Colorado Rules Poker is Game of Skill, PPA Aids Poker League Founder's Case

Another U.S. state, Colorado, has ruled that poker is a game of skill in a trial by jury that found Kevin P. Raley, the founder of a local Poker League, not guilty for illegal gambling. This is similar to a ruling made by a Pennsylvania judge on January 16th.

The jury's verdict largely depended on whether poker was considered a game of skill or chance.

Professor Robert Hannum, Professor of Statistics at the University of Denver, testified as an expert witness and was instrumental in showing an overwhelming body of evidence demonstrating that poker is a game of skill. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), which boasts 13,000 members in the state, paid for Hannum's appearance according to the Coloradoan.

Raley was a dealer at the time the league's game was busted last August in a joint raid conducted by Greeley police, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Colorado Liquor Board.

Rich Miner, co-owner of Rafferty's Bar in west Greeley, where the bust took place, had the following to say about the raid: "This was a poker club. It wasn't formed by our bar; it was a bunch of friends. The house didn't take a cut of the money, we didn't force anyone to buy drinks, and we made sure we met all the state requirements. There was nothing secret about it. It was on our Web site, and we had posters in the bar."

In addition to paying the majority of the fee for the expert witness, the PPA's Litigation Support Network was instrumental in assisting the case in another important way (the Network connects its paid members who are in need of legal counsel with local lawyers). The Network provided the case attorney with many research documents supporting the skill over chance argument.

COMMENTS

Raley, the defendant in this case and a card-carrying member of the PPA, said afterwards, "I am pleased that the jury agreed that my actions in organizing a poker league did not constitute illegal gambling." He added, "As a proud member of the PPA, I want to thank them for their support of my case."

Gary Reed, the PPA's State Director for Colorado, commented in a press release released by the PPA late Monday, "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."

Referring to the Pennsylvania ruling as well as the January 20th Kentucky appellate court ruling that blocked the state government from seizing 141 online gambling domain names (which in turn is being appealed by Kentucky at the state Supreme Court), John Pappas, executive director of the PPA, said:

"Today's ruling 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." He added, "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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