Online Poker Gets Boost from U.S. Legal Rulings

The beleaguered poker industry in the U.S. has received a significant boost over the last couple of weeks with a series of court rulings finding in favour of poker players and online operators.

Last week a Pennsylvania judge dismissed a case against a resident who ran a small-stakes home poker ruling that poker is a game of skill and does not fall under the Commonwealth’s gambling laws.

Columbia County Judge Thomas James said, “The Court finds that Texas hold’em poker is a game where skill predominates over chance. Thus, is it not ‘unlawful gambling’ under the Pennsylvania Code.”

Within days in Colorado a jury found Kevin Raley, the organiser of a poker league, not guilty of illegal gambling, after Professor Robert Hannum, Professor of Statistics at the University of Denver, presented evidence on behalf of the defence that poker is a game of skill.

Gary Reed, of lobby group Poker Players Alliance, said of the verdict "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."

Also last week Kentucky Court of Appeals Board Judge Thomas Wingate ruled that the Commonwealth of  Kentucky could not seize the domain names of 141 identified online gaming sites used to gamble and play poker in the state..

“The Court of Appeals has now corrected a fundamental misunderstanding by the trial judge in this proceeding of the nature of the Internet and the legality of online poker in Kentucky,” said Jeff Ifrah, an attorney acting as part of a team representing the Interactive Gaming Council.

With a new President now firmly in office the recent rulings could bode well of both live and online poker across the U.S.

In a statement after the Colorado ruling John Pappas of the PPA said, "[This] is the third victory for the poker community in less than a week, following on the heels of verdicts in Kentucky and Pennsylvania that protect an individual's right to play poker at a time and place of their choosing. The momentum continues in our favor, and the PPA will continue to champion such causes in other states as well as at the national level."

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