SWEDISH COURT RULES ON SKILL OR CHANCE POKER DEBATE

Written On  4.6.11 By Jennifer Jearu :

It's both says Swedish Judge
 
A Swedish Supreme Court has ruled that both chance and skill decide the outcome in Texas Hold'em poker.
 
The ruling comes in a long running court case against four men who were convicted of violating Sweden's gambling laws in 2007 when they organised a multi-million kronor tournament that lasted several days and was said to have had 700 entrants.
 
In the process of arriving at its decision, an experienced poker player tutored the judge in how the game is played and argued that it takes a lifetime to become a skilled player, reported thelocal.se.
 
"We have found that the main tournament and its side tournaments were not random chance games, but that skill does come into it.  What is key, is what form of the game is being played and how long it is played for," said Judge Göran Lamberth.
 
However, despite expert testimony from professional poker players and math’s experts, the court found that the outcome of the game is too reliant on random chance to be viewed as a purely skill-based game.