POKER IS A GAME OF CHANCE

15 February 2008

Latest finding by UK court finds poker is more chance than skill


The apparently endless debate over whether the game of poker is one of skill or chance took a negative turn in the UK this week when a British appeals court declared for the "chance" school of thought.

The case is a continuing legal fight by the private Gutshot Poker Club in the UK to have the game classified by the courts as one of skill, thus removing the necessity for a gambling licence.

Gutshot, which operates popular online poker room and community Gutshot.com, opened a brick-and-mortar facility in 2004 to complement its online business. The local authorities promptly shut it down and charged Gutshot with operating a (land-based) poker room without a licence on grounds that it was offering a "game of chance".

Gutshot's owners fought the prosecution (see previous InfoPowa reports) by arguing that poker was a game of skill, and therefore not prohibited under the 1968 Gaming Act. During the original trial, American business law professor Joe Kelly testified that "poker is overwhelmingly a game of skill."

When Gutshot lost the case, it took it on appeal where it was ruled that poker "contains a significant element of chance, and therefore is a prohibited."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa