Criminal court in The Hague has acquitted a man that had earlier been found guilty of organising an illegal Texas hold’em tournament.
Wednesday 14th July 2010
In Holland, a man accused of organising illegal poker tournaments has been declared not guilty by the criminal court in The Hague after the body ruled that the pastime is a game of skill and not chance.
Under local laws, success at certain games such as poker is considered to be predominantly dependent on luck rather than skill and, therefore, is only legal if played at State-run casinos operated by the Holland Casino monopoly.
The defendant allegedly organised a Texas hold‘em poker tournament in 2006 without a licence and had earlier been found guilty by the Dutch High Court after it asserted that poker is a game of chance. However, he appealed and argued that poker is a game of skill with an element of luck that in the long-term will see the more proficient player win.
The court took the defendant’s statement into account when reaching it decision along with research conducted by Ben Van Der Genugten, a professor of probability and statistics at Tilburg University. The academic has developed a mathematical method that can determine what does or does not make a game one of chance with poker falling on the skill side of this equation.
The public prosecutor’s office stated that it would be applying for an appeal as a matter of principle, which means that a final ruling could still be some months away.
“The court ruling is special because in the surrounding countries poker is seen as a game of chance,” read a statement issued by the public prosecutor’s office.
“To us, it is clear that poker is a game of chance but the Ministry Of Justice still has to study the ruling.”
In Holland, a man accused of organising illegal poker tournaments has been declared not guilty by the criminal court in The Hague after the body ruled that the pastime is a game of skill and not chance.
Under local laws, success at certain games such as poker is considered to be predominantly dependent on luck rather than skill and, therefore, is only legal if played at State-run casinos operated by the Holland Casino monopoly.
The defendant allegedly organised a Texas hold‘em poker tournament in 2006 without a licence and had earlier been found guilty by the Dutch High Court after it asserted that poker is a game of chance. However, he appealed and argued that poker is a game of skill with an element of luck that in the long-term will see the more proficient player win.
The court took the defendant’s statement into account when reaching it decision along with research conducted by Ben Van Der Genugten, a professor of probability and statistics at Tilburg University. The academic has developed a mathematical method that can determine what does or does not make a game one of chance with poker falling on the skill side of this equation.
The public prosecutor’s office stated that it would be applying for an appeal as a matter of principle, which means that a final ruling could still be some months away.
“The court ruling is special because in the surrounding countries poker is seen as a game of chance,” read a statement issued by the public prosecutor’s office.
“To us, it is clear that poker is a game of chance but the Ministry Of Justice still has to study the ruling.”