Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Poker is a Game of Luck Not Skill, Court Rules
The London Times ^ | January 17, 2006 | Lucy Bannerman

Posted on 01/17/2007 10:37:25 AM PST by meg88

Poker is a game of luck and not skill, court rules Lucy Bannerman

In the end, good fortune had the stronger hand.

A jury decided yesterday that luck, not skill, played the greater part in poker in a landmark ruling on the status of gambling in Britain.

Derek Kelly, the chairman of a private members’ club in London, lost his fight to make poker exempt from gambling legislation on the grounds that it was a game of skill.

He was found guilty of breaking the 1968 Gaming Act, after hosting two poker games at the Gutshot club, bar and restaurant in Clerkenwell, Central London.

The jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court found him guilty of breaching the Act on December 7, 2004, when a levy was charged on the winnings, and on January 27, 2005, when a fee was charged to take part.

The Act states that a licence is needed to host games of chance such as blackjack and roulette, but not games of skill, such as chess and quiz machines.

The trial was seen as a test of whether poker should fall under the remit.

Kelly, 46, from Greystones, County Wicklow, said that he was very disappointed.

“We still will be playing at the Gutshot tonight. We may have to change the way we do it.”

A date for sentencing has been set for February 16.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-60 next last
To: meg88

When I first started playing I would occationally take down a big pot all due to luck, but more times then not I would get trapped.

Now that I have become a better player (not pro, but better) I find that I win more pots and take down the small ones that finance my stabs at the bigger ones.

On a hand there is luck, but the game requires skill.


21 posted on 01/17/2007 10:50:46 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Posting nonsense since 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AnAmericanMother

Your father is small time. Richard Nixon used his poker winnings while in the Navy to fund his first campaign for congress!


22 posted on 01/17/2007 10:53:05 AM PST by Phantom Lord (Fall on to your knees for the Phantom Lord)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: meg88

You can't bluff a video poker machine.


23 posted on 01/17/2007 10:57:01 AM PST by LetsRok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: meg88

OK then, bowling is gambling, too.

In a league, you pay into a prize pool, use the greatest skill you have, but in the end, you HAVE to be lucky too, in order for the pins to fall.

I gave up bowling for sex years ago. The balls were lighter, and you didn't have to change shoes.


24 posted on 01/17/2007 10:58:41 AM PST by Lokibob (Greatest snow on earth. www.utahweatherlinks.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Lokibob
I gave up bowling for sex years ago. The balls were lighter, and you didn't have to change shoes.

Ya, but in bowling you were atleast guaranteed access to all three holes!


Settle down people, I am not interested in your "outrage".

25 posted on 01/17/2007 11:00:03 AM PST by Phantom Lord (Fall on to your knees for the Phantom Lord)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: meg88
If it were just luck, then everyone would be expected to break even after playing for several hours. In fact, those with the skills walk away with all the chips.

Poker requires several complex skills: reading body and facial language; masking your own body language; assessing probabilities; weighing risk and reward; game theory (i.e. knowing when a bluff could work, and when it wouldn't). In addition, it requires an ability to control emotions. Anyone, who does well playing for matchsticks, but always loses when money is on the table, knows the importance of controlling emotions.
26 posted on 01/17/2007 11:00:18 AM PST by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Phantom Lord; Lokibob

Those two posts are about the funniest things Ive read all week.


27 posted on 01/17/2007 11:04:47 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Posting nonsense since 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

With the ability to count cards on multiple decks, Blackjack also becomes a game of skill.


28 posted on 01/17/2007 11:07:25 AM PST by meg88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: CougarGA7

Don't forget that you always had to clean your balls in bowling and you never knew who was sticking thier fingers in your balls when you were not looking....I also quit because my children were born and I decided a 202 average didn't mean much any more.


29 posted on 01/17/2007 11:09:50 AM PST by oust the louse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: oust the louse

Thats a good reason too.

I quit bowling because I was throwing the ball right handed with a left handed step. You glance the ball off your ankle every now and then doing that.


30 posted on 01/17/2007 11:15:49 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Posting nonsense since 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: AnAmericanMother
Heh, if you think poker's a game of luck, please come play with my dad and his buddies . . .
. . . they will clean you out.

If you look around the table and can't spot the sucker..

You're it...

31 posted on 01/17/2007 11:19:40 AM PST by tpaine (" My most important function on the Supreme Court is to tell the majority to take a walk." -Scalia <)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: LetsRok

The bluff aside...

You're assuming the machine is even playing poker. It may be showing you a hand that looks something like, and wins/loses like, poker - but that doesn't mean it's poker.

It may actually be playing bingo. I kid you not: some jurisdictions only allow bingo, so the machine's maker calls in a mathematician to apply topological transformations to bingo which make it look like poker.

Even if it's playing "poker" (not mutant bingo), there's probably other distortions, like shuffling the deck after every hand.

(I worked on 'em for a while.)


32 posted on 01/17/2007 11:21:27 AM PST by ctdonath2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: LetsRok

But the video poker rules are already stacked against the player to begin with.


33 posted on 01/17/2007 11:23:57 AM PST by meg88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

When all players have the same skill, poker becomes a game of luck. Conversely, when all players have the same luck, poker becomes a game of skill.

Poker is defined as a game of luck or skill according to the whims of governing authorities, and depends on how they can best steal your winnings.

34 posted on 01/17/2007 11:24:09 AM PST by vollmond (Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Phantom Lord
My daddy is small time and happy!

He decided years ago that he wouldn't run for office . . . he just managed other people's campaigns. Just local state house and judicial races.

I don't believe any of his candidates ever lost . . . those poker skills you know.

35 posted on 01/17/2007 11:24:13 AM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: vollmond
My grandmother was a bridge demon, played duplicate.

Duplicate takes out the element of luck, since everybody plays the same hands.

36 posted on 01/17/2007 11:25:46 AM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: meg88
Deal me in.
37 posted on 01/17/2007 11:36:44 AM PST by rightinthemiddle (Without the Media, the Left and Islamofacists are Nothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: rightinthemiddle
I prefer Clonie Gowen...


38 posted on 01/17/2007 12:18:47 PM PST by Phantom Lord (Fall on to your knees for the Phantom Lord)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Phantom Lord

She as Miss Teen Oklahoma, you know.

Recently divorced?


39 posted on 01/17/2007 12:23:28 PM PST by rightinthemiddle (Without the Media, the Left and Islamofacists are Nothing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: meg88
But the video poker rules are already stacked against the player to begin with.

Not necessarily. It depends on the game and its paytable. It is true that few VP games are at or close to 100% payout (over time). Most fall in the mid 90% range. That 5% house edge will take its toll in short order. The other parts of the equation are your skill level and strategy knowledge for a particular game, coupled with whatever benefits you receive for playing.

If you pick the right game with the right paytable, know the strategy cold and can play for long durations with little or no errors, coupled with a good slot club payback percentage for your play, etc... you can stay even or a little ahead in the long run. Anything can happen in the short term. You can lose money in multiple playing sessions on a machine with a good pay table or win big with your first hand on a machine with a lousy paytable.

40 posted on 01/17/2007 12:23:34 PM PST by TADSLOS (Iran is in the IED exporting business. Time to shut them down.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-60 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson