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.
Asain men with heavy accents: Ahhhh, Oklahoma!
She has been divorced for a while from what I understand.
Ping for later reference.
How long did the tournament take before you lost?
It didn't take long. I think I was sitting down for about 3 hours. They kept raising the blinds every 30-45 minutes. Everybody started with $1500 in chips, with $25/$50 blinds. By the time I lost my last hand, blinds were $500/$1000. The tourney started at 7pm, and was over by 11pm.
Sounds like the winner of that Satellite got screwed by the organizer. $200 buy in and 105 players is $21,000 in prize money. The main event has a $10,000 buy in. Several others have $10,000 buy ins, but most range from $2K to $5K. Where did the other $11,000 go?
I expect the total take was somewhere around $35K. However, there was also the cost of renting the convention center, a hosted bar, a staff of about 15 (dealers, servers, etc.), and a catered dinner featuring shrimp and prime rib. All in all, it was a very nice event and a lot of fun. I don't mind that somebody made money from putting it all together.
That is far different from most Satelittes and makes perfect sense.
They should read the short story by Mark Twain called Science versus Luck. Boy would I like to be on that jury!
They should read the short story by Mark Twain called Science versus Luck. Boy would I like to be on that jury!
Best example I've seen. The judge must be a bingo player.
He won.
Any good Hold'em player knows......
Your playing the people, not the cards.
Like another said the best retort is that you see the same people at the final table over and over again.
That ain't luck. And if you still think Hold'em is a game of chance........
I hope your sitting at my table.
Hmmm....are you saying the games are rigged? I guess they have to be...random numbers are chosen by computer algorithm, and if that algorithm is possible to calculate in your head, then you could come out ahead....otherwise I don't see how it's possible.
Video poker machine payouts are determined by the specific paytable that is displayed on the machine based on the hand dealt when the player bets and/or redraws from cards held by the player at the end of that particular bet. The RNG on a video poker machine is strictly tied to the shuffle of the cards and is not set to a payout percentage (there is no switch on a true video poker machine that the casino can manipulate to alter the outcome of what is dealt). The card shuffle is as random as a computer can get and ends when you hit the deal button (or play max coin- usually 5 coins). The software then deals 5 cards from the deck for the player to either hold or discard. Discarded cards are replaced with unplayed cards from the top of the same deck.
The key to playing video poker is picking a game with a pay table that provides a high payout percentage and playing that particular game at a high level of optimal strategy (skill). In this respect, video poker is similar to some table poker games in that each hand dealt is a combination of luck (drawn cards) and skill (determining what to keep and what to discard). Placing a bet in a slot machine, on the other hand, is purely a gamble. The only decision made by the player is when to hit the button or handle. Even then, the RNG software embedded in the slot machine has already determined the outcome. It's really all bells and whistles at that point to entertain the player.
The best description of skill vs. luck came from Chris Fergusen.
He said (paraphrasing here), when it comes to a single hand, the outcome is 99% dependent on luck. However, over the period of a year, the outcome is 99% dependent on skill.
As another poster observed, when you look at the final tables, you continually see the same faces.
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.