions on the subject.

Without going into detail about distribution and/or variance, an example was cited that on average a good player will dominate a bad player. They went on to say that unlike chess, a bad player in poker can get lucky against a good player and win. The example cited was Chris Moneymaker when he beat Sammy Farha for the title of the WSOP Main Event. Chris is a good poker player, but clearly Sammy is the more advanced player. Chris got lucky and won.

People hear about talk of bad beats, but rarely hear about hands that unfold how they are supposed to. One hears lots of stories of pocket aces getting cracked, and they are more widely discussed and disseminated.

People mostly hear about the failures and the impact luck has on their losses in poker. What most people don’t hear about is the amateurs or the recreational players who are outplayed by the better poker players constantly, because these sort of outcomes are expected.

To define poker as a game of skill, you need to ask yourself the question, can you intentionally lose at poker and the answer is yes it's possible. By comparison, can you intentionally lose at say craps or roulette and the answer is no.

Games of chance such as craps and roulette mean the person participating cannot control the outcome. Also with the lottery, if you intend to lose or win on the lottery, it won't make a bit of difference. You are subject to a chance of winning.

Poker on the other hand allows your actions to influence the outcome of your hand. If you choose to fold every single hand you get regardless of the cards in your hand, or if you bet on a hand that cannot win, you will also lose. Which answers the question “Is Texas Hold 'em High a Game of Skill or Chance?”, given the above explanation it would seem that it is a game of skill.