Danish Court

In the United States, one of the biggest legislative problems with poker is that many consider it to be a game of chance, while others see it as a game of skill. This difference between them makes for difficulties regarding poker’s legal stand as a viable game for people to play. Well, it turns out that the Danes feel that Poker, is indeed a game of skill.

Poker is a game of skill, said the ruling of a Danish court that was faced with the problem of whether or not to convict the president of the Danish Poker Association on illegal gambling charges. The ruling has no direct affect on American poker, but it is an important precedent for the game in general. The ruling was quite clear that "You can win in poker based on being clever enough to hide your strategy, even though you might have a fairly poor hand." The prosecutors in the case argued that although poker has some similarities with games of skill, the negative effects of playing poker on a player who may have tendencies to become addicts are too great to overlook.

Frederik Hostrup, the president of the Danish Poker Association, Hostrup had been sued by hotel and restaurant trade organization, Horesta, on behalf of the Danish nation's casinos association was brought up on charges or organizing illegal gambling events. Hostrup claimed he was not guilty, simply because poker is not gambling. In a manner of speaking, he was right. Danish law defines gambling as games where the organizer is attempting to achieve economical gain.

Hostrup’s attorney, Henrik Hoffman told a Danish newspaper that this law ultimately makes poker a legitimate game to play. "Poker has become a sport of the people," he said. "There are between 200,000 and 300,000 Danes who play poker at least once a week and more than half a million who play on a regular basis."