Poker Hope From Danish Court

Imagine this, you are a quarterback in the Super bowl, preparing to throw the most important pass of the game. After spotting your receiver, you release the ball only to see the other team lined up for interception. A gust of wind catches the ball and carries it 3 feet further than the other team, landing in the arms of your receiver. What a stroke of luck! The wind hadn't blown just right at the right moment the ball would have been turned over and the game would have been lost.

Looking back at our scenario, it was truly luck that played a part in the pass completion. Does this mean that football is really a game of luck instead of a game of skill?

 

It's fairly hard to debate that idea when it comes to football. The challenge faced by the players in each position, the choices that have to be made by the coach, all factor into this sport being recognized as such. Now what happens when we ask the same question about poker? Many people have debated that for years. Its easy to see why they have, considering that there is no truly active aspects of poker. The primary exercise of resistance is in the effort not to upset the cocktail waitress or the dealer.

This does not change the facts. The biggest fact is this; Poker is a game of skill with some luck involved, not the other way around. If poker were strictly a game of luck, then the results would be as random as the lottery, and people like Phil Hellmuth would not repeat his actions 11 times. Instead he would find himself subject to change and choices beyond his control, and the repeat would never or rarely occur. Most people in the industry have known for many decades that requires skill, but now somebody wearing insipid black robes and with an air of authority has seen the light.

The High Danish Court has decided that Texas Holdem Poker is a game of skill, therefore not subject to Denmark's anti-gambling laws. Granted, this is not going to impact the poker industry by changeing the world immediately. Of course when the Vikings first looked at the rest of Europe and determined they needed to do something with it, the early attacking of some obscure churches didn't exactly change the world, but gave Europe taste of the bloodshed to come.

It is true that this many not develop into a pivotal event for the world of poker, but it does give advocates hope for a more lasting positive result.