A game of chance is a game

Game

A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...

 whose outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing

Randomness

Randomness has somewhat differing meanings as used in various fields. It also has common meanings which are connected to the notion of predictability of events....

 device, and upon which contestants may or may not wager

Wager

Wager can refer to:* Gambling* A scientific wager* A legal wager under the Roman legal system* WAGR syndrome - a rare genetic syndrome-Given name:*Wager Swayne , American military Governor-Surname:...

 money or anything of monetary value. Common devices used include dice

Dice

A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...

, spinning tops, playing card

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

s, roulette

Roulette

Roulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....

 wheels or numbered balls drawn from a container.

Any game of chance that involves anything of monetary value is gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

.

Gambling is known in nearly all human societies, even though many have passed laws restricting it. Early people used the knucklebones

Knucklebones

Knucklebones also known as astragaloi, hucklebones, dibs, dibstones, jackstones, chuckstones or five-stones, is a game of very ancient origin, played with five small objects, originally the "knucklebones" of a sheep, which are thrown up and caught in various ways...

 of sheep as dice. Some people develop a psychological addiction to gambling, and will risk even food and shelter to continue.

Some games of chance may also involve a certain degree of skill

Game of skill

A game of skill is a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental and/or physical skill, rather than by pure chance.One benefit of games of skill is that they are a means of exploring one's own capabilities. Games encourage the player to look at, understand, and experience things...

. This is especially true where the player or players have decisions to make based upon previous or incomplete knowledge, such as poker

Poker

Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...

 and blackjack

Blackjack

Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...

. In other games like roulette and baccarat

Baccarat

Baccarat is a card game, played at casinos and by gamblers. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of King Charles VIII , and it is similar to Faro and Basset...

 the player may only choose the amount of bet and the thing he/she wants to bet on, the rest is up to chance, therefore these games are still considered games of chance with small amount of skills required. The distinction between 'chance' and 'skill' is relevant as in some countries chance games are illegal or at least regulated, where skill games are not.

See also

• Probability theory
  Probability theory
  Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single...
  
  
• Poker probability
  Poker probability
  In poker, the probability of each type of 5-card hand can be computed by calculating the proportion of hands of that type among all possible hands.-Frequency of 5-card poker hands:...
  
  
• Psychology
  Psychology
  Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
  
  
• Stochastic process
  Stochastic process
  In probability theory, a stochastic process , or sometimes random process, is the counterpart to a deterministic process...
  
  
• Game classification
  Game classification
  Game classification is the classification of games, forming a game taxonomy. Many different methods of classifying games exist.- Physical education :There are four basic approaches to classifying the games used in physical education:...
  
  
• Monty Hall problem
• Game of skill
  Game of skill
  A game of skill is a game where the outcome is determined mainly by mental and/or physical skill, rather than by pure chance.One benefit of games of skill is that they are a means of exploring one's own capabilities. Games encourage the player to look at, understand, and experience things...