[aquateen]

Just because there is an element of chance doesn't mean it's not a "true" game of skill. Sites like pokertableratings.com and sharkscope.com keep track of cash and tournament winnings, and maybe 100k hands gives a good sample that overcomes variance.

Poker's become much tougher the last five years or so. Quite a few of the top players formerly played Starcraft, MvC2, Warcraft, backgammon, Magic the Gathering, chess, etc. at the highest levels.

That mentality does make the games profitable though.