Start with your normal multi-table poker tournament. Now, take away the luck factor. Take away the bad beats. What do you have left? The answer is: a true skill game that just happens to be played online and legally in the United States.

Duplicate Poker, the only online poker site headquartered in the US, launched late last year to a mix of opinions. Some thought the concept of poker without luck was preposterous, while others thought it was genius.

At first glance, the style of tournament play at Duplicate Poker might seem a little confusing, but once you grasp the (very) easy-to-understand concepts, you are left with a game of skill that can win you thousands.

Here's the simple concept that you need to understand: while each hand is played against the other poker players at your table, you are collecting points based on how you do against the people sitting in your seat at the other tables. For example, if you are in the six seat, you are essentially playing against all of the people sitting in the six seats at other tables.

Here's the kicker (pardon the poker pun) - all of the tables are dealt the exact same cards each hand that is played, and each player starts each hand with the same number of chips. Now you have nothing to whine about! There are no more cold decks or bad luck. It's all about pure poker skills now. Can you make more money with AK than the other guys sharing your position? Can you lay down KK when you know you’re beat? Can your opponents at the other tables do so? Play the hand better than other players sharing your position at the other tables and you win tournament points. End the tournament with the most tournament points, and you win.

Anybody with a brain can excel and win money playing at Duplicate Poker. The game is played just like normal Texas Hold'em and the concept of winning is essentially the same too - win as many chips as possible in the hands that you win and lose as few chips as possible in the hands that you don't win. Sounds like a silly thing to say, but you would be surprised how many people do not practice that basic concept (in any type of poker)!

Perhaps the best part is that your credit card will work at Duplicate Poker. Since Duplicate Poker is legal in the US, credit card companies and processors willingly process credit card deposits. You can use Visa, MasterCard – even American Express.

Duplicate Poker also has the duplicate equivalent of cash games. Cash games are played similarly to tournaments; you start each hand with the same amount of chips as everybody else and your wager is actually against other players that share your position (and are being dealt the exact same cards as you) at the other tables.

Just like the other poker sites, Duplicate Poker offers a number of different buy-in tournaments (both multi-table and Sit & Go) and cash games. Hone your duplicate poker skills in the small games (starting at $1), and then move up to the larger ones. Create a good poker playing strategy and you will win money. The bad news – you won’t have bad beat stories to share any more.