Online Poker Benefits from States Ruling that it is a skill game

Another judge has ruled in the United States that poker is a game of skill, not luck. A Colorado judge made that ruling this week. This is the second time in less than two weeks that a poker player has been acquitted on charges of illegal gambling because of poker.

Colorado State Director of the Poker Players Alliance, Gary Reed, had this to say, "The PPA is pleased with the outcome of this case. It is further confirmation that poker is indeed a game of skill, not chance. At the same time, the not guilty verdict cements the rights of Colorado citizens to enjoy the American pastime of poker and will allow law enforcement to use its scarce resources to investigate real unlawful activity in the state, not poker games."
Prosecutors in the Colorado case were trying a man for organizing bar poker games with his friends. While the man did not think he was breaking the law, he was still arrested. That is where the PPA stepped in and paid for an expert witness to tell testify that the game of poker is one of skill.

"We never believed we were doing anything wrong whatsoever. It's entertainment. Some people play golf, I play poker,' said Kevin Raley, the person acquitted of the gambling charges.

The PPA has been trying since 2006 to convince members of Congress that poker is a game of skill. Their goal was to keep the game out of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. With the legal ruling piling up around the US, their mission may soon be accomplished.

Last week, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that poker was a game of skill, and in Kentucky, an Appeals Court took away Governor Steve Beshear's self proclaimed right to seize online gambling domain names.

News Added: 28 January, 2009

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