Poker ruled a skill game by Pennsylvania judge

The Poker Players Alliance has reported that a Pennsylvania judged ruled Friday that poker is a game of skill.

The case that was in the courts had defendant Walter Watkins who runs a small No Limit Hold’em game from his garage, has no rake taken, although players are encouraged to tip the dealers. Diane Dent, identified as Watkins girlfriend, was one of the dealers and the pair were facing 20 counts each.


Judge Thomas A. James Jr. was the presiding judge and stated that if No Limit Hold’em was a game in which skill was the dominant factor in winning than the game should not be considered 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 Web sites, 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."
Watkins and Dent were both cleared of all charges as a result of the ruling.
"It's unfortunate we had to go through all of this," Watkins 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 toward 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.
To learn more about the case check out http://pokerplayersassociation.com.

News Added: 19 January, 2009

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