Dutch Appeal Court Declares Poker A Game of Chance

A Dutch court has overturned a previous ruling which declared poker to be a game of skill, and now judged it to be game of chance, instead. The case relates to three men who had organized €10 buy-in poker tournaments in a bar in the Dutch town of Bussum between 2005 and 2007. The men had argued that since poker was a game of skill there was no need for them to have obtained a gambling license, which in 2010 was also the findings of the court.
However, Amsterdam’s appeals court has reversed the decision and slapped each defendant with fines of €1,250, and the bar owner with a further €500 fine, although given the extended length of the case the penalties are currently suspended. As a result, the country’s state-owned casino group, Holland Casino, continues to remain the only legal company in the Netherlands permitted to arrange tournaments.
The defence had claimed that while chance is a factor in poker, it is the most skillful player that ultimately influences how the game progresses. As the defense argued:
“.. the role of chance is smaller as more rounds are played; and the most skillful players usually make the final table.”
Prosecutors, on the other hand, questioned the assertion that skill outweighed chance in poker, and in the end the judge came out on their side. The judge referred to the country’s Gambling Act to support his ruling, and specifically its legal definition of gambling which states that a gambling game “generally depends on the probability of chance profits, even if that risk increases with multiple proficiency or greater dexterity of the player.”
The legal debate on whether poker is a game of skill or chance has been discussed in numerous courtrooms around the globe over the past few years. At least two factors contribute to its connection with gambling, namely that it offers a stake and a prize. A third element, as to how much of a factor chance plays in the game, however, is likely to remain open for legal debate for some time to come. This is in spite of numerous scientific studies which assert that the skill factor in poker dominates the game.