FREE POKER LEAGUE CHALLENGES NY STATE

31 October 2008

U.S. bar poker leagues seek clarification on application of New York state laws

 

Another American gambling legal tussle is imminent, this time in New York state where Missouri-based Free Poker Experience LLC has filed suit against the state in an effort to clarify regional laws on gambling with particular reference to bar poker leagues.

Bar poker leagues frequently host poker tournaments as a popular promotional vehicle to generate business, and Benjamin Scheck, the feisty owner of Free Poker Experience, says that state gambling law should have no application in the case where entry is free to anyone interested in playing, and prizes are subsequently given out based on final placings in the contest. He claims this does not constitute gambling as defined in state law, which requires evidence that a gambler "...stakes or risks something of value upon the outcome of a contest, with an agreement or understanding that he will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome."

Bar owners make their profits from food and drink served to the players, who are attracted to the premises by the free tournaments.

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