Poker is a game of chance, not skill.
Chris F. Masse January 19th, 2007
So has decided a British jury. Via the intrepid (but mute) Betting Market, of course.
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Psstt… in passing:
PokerStars, an Isle-of-Man based Internet site that has dealt 6 billion hands, said in October it would keep taking bets from American players because a U.S. federal law passed last year doesn’t apply to skill-based games like poker.
- Analysis (Meta) , Betting
- Comments(8)
Wait, poker is skill based, and trading strategies involving multiple contracts are not? There’s a lot of stuff around that is dumber than the market, including that legislation.
PokerStars’ s interpretation of the law is not shared by the U.S. legislators, I believe. Which is why I have highlighted PokerStars’s statement, here.
What do you mean by “pure skill?
Poker, like most other games, is a mix of chance and skill. It’s popularity is partly fueled by the fact that in the short term, luck is the overriding factor, and anyone can win.
I’d also like to note, that Pokerstars interpretation of the law is the industry interpretation of the law. It’s not specific to pokerstars.
The law passed was an enforcement act, and I don’t believe it makes any claim as to what is or is not legal. Another relevant piece of legislation (to which they may be enforcing…) is the federal wire act which specifically makes online sports gambling illegal.
I believe, they will ultimately shut down the poker sites under pressures of money laundering charges. The current online gambling situation is conducive to money laundering, because of this, I believe they will ultimately shut down the major sites…until magically online gambling becomes regulated and MGM, etc. open up super virtual casinos where you can deposit and lose money with ease.
Maybe CFM meant “pure chance, not skill.”
Either way… “same s—, different day” from a governmental entity.
I thought the British were smarter about asinine, self-defeating regulation than their American counterparts. At least *they* should know how stupid Sarbanes-Oxley was, even if Americans don’t…
“Poker is a game of chance, not pure skill.” was the original title at Betting Market. Or so I thought. I see now that the title is “Poker is a game of chance not skill”.
Sorry, I’m not well informed on the Poker industry vis-a-vis the anti-gambling law.
I have suppressed “pure” in the title.
It’s certainly more skill based then luck, you obviously can’t determine the cards you are dealt and the community cards, but you can choose how to play them for optimum wins, hence why there are world famous poker players who make a consitant living out of it
@dean: Yes, Poker seems to be: half betting, half gambling.