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South Carolina Ruling For the past few years the Poker Players Alliance has been concentrating on changing the legal definition of gambling to exclude poker by showing that poker is in fact a game of skill, and not chance, and by definition all laws that apply to gambling should not apply to poker. To the outsider, poker is most likely looked at as gambling, since there are cards and money involved. However, not just anybody would know how best to play just any hand, and a beginner who is not well versed in the statistics and strategies would probably fare worse than an expert who has everything under his belt. Another outsider point of view would be to bring up the fact that many people get hooked on playing poker which would qualify it as a gambling addiction. However, it is possible that people who get hooked on poker are viewing the game incorrectly. Either way, the importance of the definition of poker has much to do with the State courts and their ability to prosecute for a citizen’s involvement with the game, even if it is played privately in somebody’s residence. Furthermore the utmost importance rests on the definition when in comes to whether or not online poker should be legalized and regulated in the United States. More and more state court decisions have been pointing to the fact that poker is a game of skill. However, this most recent decision by a court in South Carolina is in itself a muddled contradiction of sorts, by ruling that in fact poker is a game of skill and also convicting the defendants for taking part in a private gambling ring. While the decision defers any difficult definitions and rulings to the Supreme Court, it really doesn’t decide anything, other than solidify the vagueness of the rules that are currently in place, and call for a quick solution. Time will tell if the decision is successful. Back to March 2009 Archive. |
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