Texas Hold'em Poker on trial in landmark UK case

Is poker a game of chance, skill or combination of the two? Jurors are being asked to answer that very question as part of a landmark case to determine whether a Central London Club was illegally holding two poker games under the 1968 Gaming Act.

The outcome could affect the future of poker in UK pubs.

The UK's 1968 Gaming Act states that a license is needed to host games of chance such as bingo, roulette, blackjack and poker, but not games of skill, like chess, dominoes, cribbage, bridge or quiz machines.

Poker players say the law is unfair because poker is essentially a game of skill. They claim that even bridge has an element of chance because it starts with cards being shuffled, as they are in poker, or chess when a coin is tossed to decide who starts.

The landmark case on trial involves a smart-looking bar and restaurant called the Gutshot on Clerkenwell Road in London that doubles as Europe's largest private poker club. It has 12,000 members and hosts more than 20 poker tournaments a week, including some with a buy in of hundreds of pounds.

Derek Kelly, 46, chairman of Gutshot, has been accused of illegally holding two poker games under the 1968 Gaming Act, on December 2004 and January 2005. Mr Kelly denies violating the Act by organizing a poker game in which a levy was charged on the winnings and a second game when players were charged to participate.

When Kelly opened the club in 2004 he told the police and the Gaming Board (now the Gambling Commission) but he did not apply for a license. He said, "The only license that appeared to cover us was a full casino license but they are very restricted and anyway, that type of license is for blackjack, roulette and all other games as well. We just want to play poker."

He added, "The problem is that the Gaming Act came into force in 1968 when there were a huge amount of illegal casinos and when poker wasn't very popular. Poker has become the biggest card game on the planet in recent years and unfortunately the law hasn't caught up with that."

Graham Trembath QC, for the prosecution, remarked, "This case is all about poker. Now, ladies and gentlemen, I do not know of course whether you, or any of you, are familiar with playing poker, what poker involves, the rules of poker. Some of you may know what it is all about, some of you may not."

"Well, I anticipate during the course of this trial you will have, as it were, a free short tuition in what poker is all about, what poker involves, how it works and so on and so forth," he added.

Mr Trembath asserts that poker is a game of mixed skill and chance because it uses cards that are used are shuffled beforehand, and would, therefore, require a license.

The case is being heard now at Snaresbrook Crown Court in south-east London. If found guilty, Kelly could face time in jail. If he is acquitted, it could mean many UK pubs could run their own poker tournaments free and without licenses.

One irony of the case is that the new Gambling Act of 2005 will go into effect next fall, so it will do away with the need for pubs, clubs and bars to obtain a license to run poker tournaments, but only if their buy ins are just a few pounds. The Government plans to meet early this year to decide what the upper limit allowed will be.

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