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New Precedent Set in Poker

With all of the legislation issues surrounding the online casino industry in the United States, state governments now have one more legal precedent to follow concerning poker. According to the North Carolina Appeals court, just like slot machines, and other online casino games, poker is primarily a game of chance. For the whole of the United States, this sets a legal precedent that other states can use in similar cases—and for any argument against online casinos. For North Carolina residents, this simply confirms that poker gambling is, and will remain, an illegal activity in the state.

This case is several years old, 2004, and concerned a local businessman, Howard Fierman, with intentions to open a poker club in Raleigh, NC. The District Attorney at the time however, informed Fierman that poker fell under the “no games of chance law” and therefore illegal. After the Superior Court upheld the District Attorneys decision, Fierman took the case to the North Carolina Appeals Court.

In the Appeals Court, though many authorities from neighboring states spoke to the skill involved in poker, the Court in the end ruled that poker is largely chance-based like other online casino games. Succinctly, the judge’s decision was based on the notion that “...while skillful players can reduce the chance factor, they cannot control the turn of a card.”

Below is the actual comment from a fellow judge in the Court of Appeals, Barabara Jackson, “During oral arguments, counsel for plaintiff analogized poker to golf, arguing that while a weekend golfer might, by luck, beat a professional golfer such as Tiger Woods on one hole, over the span of eighteen holes, Woods' superior skill would prevail. The same would be true for a poker game, plaintiff contended, making poker, like golf, a game of skill."

"This analogy, while creative, is false. In golf, as in bowling or billiards, the players are presented with an equal challenge, with each determining his fortune by his own skill. Although chance inevitably intervenes, it is not inherent in the game and does not overcome skill, and the player maintains the opportunity to defeat chance with superior skill. Whereas in poker, a skilled player may give himself a statistical advantage but is always subject to defeat at the turn of a card, an instrumentality beyond his control. We think that is the critical difference."

"For the reasons stated above, we determine that chance predominates over skill in the game of poker, making that game a game of chance under N.C. General Statute 14-292 (2005). Accordingly, the decision of the trial court should remain undisturbed."