Skill wagering and how it differs from chance games

Which Skill.io products depend on player skill, which run on provably fair randomness, how sports bets differ, who can play and why to stake only what you can afford to lose.

Not everything on Skill.io works the same way. Some products are decided by how well someone plays, some by randomness that anyone can check, and the sportsbook by real sporting results. This guide sorts them out.

What is skill wagering on Skill.io?

It means the result depends on how well someone plays, not on chance alone. You stake money on yourself against another player, or on a task you complete yourself.

Which products are decided by player skill?

Console duels in FC, NBA 2K, UFC and F1, chess against another player or the Skill.io AI, Sim Trading, and contracts on our own DayZ, Hell Let Loose: Vietnam and Rust servers.

In each of these the result comes from what the player does: the match played, the position reached or the task completed.

Which products run on chance?

Coin Flip and Stack run on randomness. Both are provably fair, which means you can check each result yourself instead of taking our word for it. Coin Flip against Skill.io pays 1.90x your stake, a 5% house edge; a flip between players has no house cut.

Stack has a skill element, a tower you lock with a tap, but the crash point of each round comes from the published hash chain. Perfect play returns 98% of what you stake over time, and the other 2% is the house edge.

How are sports bets different?

A sports bet is on a real game you are not playing in. It settles on the official result, and the prices come from bookmakers' odds with Skill.io's margin added, or from Skill.io's own model for some football markets.

Who can play, and does it depend on where I live?

Yes. You must be 18 or over, or the legal age where you live if that is higher, and allowed to play for money there. Whether you can play depends on where you are, and the full rules are in the Terms.

Should I only play what I can afford to lose?

Yes. Play only what you can afford to lose, and only if you are 18 or over. Any stake can be lost.