Complete Guide to Skill Games

Skill games rank among the most popular in terms of both games played at home for fun and online at top gambling websites. The distinguishing characteristic of a skill game is that your decisions will go a long way in determining whether you win or lose. That’s why a lot of people play skill games for real money, because they can control the action to some extent.

Many play social skill games at home that are based entirely on luck. You might enjoy the rush that comes with a lucky turn of events, but it can also be frustrating in that you have no real control over them.

In the following skill games guide, we’ll explain what separates skill games from other games that you can play online or at home. We’ll also take you through some of the most popular skill games so that you can learn how to play them. Finally, we’ll give you some tips to improve while also answering some of your most-asked questions on the subject.

What Are Skill Games?

Although the name says it all, in some ways, you have to realize that the outcomes of some skill games can indeed be affected by luck. Think about a game like rummy, where drawing the right cards off the deck can help you clear all your cards faster than your opponents. Or you can refer to games like backgammon or Yahtzee, where dice rolls affect your chances of winning or losing.

But even in skill games where luck is involved, there are some strategic decisions you can make that improve your chances of winning. By contrast, making poor decisions will hurt your chances. When two players meet in a skill game, either at home or on an online gambling site, the more highly-skilled player will go in with a better chance of winning regardless of any lucky turns that might occur.

Some of the skill games that we’ll detail in the sections below will be more reliant on luck than others. Only one of them, chess, is entirely dependent on skill since players are in complete control of moving the pieces on the board in that game. In any case, skill games are synonymous with player control.

Different Types of Skill Games

The games of skill we are going to discuss in this article might sometimes be considered board games, although they are not to be confused with other board games like Monopoly or Risk, which have elaborate setups and are tied together around some theme.

The board games we’re discussing have been around for many years (in some cases, hundreds) and haven’t really changed much since they were first formulated. They are so popular that some of them have variations.

But they don’t quite cover the entirety of the skill games you can play online or in person. Take a look at some other categories that might be considered games of skill.

Most Popular Games of Skill

Dominoes

Yes, you can do more with dominoes than set them in a line and tip them over. Dominoes have been a popular game of skill game for hundreds of years. And you can play it informally, get into a game for money with acquaintances, or play the game online for money.

One of the things that distinguishes it is the sheer number of different ways that you can play it. But the basic gist is the same. You have a set of tiles with a specific number of pips on each side; you and your opponent (or opponents) take turns laying down those tiles.

The idea is that you must connect one domino to another. For example, if the tile on the table has an open side with three pips on it, you have to lay one down with three pips on it. If you can’t do that, you have to keep picking from the pile until you can play.

The process will continue until one player has no more dominoes in their pike. At that point, they would be declared the winner. In scoring games, the points would be determined by the value of the dominoes still in the hands of the other players.

The skill in dominoes comes in knowing to lay dominoes down and when to hold them in reserve. You also have to show recall to know which dominoes are being laid down by the other players, so you might be able to spot weaknesses in their hands. In that way, dominoes mirrors some of the card games that we’re going to be discussing in this article.

Check out our dominoes page for an in-depth look at the game.

Rummy

Rummy stands out as one of the most popular card games for informal players at home. But it can also be played online for real money since there are different ways it can be scored. This is one of the online skill games that can be played in a variety of different formats, even as the basic format is usually in place.

In the most basic version of rummy, you have to get rid of all your cards before anybody else in the game. If you do, you earn points based on whatever the other players have remaining in their hands. It’s kind of like dominoes in that fashion.

Rummy allows you to either pick up an unknown card from the main pile or a card that you can see from the discard pile. You can then discard if you wish, but you can also lay cards on the table if they can be arranged in certain combinations. The two basic forms:

• Runs: At least three cards consecutive in rank of the same suit, like six of hearts, seven of hearts, eight of hearts
• Sets: At least three cards of the same number, like nine of diamonds, nine of hearts, nine of spades

As you lay these cards down, there will be fewer cards in your hand. You can also earn a bonus if you wait to lay down your entire hand all at once instead of in piecemeal fashion. This is known as a rummy.

Part of the skill in rummy is knowing when to pick up from the discard pile in order to improve your hand. You also have to know when to cut cards loose that you don’t think are going to help you. But you should try to be cognizant of what your opponents have discarded and laid down, since you don’t want to help them by putting down a card that gives them a run or a set.

As we mentioned, there are many different ways to play rummy. Some versions let you count up the cards that you lay down in sets or runs as points for you, while others allow you to end the hand with a “knock” before you’ve laid down all your cards. The luck of the draw will help, but a skilled rummy player can give themselves an excellent advantage.

Backgammon

If you really want to play a game of skill that’s been around a while, backgammon is the way to go. The classic battle between black and red pieces has been around by some estimates for 5,000 years or so. Because it is based on dice rolls, the possible variations of outcomes mean that no two backgammon games are ever really the same, which means that you’re not likely to tire of it.

The simplest way to look at backgammon is that you have to get your 15 pieces, or tiles, off the board before your opponent can do the same. Your pieces will be moved around the board based on your dice rolls. Double rolls are valuable because they let you move around much faster than any other roll.

The board is divided up into segments, with each player having a home board section that they’ll be trying to protect while simultaneously moving their pieces into their opponent’s home board. Once they get all of their pieces into the other player’s home board, they can then start taking them off the board. But this isn’t an easy process because you have to make sure your tiles aren’t left vulnerable.

When one of your tiles is on one of the 24 spaces on the board by itself, it can get knocked into the center of the board, or the bar, by one of your opponent’s tiles. When that occurs, you essentially have to start over with that tile, no matter how close you might have been to getting it off the board. But if you have more than one tile on a line, the opponent cannot land on that space with one of their tiles, which lets you play defense.

The push and pull of knowing when to protect your tiles and knowing when to take a chance and advance are a few reasons why backgammon takes such skill. Many experts in the game say that it’s an easy game to learn and a hard game to master. But there’s no doubt that your skill level, which you can advance by visiting our backgammon page, will help you out.

Chess

Here is another game that has been around since what has been the beginning of time. Chess always seems to be enjoying one renaissance after another in the culture, simply because the mental demands of the game make it a challenge that players love to try and conquer. As we said above, chess is the one game on this list where there is truly no luck involved because piece movements are predetermined and not sourced from dice rolls or drawn cards.

The goal of chess is to capture your opponent’s king. You do that by situating your pieces in such a way that the king of your opponent can’t make any move without being vulnerable to a move of one of your pieces. This is known as “checkmate,” and it ends the game.

Before you get to that point in this skill game, you’ll generally be trying to take your opponent’s other pieces off the board, which makes their king more vulnerable and removes threats to your king. There are several different pieces on a chessboard, and each one has their own special characteristics:

When it’s all set up, it looks like this:

That’s basically how chess is played. Skill levels in chess vary from novices who are just learning the game to those who operate on a Grand Master level and play in top tournaments around the world. It’s hard to find a game that offers the kind of intellectual challenge that chess does, and you can learn more about it on our chess page.

Yahtzee

Yahtzee is one of the newer games on our list of skill games, yet it has already grown in popularity in that time to really stand out. It’s a game based on dice rolls, which is where luck comes into play. But your skill in knowing when to use certain rolls for certain scores is what will ultimately help you become an expert at the game.

In Yahtzee, players roll five dice and try to make different combinations, which are somewhat akin to what you might find in poker. They get three rolls per round, keeping certain dice results that they like and rolling the ones that they don’t again. At the end of the round, the player fills in a certain space on the score sheet.

There are 13 spaces on the scoresheet, which coincides with the number of rounds of rolls you get in a Yahtzee game.

The upper section of the scoresheet is reserved for the dice values of one through six, as a player ideally will be able to get as many of each of those numbers in a round. Meanwhile, the lower section of the Yahtzee scoresheet are reserved for these specialty rolls:

• Three of a kind: At least three dice out of the five with the same value
• Four of a kind: At least four dice out of the five with the same value
• Full house: Three dice with the same value, then two dice with the same value (though not the same as the value of the other three)
• Small Straight: Four dice out of the five in numerical sequence, like 1-2-3-4, 2-3-4-5, or 3-4-5-6
• Large Straight: All five dice in numerical sequence, like 1-2-3-4-5 or 2-3-4-5-6
• Chance: This is a roll that can be taken at any time and is scored as the sum of the value of the five dice
• Yahtzee: The ultimate roll, this is when all five dice are the same value

The key to winning at Yahtzee isn’t just about achieving the different rolls, although that’s part of it. It’s also about knowing when to use their rolls as part of your score, since the highest score at the end of the game wins. For instance, if you get three 6s in a roll, you have to decide if you’re going to use that in the 6s space or in the three of a kind space.

On top of that, you also have to know when to hold dice after your first and second roll. Part of that has to do with understanding the probabilities of certain rolls being made. And you also have to judge when it’s in your best interest to take a chance on a roll that might be difficult to make.

Yahtzee is a popular family game because it isn’t that hard to learn. But you’ll be able to find many gambling websites that offer it as a game for real money. If you really want to go in-depth with Yahtzee, we suggest you check out our page that tells you about the game.

Spades

Spades adds a little bit of a twist to the proceedings because it’s a game that can be played in teams. Two teams of two go at it in Spades. And there is often a betting element added to the proceedings.

The key with Spades isn’t always about getting the best cards. It’s also about knowing how many different rounds of play that you can win. You also have to be able to work in conjunction with your partner, following their lead.

Spades is somewhat unusual amongst skill-based card games in that it uses all 52 cards in the deck. Each of the four players gets 13 each on the deal. After that, bids are made based on how many tricks, which are rounds of Spades where each player lays down one of their cards, they will win, based on the following rules:

• The highest-ranked spade laid down wins the trick.
• If no spade is played in a trick, the highest-ranked card wins.

When individual players bid, the combined total of each team is used as the number that team will try to make. Players should try to win as many tricks as possible, as long as they’re realistic with their bid. If they are inaccurate with their bids, there are penalties leveled.

On top of that, Spades also allows players to try to lose all their tricks by bidding “nil,” meaning that they won’t win any of the 13 tricks. There is both a bonus for achieving this and a penalty for failing to do it once you’ve made that bid. The game continues for as many rounds as it takes for one team to reach a predetermined number of points.

Many people play this real money skill game with certain monetary amounts tied to each point. And you can also play spades online for money. It’s all about your chemistry with your teammate that will help you come up a winner when you play, and you can learn top strategy by checking out our Spades page.

Tonk

You’ll sometimes see this game called “tunk,” but the basic gist of it is the same no matter the name. This is another game where you might find local rules that slightly change up the strategy. But the basic format remains a form of rummy that is played at a somewhat quicker pace.

How many cards you receive depends on which version of the game you’re playing. Play moves from one player to another in a similar fashion to rummy, with players either picking up from the stock pike or the discard pile, then discarding a card of their own. They can also meld, which is the term for showing the other players a set (cards of the same rank) or a run (cards of consecutive rank and the same suit).

Some versions of tonk require one player to completely empty their hand before the round ends. But there are other variations of the game where a player can “tonk” or “knock” before their hands are completely empty. Once this happens, the following will take place:

• Players will count up the value of the cards left in their hands.
• The player with the lowest value wins.
• The points they win are based on what’s remaining in the other player’s hands.

There are also rules pertaining to when a player “hits” another player, which is the term for when a player adds something to the other player’s meld. That makes it strategically important to lay down the melds at the right time. If you hold on to them too long and someone else empties their hand or knocks, you could get hit with many losses.

Your skills in tonk will be similar to the ones displayed in rummy. Deciding what cards to discard and when it’s wise to pick up from the discard pile instead of the stock is key. And knowing what other players might have will help you decide how to proceed as well.

You’ll find versions of this game of skill that you can play online. And you can also play for fun at home. In either case, your skills will improve when you use our tonk page as a guide.

Poker

Most people have played some form of poker in their lifetime. It’s an extremely popular game in casinos and at online gambling sites, where groups of players can form a cash game or larger bodies of players can play in a tournament. And it’s one of the most popular home games, whether it’s played for small pots or just for fun.

There are two elements to poker. First of all, you’ll be trying to form the best possible poker hand. Rankings for poker hands are as follows:

• Pair
• Two pair
• Three of a kind
• Straight (five cards of consecutive rank, like 3-4-5-6-7)
• Flush (five cards of same suit)
• Full house (three of a kind and two pair in the same hand)
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush (straight with five cards of same suit)
• Royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit)

The other key part of the action is the ability to outsmart other players with your betting techniques. You can win pots by bluffing, which is the term for making players bow out of hands with big bets even when you don’t have a great hand. And you can maximize your winnings on a great hand by convincing others to keep betting for as long as possible.

Poker can be broken down into many different variations of the game, with differences in the number of cards being dealt, the number of betting rounds, and other small distinguishing rules. But in general, there are three basic ways that the game can be played:

• Stud: In Stud Poker, you have to live with the cards you’ve been dealt because you can’t exchange them in any way. The key with Stud is that you have to bet effectively to maximize the value of whatever hand you have. And you also have to know when it’s wise to fold to minimize your losses.
• Draw: Draw Poker gives you the chance to improve your hand from the cards you’ve been dealt. You can discard cards and have them replaced by others from the deck. With Draw Poker, you need to know your probabilities of making winning combinations based on what you have and what you might be able to get from the deck.
• Community Poker: In a community game, there will be certain cards that will be shared by everybody at the table. Texas Hold’em, the most popular form of modern poker games, is a community game. Players are dealt two hole cards of their own but share five community cards.

With each of these games, different skill sets come into play. Poker is one of the most difficult real money skill games for novices because of the difficulty of juggling so much information in a pressurized environment. Considering that the stakes for poker can get very high in a hurry, that only adds to the pressure.

Still, the rush (and the big payoff) for winning a large poker pot is hard to top. That’s why the game has been popular for so long, attracting high rollers and small-timers from all over the world. No matter your skill level, you can improve by visiting our poker page.

Tips for Playing Skill Games

Skill Games FAQ

Final Words on Skill Games

We hope you’ve enjoyed this overview of skill games and have a better handle on what they’re all about. Remember that you can play these games for fun if you want. But if you’re going to try them out for real money, we suggest that you learn as much about them as possible, which is where a thorough review of this page will come in handy.