Is poker a game of luck or a game of skill?

Another day, another opinion.

This time it’s a judge in Pennsylvania who’s weighing in with his thoughts on the matter, according to media reports.

In a ruling last Friday, Judge Thomas A. James Jr., a judge in Columbia County, ruled that Texas hold ‘em is mainly a game of skill, not luck, and therefore is not gambling under state law.

The case involved a Pennsylvania couple, Walter Watkins and Diane Dent, who were arrested for running a poker game out of their home, a violation of state anti-gambling laws. They claimed that they weren’t providing gambling because skill, not luck, was the predominant factor in the game, making it no different than if they were running a chess tournament.=A0

The judge agreed.

In his ruling, he wrote: “Simply, if chance predominates, Texas hold ‘em is gambling. If skill predominates, it is not gambling…The money flows from the bad players to the strong players…Players receive equal amounts of premier and lackluster starting hands…Beginning poker players rely on big hands and lucky draws. Expert poker players use their skills to minimize their losses on their bad hands and maximize their profits on their big hands…It is apparent that skill predominates over chance in Texas hold ‘em poker.”

The couple was acquitted of all gambling charges.

After the ruling, Watkins said: “It’s unfortunate we had to go through all this. We were arrested, taken out of our home, shackled and spent a night in prison. All for playing poker.” =9D The ruling is significant for online poker players too, although as a state ruling, it has no effect nationally.

Federal legislation in the U.S., such as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act or UIGEA, passed in 2006, restricts all forms of online gambling by Americans.

However, if Federal lawmakers eventually agree with Judge James, online poker could be made an exception to UIGEA.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)