According to French Court, poker is a game of skill

Jean-Pierre Gleizes was on trial and accused with organizing illegal gambling games in public places around France. The defense team, however, used the opportunity to prove to the court that poker was a game of skill, therefore exempting their client from being charged with illegal gambling.

One by one, witnesses were paraded to the witness stand to testify that the game of poker was skill. There were professional players, bridge and chess players, and a professor of mathematics. The math professor helped, but it may have been the pros in the other games that swayed the court.

In France, and around the world, bridge and chess are considered in most countries to be games of skill. The idea that these witnesses were testifying that poker is at least equal to, if not more, a game of skill than bridge and chess, could have helped sway the court.

After the defense rested their case, the ruling came down from the French Criminal Court of First Instance that poker was, indeed, a game of skill. That gave the defense a victory, and sent shock waves throughout the country of France. If the ruling holds up in appeals court, it would mean that home poker games could no longer be considered illegal gambling in the country.

The US has courts in dozens of states that have taken their chance to rule on poker as a game of skill. In some cases the courts have ruled in favor of the poker players, while in others, the game has been considered one of chance. The Supreme Court has yet to make a ruling on the skill involved in poker.

The determination of whether poker is a game of skill could have a big impact on the upcoming debates over online gambling in the US. If lawmakers universally agree poker is a game of skill, it will be much easier to pass one of the several online poker regulation bills that has been proposed in the US in recent months.