Poker Goes on Trial Feb. 13 in South CarolinaJudge is Allowing Defense Team to Argue That Poker is a Skill Game |
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Friday, Feb. 13, is the day that a South Carolina judge will hear arguments that poker is more of a game of skill than luck as he considers if five men who were caught up in a poker raid should be found guilty.
Last month, the defense team of the players got a victory when Municipal Court Judge J. Lawrence Duffy, Jr. ruled that he’d allow evidence that may convince him that that poker is more a game of skill than luck.
This would not only most likely get the illegal gambling charges dismissed, but it would force legislators to clarify the more-than-a-century-old anti-gambling law that outlaws any game that uses dice or cards.
And it would be the first time that poker was legally ruled a game of skill in any court in America.
It was nearly three years ago when Bob Chimento, Scott Richards, Michael Williamson, Jeremy Brestel, and John Taylor Willis were charged with illegal gambling for playing small-stakes tournament poker in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
They could’ve paid a nominal fine like the other several dozen poker players who were charged with illegal gambling in April 2006, but they decided to fight the charges in the hopes of getting rid of the antiquated law that law officials use to charge poker players there.
Judge Duffy refused to dismiss the case last summer, but the charged players think that they got a break when the judge decided to allow the skill-versus-luck argument to be made.
According to Chimento, a benefactor who wishes to remain unnamed is putting up a “substantial” amount of money to help fund the defense team, which includes the advice of long-time poker legal advocate and Card Player columnist Bob Ciaffone.
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