Pennsylvania Judge rules that Poker is a game of skill

beaston · 01-21-2009, 10:55 AM

I'm pretty sure this ruling will be one of many to come, and will hopefully pave the road for card rooms to sprout up in Pennsylvania and many other states...

I really don't see what the issue is...I could post hundreds of televised poker hands where players have folded the best hand without a showdown....Sure, luck plays a part in it, but it's not the lucky players that continually make a profit, is it?

Only the skilled players will come out on top at the end of the day, and I'm glad to see this ruling. It's definitely a step in the right direction.

Quote:

Writing for the on-line Poker News Daily, Dan Cypra reports a Pennsylvania judge on Friday ruled that Texas Hold ’Em is a game of skill and therefore not gambling under state law.

The distinction is important and the decision, if upheld, is expected to be cited in other courtrooms in other states in the future as prosecutors and card-dealing defendants increasingly face off over
what is unlawful gambling, and what is not.

That question is particularly critical under the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act approved by Congress in 2006. That controversial federal law leaves it to the states to determine the definition of unlawful gambling within their borders. Most state laws already make a sharp distinction between "games of chance" and "games of skill."

If gambling must be based on chance, then games of skill can't be gambling.

http://luckynumbers.kansascity.com/?q=node/496

catwoman · 01-21-2009, 07:28 PM

Cheers, its about time someone made some sense! i am sick and tired of going through this for the past year or more with the casinos and poker rooms being banned left and right, its about time someone opened thier eyes and mouths! and now, lets see what the pres does about stopping uiega, and i will be a happy camper!

Dyno_Don · 01-22-2009, 07:33 AM

I agree 100% with this, since the UIGEA is an unlawful addition to a port security act to begin with.

What does gambling have to do with terrorists invading the U.S. borders?

Oh, I have that answer: They gamble with their lives by coming over here.