The toto hk Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide (nearly 10,000 in South Carolina), today expressed cautious optimism with a ruling in the Mount Pleasant, S.C. poker case and applauded the Court’s findings that poker is a game of skill, not chance.  Though disappointed with the Court’s initial conclusion that the defendants had committed a crime, PPA expects to prevail on further review.

“We are humbled by Judge Duffy’s thoughtful decision and applaud the effort put forth by the legal team defending these poker players,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA.  “The positive language in this ruling comes on heels of other key legal victories for the rights of poker players in Kentucky, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. It’s becoming quite clear the legal community agrees that this great American pastime is a game of predominant skill, not luck, and should not be considered gambling under the law.”

The defendants were charged with playing cards in a “house used as a place of gaming” and under South Carolina law, the term “gaming” means “gambling.”  PPA argued that the Court should adopt the rulings of other courts that gambling refers to a game in which the outcome is determined predominantly by chance, not by skill.

PPA provided for expert testimony, making the compelling case that poker is a game of skill involving the making of correct decisions rather that mere chance, and therefore not illegal gambling.  The South Carolina Court found that testimony persuasive and found that poker is a game of skill.

“While I am disappointed that the judge found my clients guilty by holding them to a standard that is not defined by the law, there are many positive elements that we can take from this …

Are They Legal?

If you have read my previous editorial objecting to casinos barring players and utilizing preferential shuffles, this piece may at first surprise you. However, hear me out. I believe that when I have finished pitching my case you may actually come to see the logic of my “argument”, even if you DON’T like it.

You may recall in the previous editorial that I objected to barring of players and preferential shuffling because the procedures in effect attempt to alter the rules of the game after they have (by default) been agreed to by casino and player. I contend, that once the rules and playing arrangements have been established, they cannot suddenly be changed, at least not without proper notice to the players; as when a floor supervisor announces that the table minimum or maximum is to be changed, in say, an hour.

The casinos essentially argue that because the players can CHANGE their method of play at will, that they should be allowed to changes the RULES at will. This is ABSURD. Unfortunately, because of their power, they have essentially won all cases asking for this situation to be remedied; except of course in New Jersey, where barring is disallowed (although early shuffling is not).

Not long after casino action appeared in Atlantic City, Slot Gacor casinos began to study ways to alter the odds in Blackjack to be even MORE favorable than what would be found with SEEMINGLY similar game parameters in Nevada. The first step was of course to switch from four deck games to six, and then eventually to eight. Today’s Atlantic City games are predominantly 8-deck with a handful of high-limit 6-deck games and a 4-deck offering in the Claridge’s $100 game.

In the early days of Atlantic City, …