Poker players were hoping that arguments pointing out the role of skill in poker could win over a Wisconsin judge, perhaps leading to the legalization of the game through the state.

Instead, they learned that decades of precedent outweighed the mechanics of poker.

The situation in question had poker pro Mark Kroon and Steve Verrett, the state director of the Poker Players Alliance, asking a state court to produce a declaratory judgment about the legality of poker in the event.

In specific, they desired a ruling on whether the overall game was one of ability or fortune, something they hoped would help determine the game as legal if your judge came down on the part of skill.

At the brief minute, poker is illegal under Wisconsin law, at the least outside of tribal casinos.

While the law isn’t regularly enforced against home games, it does prevent bigger poker gatherings, such as those that Kroon attempted to arrange at the Players Sports Bar in Madison, which he has.

Judge Speaks Highly of Poker, But Says Law is Binding

Saw a judge make the ruling that poker players had been waiting for wednesday.

But with about 20 local poker players in attendance, a Dane County judge said that despite his curiosity about the game, the law ended up being the law.

‘I’ve surely got to state that poker is such a rich topic on so many amounts,’ stated Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess. ‘It’s just as much element of the American textile, I think, as baseball and apple pie. But having said that, I can’t ignore the law here, and the law unfortunately, to utilize a poker analogy, is a deck that is stacked the plaintiffs right here.’

Judge Niess had no complaints about the arguments created by the plaintiffs, stating that they (and many others) had most likely shown beyond any doubt that poker had been a game of ability in the long run.

‘I have actually without doubt poker involves, in the run that is long skill than chance,’ Niess said.

Ruling Hinged on 1964 Case

But Judge Niess ultimately relied on the 1964 case of State v. Morrissy, in which a criminal conviction was upheld by the state Supreme Court due to poker tournaments that were occurring in a tavern. In that full situation, Niess said, poker is specifically considered gambling.

‘That’s binding in this court if they’ve considered your arguments [about the skill factor in poker]…or perhaps not,’ Niess told the plaintiffs. ‘ If doesn’t appear they did, but the case is still nonetheless binding on me.’

Niess suggested that in order to get relief, the plaintiffs would likely need to take their arguments all of the way to the state’s Supreme Court (which he compared to drawing to an inside straight), or make an attract the state legislature to change Wisconsin law.

Stan Davis, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, disagreed with the judge’s decision, stating that state gaming legislation had changed considerably since 1964, which Judge Niess had failed to consider.

He pointed to a 2014 ruling by the united states Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit, which found that poker wasn’t criminalized within the state.

But having didn’t sway the judge in this situation, poker games will continue to be unlawful in the state, even while countless players continue to take part in small home games on a basis that is daily.

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