Gutshot Poker Court Case - Found Guilty

Day 05 - 16th January, 2007

The Gutshot trial reached a dramatic conclusion today (Monday 16th January) as the jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court found Derek Kelly guilty of acting illegally under the Gaming Act of 1968 by organising and profiting from two games of poker without a licence.

The jury had heard both sides of the argument as to whether poker is a game of pure skill or one in which chance also plays a part over several days. The prosecution had based their case on the fact that cards are shuffled thoroughly before every poker hand, introducing a definite element of chance at that point. Poker players may exercise skill in how they played the cards they were dealt, but their starting hands were determined by chance.

The defence countered this argument admirably. Joseph Kelly, who teaches business law at Buffalo State College in New York, said that all games involve an element of chance, even if it is only in deciding which player goes first. He argued that the question should be whether skill or chance were most influential in determining the outcome of a game.

Yesterday Nic Szeremeta, editor of Poker Europa magazine, explained how serious poker players use a wide range of separate skills, including the ability to understand the psychology of other players, calculate accurate odds quickly and play strategically. He also talked about the fact that poker involves definite, fixed probabilities, and that chance did not have an equal influence from the start of a hand to the finish. Later, David Kelly, the defendant, echoed the sentiment of Joseph Kelly that there was no game in existence that did not combine chance with skill

Unfortunately for the defendant, demonstrating that poker is a game dominated by skill was not enough to convince the jury that chance does not also play a part. The guilty verdict was welcomed by Judge Wilkinson, who said that any other verdict "could have caused enormous problems for the gaming industry and given the green light for unregulated poker."

Derek Kelly, who will be sentenced later, announced he is to appeal the decision.

What does the verdict mean for poker in the UK?

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