Home

Although the entire gambling community celebrated Barney Frank’s introduction of a bill to legalize online casinos, poker advocates are not yet ready to allow the fate of their game to lay in bed with online casinos.  It comes down to the old skill versus chance argument.  Poker has already been declared a game of skill in a few court cases across the country, but there is still much more work to be done.

The problem that poker has is that it is often played in casinos and carries the stigma of a being a chance based casino card game.  If state government or even the United States Congress were to officially recognize poker as a skill based games, it could do so much for poker enthusiast across the country.  Not only would online poker rooms be able to operate with out government interference, but live action poker games could be played in states where gambling laws ban the practice.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was focused on making it difficult for American citizens to access online casinos; of course poker was lumped into that law.  Whether Barney Frank succeeded in repealing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, poker receiving recognition as a game of skill would exempt it from the law.

Game of skill status would even benefit poker players in areas where poker is considered legal.  Florida is an example of such a state.  The Congress giving poker a game of skill status would mean an increase in the amount of online poker rooms that Florida residents would have the option of frequenting.

Casino News