Poker a Skill Game? Colorado Supreme Court May Decide

A Colorado man named Kevin Raley is at the center of a fairly unusual set of events that may bring the question of whether or not poker is legally to be considered a game of skill to the Colorado Supreme Court.

Raley was arrested during a game of bar poker in Greeley, Colorado. At his original trial, he pled not guilty, citing a provision in Colorado’s law exempting “bona fide contests of skill” from gambling laws. To bolster his case, statistics professor at the University of Denver Robert Hannum was brought in to testify.

Hannum testified, in his expert opinion, that poker was a game of skill. Raley was acquitted.

Subsequently, the DA who prosecuted Raley appealed the ruling - or, more specifically, moved to have Hannum’s testimony thrown out, on the grounds that current Colorado law defines poker as gambling. The DA was successful, and that set the stage for Raley to petition the State Supreme Court to hear the issue - regardless of the fact that his acquittal will stand regardless.

“The choice to petition the Colorado Supreme Court is about more than me or my friends, it’s about all poker players’ opportunity to ensure that current Colorado law recognizes that poker is a game of skill and is based on much more than the luck of the draw. So much has changed regarding poker and how the game is perceived publicly, it is disheartening to see this great game treated as a crime because of a misapplication of the law,” said Kevin Raley.

Raley will have the support of both the state and national PPA behind him. “Given the Weld County District Court judge’s ruling that poker is gambling because of the small element of chance in the dealing of cards, one could easily presume that any game that depends even a little on chance – from Monopoly to Yahtzee to Candy Land – is gambling and therefore illegal in the state of Colorado,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA. “We clearly think this is the wrong interpretation of the law, especially in regard to poker, and the PPA is committed to helping demonstrate to the Colorado Supreme Court the broad academic research that exists showing that poker is indeed a game of skill.”