[gte910h]

Starting hand strengths are MUCH further apart in holdem and 5CD.

You can start with the nuts (Straight flush to the Ace) in 5CD, but in holdem, AA is only about 450:1 better than a random disconnected offsuit (2s 8h).

Tight play is overwhelmingly rewarded (you can start with a hand thousands of times better than your opponent). So in a 5CD game against bad players, the good players fold repeatedly until they get a strong hand, and take all the money, repeatedly.

Against people of similar skill, draw (with the antes most people play with) is more of an actual game, and less of a horrible train-wreck of watching bad players getting fleeced. But in a similar holdem game, a guy can sit down, play every hand, and will often turn out okay.

*My comments are about cash games. For tournaments, the tournament dynamics dwarf a huge quantity of the strategy in the actual game.

[Tossrock]

I guess I don't see how that's more skill based. In fact it seems more luck based to me – your play is dictated more by literal luck of the draw than by your skill level. You could be the best player in the world, and if you are continuously dealt trash, lose. In Hold 'em, the skills of bluffing and reading are much more important than the luck of your hole cards.