Poker a game of chance, court declares

A British court has declared that poker is a game of chance.

The Court of Appeal in London ruled in a case where the former chairman of a private poker club, Derek Kelly, had argued that poker is a game of skill. This would mean that he would not need a licence to operate poker commercially under UK laws which state that a licence is only required for games of chance.

The jury at a previous hearing decided, however, that he was in breach of the law in a test case which is designed to sort out what has become a difficult situation for poker tournament organisers. Kelly was conditionally discharged for two years but appealed against his conviction, which took him to the Court of Appeal which issued its decision on Friday of last week.

The law which applies to games of chance was framed in 1968 and decided that a licence is required to run games of chance commercially, including roulette but not games of skill such as chess tournaments.

Without a licence it is illegal to impose levies on winnings and charge participation fees to players. Kelly's conviction in the lower court was in January 2007 when the court decided that poker was a game of chance.

That court case came from a raid on a private members club in London in December of 2004 where it was found that the club was retailing a £270 cut on a prize pot of £2,165 and subsequently found that players were being charged a participation fee.

News Added: 12 February, 2008

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