PokerStars teamed up with Rational Entertainment Enterprises Limited (REEL) in 2008 to formulate a study to prove just that. They gathered hands from PokerStars that were played between December 1, 2008 and January 2, 2009 from real-money micro-limit games-from 10-cent to 50-cent blinds only-and gathered data from the 103 million hands. And in the end, authors Paco Hope (Cigital Technical Manager), Brian Mizelle (Cigital Managing Principal), and Sean McCulloch, Ph.D. (Associate Professor at Ohio Wesleyan University) compiled their results into a study entitled "Statistical Analysis of Texas Hold'Em" and released it to the public in late March 2009.

The report, published by Cigital, summarized some of its findings with some clear numbers that reflect the skill level in poker. In the end, only 24.3 percent of the hands played went to a showdown, and 50.3 percent of those won with the best five-card hand. Only 12 percent of the hands played resulted in a win by making the best hand early and taking it all the way to a showdown. Those statistics show, beyond any doubt, that the vast majority of hands played in poker can be won without having the best hand, which means that tells, style of play, math, and overall knowledge of the game mean more than the exact value of the cards.