Inside Straight -- News

South Carolina Judge Declares Poker a Game of Skill
PPA Commends Court's Finding
By Stephen A. Murphy

Before the defendants' attorney even finished his closing argument, the judge spoke up and made his opinion known: Texas hold'em is a game of skill. There was no doubt in his mind.

While that belief is old news to many poker players, there haven't been many instances in which a judge has explicitly vocalized it in a court of law. But Municipal Judge J. Lawrence Duffy did exactly that in Charleston, South Carolina, in the middle of one of biggest poker-related trials of 2009.

On Feb. 19, Duffy stated that he found that poker was a game of skill, but concluded that the five defendants in the trial still committed a crime. The five men were arrested in a home poker game that police raided in April 2006.

"We are humbled by Judge Duffy's thoughtful decision and applaud the effort put forth by the legal team defending these players," said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance. "It's becoming quite clear the legal community agrees that this great American pastime is a game of predominant skill, not luck, and should not be considered gambling under the law."

World Poker Tour announcer Mike Sexton testified on behalf of the defendants as an expert witness. Based on Sexton's testimony, the trial court found that poker is a game of skill, but said that a higher court must decide if that is the appropriate test in deciding what makes a game gambling.

The South Carolina law that applied to this case was written in 1802, and if enforced literally, it would ban "any game with cards or dice" - including popular children's games like Monopoly.

The defendants have said that they will file an appeal.

"While I am disappointed that the judge found my clients guilty by holding them to a standard that is not defined by the law, there are many positive elements that we can take from this opinion as we prepare for the appeal," said Jeff Phillips, the lead attorney for the defendants.

The defendants also expressed optimism after the ruling.

"We knew all along that it would be a very tough battle to get a 'not guilty' verdict in this lower court," said Bob Chimento, one of the defendants. "But this is definitely a win for us. We're ecstatic that we have gotten another judge to say that Texas hold'em, or poker, is a game of skill."

The appeal will likely be heard in the next few months.

PokerStars Announces EPT Monte Carlo Schedule
Main Event Will Be One of the Richest Outside the U.S.
By Stephen A. Murphy

One week, 14 tournaments, all in Monte Carlo.

The PokerStars European Poker Tour looks to conclude its fifth season with the richest tournament in the continent's history. The popular poker tour has announced the schedule of its Monte Carlo Grand Final, highlighted by a €10,600 main event, April 28-May 3.

Last year's main event saw 822 players vie for the title, and the online site has stated that it expects a main-event field of more than 1,000 players this year.

"The EPT Grand Final now sits at the very pinnacle of world poker events, and will prove a massive draw for top players from all over the globe," said John Duthie, EPT founder. "It looks set to be an incredible week."

The tournament will feature a new structure, with 30,000 in starting chips and 60-minute levels on day 1. On day 2, the levels will be extended to 75 minutes.

Besides the main event, two other tournaments are likely to catch people's attention. The series will host the European High-Roller Championship, with a €25,500 buy-in, May 1-3, and the European Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, May 2-3.

For the first time in EPT history, PokerStars players will be able to buy into the event by using their PokerStars accounts - and they'll even earn Frequent Player Points for doing so.

Satellites for the main event are currently running on PokerStars under the "Satellites" tab in the "Tournaments" section.

Tom 'Durrrr' Dwan's Poker Challenge Begins
Young Online Phenom Faces Patrik Antonius First
By Stephen A. Murphy

It has started.

The emotion that those three words elicit from railbirds might rival only the enthusiasm that a 10-year-old feels when he hears the words, "Today is Christmas."

After months of speculation and hours of arguing whether or not Tom "durrrr" Dwan's famous poker challenge would actually occur, the challenge officially began on Feb. 18.

The "challenge," of course, refers to the terms put forth by Dwan in Card Player magazine. He offered to pay $1.5 million (while his opponent would have to put only $500,000 on the side) to any player who could beat him over 50,000 hands at four simultaneous heads-up online tables at minimum stakes of $200-$400 in either pot-limit Omaha or no-limit Texas hold'em.

The young online phenom publicly proposed the poker challenge in January, and it didn't take long for some of his top peers to respond. Phil Ivey and David Benyamine initially showed interest in taking on the 22-year-old, with Ivey accepting the challenge first. That same week, Patrik Antonius followed suit and notified CardPlayer.com that he was accepting the offer, as well.

After the pros worked out the details and their schedules, it was decided that the Finnish star would get the first crack at Dwan.
"I didn't have to persuade Phil and David too much to let me go first," Antonius said. "They know that they will get their chance after me."

Dwan has said that he will "definitely play one, almost definitely play two, and probably play all three unless the first two went extremely terribly."

Antonius said that he expects the challenge will take between four and six months to complete. As of press time, Dwan was up about $150,000 after approximately 4,000 hands of play - or about 8 percent of the 50,000 hands that the competitors need to play to complete the challenge.

Although either player can call off the challenge prematurely and pay off the side bet, both players have said that it is doubtful that they will do that.

"I don't know the meaning of the word 'quit,'" said Antonius.

Observers can watch the action on Full Tilt Poker at the new "durrrr Challenge" tables in the "Omaha Hi" cash-game section.

PokerStars SCOOP Series Will Feature $25,500 Event
Also Will Host Tourneys as Affordable as $5.50
By Stephen A. Murphy

For as little as 5 bucks and for as much as 25 grand, you can buy into the event of your choice at the first-ever Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP).

PokerStars recently announced the schedule for its new series, which contains 22 events at three different levels of buy-ins, so that all players, no matter the size of their bankrolls (well, assuming they have at least $5.50 in them), can participate.
The 2009 SCOOP will kick off with no-limit hold'em rebuy events on April 2 at 2:30 p.m. EST for $5.50, $55, and $530, and will conclude with two-day main events, April 12-13 at 4:30 p.m. EST, for $109, $1,050, and $10,300.

The series has a number of noteworthy tournaments, including a no-limit hold'em heads-up event with a buy-in price tag of $25,500 on April 12. While that might be too rich for some people's blood, some smaller-stakes players will get a rare chance to participate in a two-day tournament for as little as $33 starting on April 5.

The series will feature events in hold'em, Omaha, Omaha eight-or-better, five-card draw, H.O.R.S.E., triple-draw deuce-to-seven, mixed hold'em, seven-card stud, seven-card stud eight-or-better, razz, and eight-game mixed.

Including second-chance events and one-rebuy/one-add-on events, there will be a total of four rebuy tournaments.

The complete 2009 SCOOP schedule can be found on CardPlayer.com.