Danish Court Hands Down Favorable Poker Ruling

It didn’t work in the UK earlier this year, but it just did in Denmark.  Frederik Hostrup, chairman of the Danish Poker Association, successfully argued to a Danish municipal court that poker is a game of skill. 

Hostrup had been charged with violating Danish law which states that it is illegal to organize a poker tournament that charges an entry fee.  But this law assumes that poker is a game of luck, not skill, which is something Hostrup wanted to change.  He wanted to show the judge and the court that, “…poker, to a high degree is a game, which is due to competence and only a little on coincidences.” 

The court agreed with him, citing “competence in order to win” as a main reason for the ruling.  The prosecution, which Horesta, a national restaurant, tourist, and hotel trade organization, would reasonably be expected to appeal, and has fourteen days to appeal.   

In January, Derek Kelly, Chairman of the Gutshot Private Members' Club in London, was found guilty of violating the U.K.’s Gaming Act of 1968.  The Act makes charging patrons a fee for a game involving chance, rather than pure skill, a crime if the club is not licensed.  Kelly’s legal team argued that poker was a game of skill, but a jury felt otherwise.