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Poker Ruled Game Of Chance by UK Jury in Landmark CaseWed, Jan 17th, 2007 @ 12:00am The landmark UK case where poker was on trial ended yesterday and the Jury delivered their verdict: poker is a game of chance, not pure skill. So Derek Kelly, the manager of Gutshot a 23,000-member private card club in London, was convicted of violating Britain's gambling laws. Kelly argued that he did not need a gambling license to take a share of profits from players because UK's Gaming Act 1968 applied to chance games like roulette, and not skill- based games like poker or chess. So the jury was asked to decide whether the popular Texas Hold'em variant of poker is a game of skill or chance, or a combination of both. For the past week, reporters, Kelly's competition and many other avid poker fans packed the courtroom in east London's Snaresbrook Crown Court listening to testimony from expert players about the skills needed to play poker. Prosecutor Graham Trembath QC argued because a deck of cards was shuffled, that poker is both a game of significant chance as well as skill, a combination that the U.K. government classifies as chance. Zeeshan Dhar, defending Kelly, told the jury that poker required such a level of skill that it did not fall within the remit of the Act. He said: "If we accept that a game of chance includes all games of combined chance and skill every game you could possibly think of would fall foul of this particular Act." UK Poker clubs bars and pubs, many thousands of poker players, as well as online poker operators worldwide waited anxiously for the verdict. After more than two hours of deliberation the jury agreed that by UK government definition poker is a game of chance, and convicted Kelly of illegally taking profits of as much as 10 percent from players on two occasions at the Gutshot club. Justice Simon Wilkinson commented in court that a not guilty verdict "could have caused enormous problems for the gaming industry because then you have the green light in some people's eyes for unregulated poker." Kelly faces a fine at a Feb. 16 hearing, but is unlikely to get a prison sentence according to Justice Wilkinson. Kelly said he is considering an appeal. "It is important that we take time, take stock, and go down to Gutshot to rearrange what we do, but we are not closing,'" Kelly said in an interview after the decision. Read Related Articles:
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Asia Pacific Poker Tour's Next Stop: Auckland New Zealand Oct 4-12 After its successful PokerStars.net APPT Seoul event, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) has just announced the schedule for its third stop of Season Two at SKYCITY Casino in Auckland. The PokerStars.net APPT SKYCITY Auckland Festival of Poker will run from October 4-12 with both a NZD$3,000 Main Event (October 9-12) expected to have the largest prize pool ever for a poker tournament in New Zealand, and a NZD$10,000 High Rollers Event (October 11).
Disappointing Turnout for US Poker Championship Main Event Day 1 of the United States Poker Championship's $10,000 Main Event began Sunday afternoon. Although this event attracted 164 players last year, only 52 turned out to play this year, creating a prize pool of $504,400. The lack of television coverage since ESPN discontinued their contract is the most frequently cited issue, but recent developments in the financial markets and high gas prices may have also contributed to the low turnout.
Duplicate Poker Closes October 5th Duplicate Poker closed this past Sunday, which is strange, since only two weeks ago they announced that they were thriving and celebrating player number 250,000 (see below). Apparently their idea to offer poker fashioned after duplicate bridge, where tables competed over how the same hands were played out, didn't catch the fancy of enough of the poker playing masses to weather their current financial storm. But they do say when the climate changes, they may reopen.
Summit to Discuss Online Poker Domain Seizure Oct. 6th in Frankfort Kentucky Today, Oct. 6th, the Bluegrass Institute, which is an independent, non-partisan association of writers and speakers who analyze state and local public policy in Kentucky, has teamed up with the Poker Player's Alliance (PPA) and several other state and national groups to host an 'Emergency Summit' in Frankfort Kentucky to discuss the dangerous and far-reaching implications of Kentucky Governor Beshear's attempt to seize 141 online poker and online gaming domains.
Matt Brady Captures Aruba Poker Classic Title Saturday marked the close of the 2008 Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic from the Radisson Casino and Hotel. Poker pro Matt Brady was able to outlast 550 other players, including Swedish pro Johan Storakers heads-up, on his way to a payday of $1 million.
Dramatic Comeback Earns Martin European Poker Tour London Win By Satuday, they were down to eight players in the 2008 European Poker Tour London Main Event. After one last day on the felt, American Michael Martin would put together one of the biggest comebacks in recent memory to capture the GBP 1 million first-place prize.
Dutch Professor Challenges Poker's Chance Classification with Formula This past Friday, Professor Ben van der Genugten, an expert in probability and mathematical statistics, challenged the Dutch Supreme Court's classification of poker as a game of chance, citing how a formula he co-developed and is used by the courts pegs poker at a higher skill level than most fantasy sports, which the court rules are a game of skill. Because of this inconsistency, the Professor is calling for the court to revoke the classification of poker as a game of chance.
Boss Media Launches Italian Poker Network, Skill Gaming Platform Taking advantage of online poker being allowed by Italy's gaming regulator, similar to Playtech's recent announcements, Boss Media announced the launch of an Italian poker network at the European iGaming congress and Expo in Barcelona. Boss, with sister company St Minver, will offer Italian players online poker through parent company GTech and GTech owners Lottomatica.
Marathon Leaves Juanda World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champ More than 21 hours of final table play was required to find the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion, but the wait proved worth it. In the end, one of the games greatest would emerge victorious from a 7 1/2 hour heads-up match and the WSOP's longest final table ever to grab WSOPE gold.
Negreanu, Juanda Headline World Series of Poker Europe ME Final Table Day 4 has been completed in the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event and they're down to the final nine. A couple of American poker studs lead the way, but a young Russian pro has already made history, becoming the first player to double dip in WSOP Main Event final tables on both sides of the pond. |
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