Poker is a Game of
Skill
October 10, 2009
Poker players are excited today to hear that a South Carolina judge has
ruled that poker is a game of skill. The Poker Players Alliance, which is
easily the leading poker grassroots advocacy group – considering the fact
that it that has more than 1 million members nationwide, was beside
themselves with the joy upon hearing the news.
They say that poker is not a crime in South Carolina or anywhere else, and
they are thrilled that the courts are finally starting to recognize that.
They say that where poker is it illegal, it is because they are still
lumping it in with gambling which it is not. To gamble is to take your money
and hope for the best, whereas with poker playing your using skill which
changes the rules of the game.
They say that this ruling gives poker players back their rights as it
pertains to the game. They reference other courts across the nation that
have already found in favor of the poker players, that have already said
that poker playing is legal because it is a game of skill. They say that
this is the biggest thing that they are fighting as poker players, is the
misperception of what poker playing is.
The court case had come forward because five individuals had been convicted
of illegal gambling, but they were playing poker. The trial court had found
that poker was a game of skill, but they had left it up to the higher court
to decide whether or not this judgment was right as gambling laws in the
state were rather vague. It would seem that they are no longer that vague.
