The now infamous Gutshot poker club drama has ended with a hefty fine for one of the co-owners.
Derek Kelly, who ran the club, was found guilty of profiting from a game of chance (a violation of Britain's gambling law) last January. Defying conventional wisdom of poker players around the world, the jury concluded that poker is a game of chance, not skill.
Mr. Kelly was fined 10,000 British pounds (about $19,500). Sentencing Justice Simon Wilkinson said, "It was your view that poker, and particularly Texas hold'em was not a game of chance. In adhering to this view, you took a huge gamble."
Derek Kelly responded, "I think the judge was reasonable in the end. Five hundred pounds a month I can just about afford." Ironically, he now runs Gutshot's online poker site, registered in Dublin, Ireland.
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