NORTH CAROLINA DEBATE ON POKER SURFACES AGAIN

(348) (26-August-2006)

Is poker a game of skill or chance?

A Durham, North Carolina businessmen has put the skill vs chance argument surrounding the game of poker back under the microscope by launching litigation that challenges a previous ruling by a local judge.

In the ruling, the judge found that poker was a game of chance and consequently it was illegal in terms of state law when betting was involved, but Durham businessman Howard Fierman contests this in a case now before the state Court of Appeals.

Fierman may open a poker room in the city if the appeal goes in his favour.  Illustrating the concept of skill vs chance, Fierman's legal representative, Whit Powell said that if an average player entered a game of poker with a table comprised of expert players of the game he would probably lose - not due to bad fortune, but to higher levels of skill among the opposition.

The case has its genesis earlier this year when the Durham district attorney opposed the opening of a local poker parlour on the grounds that playing the game with bets was illegal in state law. Fierman is a member of a poker group called the Joker Club and he filed an action against the DA.  This subsequently went before a judge, who ruled in favour of the DA.