Is Poker a Game of Skill? Ask the Italian Supreme Court

Is poker a game of skill or of luck; it is a question which people have thought about for a long time but we didn’t expect to get the answer from the Supreme Court in Italy.

The reason why Italian judges were looking at this matter in the first place is that they were studying a case from back in 2009. It seems that the Double Up Club in Sicily had been charged by local authorities there for running an illegal gambling operation.

Skill Is Involved

However, the case went to a local court and they ruled that a game such as Texas Hold’em poker with no re-buy wasn’t gambling but rather a game of skill. They came to this decision because they saw that it is the type of game in which a player who knows what the game is all about is more likely to win than one who doesn’t have a lot of poker knowledge.

The case was then taken forward to the Supreme Court in the country and they came to the same conclusion; that poker is indeed a game of skill and not of mere luck. They also confirmed that there was no law banning poker tournaments in Sicily back in 2009 anyway.

The decision taken by the highest Italian court could have far reaching consequences if other countries agree with it or if poker operators across the world decide to challenge restrictions in their territories. It certainly seems as though it opens the door to interpreting poker as being something other than what most of us would define gambling as.