Is poker a game of skill? A South Carolina judge thinks so

A South Carolina judge by the name of J. L. Duffy stated it so in the middle of the trail of five men arrested for running a weekly game of Holdem.  He was very clear in his surprise statement that Texas Holdem was obviously a game of great skill and he had no doubt about it.  The defendant's attorney was very surprised by the comment and also said that it sounded very good for his clients.

This group of poker players pulled out all of the stops by binging in a real poker player as an expert witness.  Any one that watches the WPT on TV would recognize their expert witness as Mike Sexton who is seen every week commenting on the play during the Weekly WPT tournament.  You may have also seen him playing very well in some live tournaments this last year.

Since this trial is still going on, the verdict is not known yet and both parties state that no matter who wins there will be an appeal to a higher court.  The violation of the law is in dispute as gambling or betting on a chance outcome is illegal.  A game of skill would seem to go in the face of this law, but it is up to the judge how this case will be settled.   Other states, California for example, have used this logic to make poker rooms and the game itself legal using the game of skill logic.

The prosecutor in this trial has stated if the judge finds for the defendants that gambling in this southern town will run a muck.  The defendant's attorney stated that this was a fallacious argument and the players in this trial were only interested in their own game.

For many years people who play poker and are knowledgeable about the game have argued that skill was very important to become a winning player.  Good players depend on skill not luck to win.   Poor players depend on luck to win.  Another obvious fact that could be used in this case is the fact that you see many of the same pros still playing at the end of  TV tournaments.  This is certainly not by accident.

It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be when this verdict is final.  Poker has many fans in high places such as the current President of the United States.   Skilled players will win out in the game, let us see who will win in this case.

Tagsarrest, Holdem, judge, online gambling, online players, poker play, poker players, poker tournaments, poor players, WPT

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