tagged w/ Skill Games
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The Poker Player's Alliance is reporting that a Pennsylvania judge ruled poker a game of skill in a court hearing on Friday.
The case in question was that of Walter Watkins who ran a small No-Limit Hold'em game out of his garage. No rake was taken according to the PPA but players were encouraged to tip their dealers. One of the dealers, Diane Dent, was also identified in the case as Watkin's girlfriend. The pair was facing 20 charges each.
In the end Judge Thomas A. James Jr. stated simply that if chance was the dominant factor in No-Limit Hold'em then the game should be considered gambling but if the majority of the game is skill then it is not gambling.
James Jr. went on to cite numerous poker strategy resources like Mike Caro's Secrets of Winning Poker, Explaining Winning Poker: A Data Mining Approach and various websites, which seemed to suggest that skill plays a huge part in the popular card game. At one James Jr. even quoted Secrets of Winning Poker saying "…the money flows from the bad players to the good players."
Both Watkins and Dent were cleared of all charges as a result of the ruling.
"It's unfortunate we had to go through all of this," he said to the Associated Press. "We were arrested, taken out of our home, shackled and spent a night in prison. All for playing poker."
Many in the poker industry, including PPA Executive Director John Pappas, see the ruling as a positive step towards legalizing online poker. Although the case was relatively minor it represented one of the first occasions where poker has been decreed a game of skill by the judiciary branch of the U.S. government.The Poker Player's Alliance is reporting that a Pennsylvania judge ruled poker a... more
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If you think incoming U.S. president Barack Obama has more important things to do other than worry about the legality of online poker in the United States, you’re probably right. But that doesn’t mean the issue will be ignored after he takes office next week.
Obama’s Web site while he is still president-elect, change.gov, has seen the issue of online poker become one of the hottest topics on the Web site in the “Citizen’s Briefing Book” section. People who register for the site can put forth ideas, and throw their support behind or against the issues raised on the site. Right now, making online poker legal is one of the top issues. The top ideas will be given to Obama once he takes office, the Web site promises.If you think incoming U.S. president Barack Obama has more important things to do... more
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Part of the defendants' argument in the online gambling domain name seizure case pending in Kentucky hinged on distinguishing poker as a game of skill.
But the lower court judge concluded that poker was a game of luck, summarizing it simplistically: "In the end, no matter how skillful or cunning the player, who wins and who loses is determined by the hands the players hold."
Anyone who plays poker seriously knows this is not the case at all. While three of a kind is certainly a better hand than two pair, it does not always beat two pair.
Why is that? Because betting, bluffing and a keen understanding of statistics and human nature elevate what some think of as a game of chance into a sophisticated game of skill.
Considering all of the calculations and evaluations that take place during a poker game, it's hard to imagine anyone would think the game can be summed up as one where "the best hand wins."
If every poker hand ended in a showdown with all the players at the table turning over their cards and the best hand taking the pot, then, yes, poker would be a game of luck. But then poker would be about as interesting as coin flipping.
Instead, poker is about decisions that are influenced by statistics, old-fashioned math and psychology. And it is about outsmarting your opponent and not being outsmarted yourself.Part of the defendants' argument in the online gambling domain name seizure case... more
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