Nothing Like a Court to Make it So

February 20, 2009

With so much fighting over whether or not online poker was legal or not, there were those that were ready to hang it up and give up on online poker ever being legal. However, those that were not ready to give up have seen a change in the poker world and it has been a long time coming.

Across the nation it seems that there are plenty of judges willing to call poker a game of skill, which takes it out of the gambling arena. Most states say that poker is a game of chance, and therefore should be illegal. But with the courts now ruling that it is a game of skill, it makes it legal again in many parts of the country.

Many professional poker groups have long argued that with poker playing being a game of skill that it should not have been lumped in with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and should have been deemed legal. They say that online poker is not a game of chance, so it does not come under the ruling. However, the government has maintained that the UIGEA covers poker as well.

Well, now the poker supporters have another notch in their belt to seeing online poker ruled legal. A judge in Colorado has just ruled that poker is a game of skill, not luck, and acquitted the charges related to illegal poker playing – i.e. gambling. This allows the poker supporters to use this case, as well as the others that have occurred as of late to see if they can get online poker legalized.