Gambling News - June 2005 Edition

"Texas Hold 'em and the Law"

Texas Hold 'em, possibly the most popular poker game on earth, has catapulted Poker to amazing levels of popularity and public interest.

Texas Hold ‘em, the star attraction in the poker world and possibly the most popular poker game on earth, maintains its position as main attraction for online poker players, even though other versions of poker are readily available over the net. Poker generally has taken the online gambling industry by a storm, but it is the Texas Hold ‘em version that has driven the game to incredible levels of popularity and public interest.

Texas Hold ‘em isn’t just a popular poker game on the net, it’s also popular in all poker playing venues. Texas Hold ‘em is played at home, in high stakes tournaments, in casinos, and most anywhere else you would find a poker game in progress.

Texas Hold ‘em’s popularity has given the online poker industry a huge boost, as opposed to the U.S. attitude on online gambling. Not only is Internet gambling illegal in most states, but, in many states in America, gambling laws, regardless of the Internet, make Texas Hold ‘em tournaments illegal if money is being exchanged. In North Carolina, for example, it is considered illegal gambling if the game is played for money or if prizes are offered for winning. First impressions do not show Texas Hold ‘em to be a game of chance which is how gambling is legally defined. But people differ vehemently about this definition, arguing that poker, and in particular Texas Hold ‘em, is actually a game of skill in much the same way that sports are games of skill. They argue that receiving a prize or money for winning a game of poker should be just as legal as receiving a prize or money for winning a game of golf or tennis.

Not everyone agrees, and some states still consider poker games, whether Texas Hold ‘em or not, to be a form of illegal gambling and thus contrary to and prosecutable by law. The laws vary from state to state so it would be wise to know the online gambling laws of the state in which you reside before you decide to try out your luck or skill in a game of online Texas Hold ‘em.

It is true that law enforcement agencies have been reluctant to prosecute individuals for online gambling and have preferred, instead to go after the operators of the online gambling sites, but in light of the increasing efforts to clamp down on online gambling it is important to know the online gambling laws in the state where you live.

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