Pennsylvania Appeals Court Throws Out Poker Ruling

A Pennsylvania Texas Hold'em game was not legal after all.

In a serious blow to the poker industry and the Poker Players Alliance, an advocacy group that has been monitoring this case closely, a divded Pennsylvania appeals court has overturned a county judge's ruling that declared the popular poker game "Texas Hold 'Em" to be legal. The Poker Players Alliance and Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys filed briefs in support of the defendants, who were charged in September 2008 for hosting games inside a garage.

Defense attorney Howard Bashman said the ruling is the first in which a Pennsylvania court has addressed whether poker is a game of skill or chance. He said he does not know whether his clients, 45-year-old Bloomsburg residents Diane Dent and Walter Watkins, will appeal to the state Supreme Court, but he believes their case is a strong one.

President Judge Kate Ford Elliott and Senior Judge Robert Freedberg cited the opinions of other courts in ruling that some skill is involved in poker but it is predominantly a game of chance. Senior Judge Robert Colville dissented, saying prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence to prove their contention that poker is a game of chance.

Ace King, Gambling911.com (The Associated Press was used for this piece)