British Court Holds Poker is Game of Chance, Not Skill

Although America is the land of poker, it has rapidly gained popularity in the UK. So much so that a fellow who runs a poker club in Clerkenwell, London has been prosecuted for violating the 1968 Gaming Act. The Act allows games of chance only with a licensed host in charge. Games of skill require no such license. On Wednesday, an English court held that poker is a game of chance, and therefore, the poker club was operating illegally.

The man found guilty is Derek Kelly, the chairman of a private members’ club in London called the Gutshot Club, which operates out of the Gutshot Bar and Restaurant at 44-48 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1. The website for the Gutshot Club states, “When you arrive, do the membership thing to keep it all legal and correct then tell one of the staff your name and they'll do the rest by introducing you to any member who is not pre-occupied with a pre-flop raise or some such nonsense.” It’s a light and cheeky page, but the intent is clear – Mr. Kelly genuinely believed he was operating within the law and wanted his club on the up and up.

The question for the law, though, was whether poker was a game of chance or skill. Games like chess or darts are permitted because there is no luck involved. The outcome is determined entirely by the players’ respective skills. Roulette, on the other hand, is acknowledged as a game of chance because fate (as constrained by the laws of probability) determines the outcome. Poker, though, is a combination of the two, both luck and skill.

Once the cards are dealt, the game hinges on money management, players’ ability to scrutinize the intentions of the opposition and the knowledge of the odds. These are all skills that can be improved with practice, to a degree. Where the luck comes in is when the cards are dealt. A bad player with four aces is going to beat a great player with a busted flush almost every time. Again, fate determines how that goes.

The court, however, held that in any game where luck and skill are both involved, the Act is written in such a way that the luck factor is over-riding, and the game is one of chance. Mr. Kelly will be sentenced on February 16. He said after the verdict, “We still will be playing at the Gutshot tonight. We may have to change the way we do it.” One hopes he is successful, and that the judge is lenient. After all, Mr. Kelly was acting with the intent of keeping things legal, and he’s been instrumental in determining that poker is a game of chance, not just skill. And that may shut up a few braggarts whose silence regarding their poker-playing abilities will be perceived as a benefit to civilization.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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