May 12, 2010
Voices, Denver Post
Dear Sirs/Madam,
Andy Vuong’s piece in Wednesday’s Post was accurate and fair, as far as it went. Yes, the Supreme Court in Colorado refused to review the case cited in Mr. Vuong’s piece. Yes, the State of Colorado considers Poker to be gambling under the current law. But is that the end of the issue? Emphatically, no.
Recently the International Mind Sport Association, the international group that determines rules and procedures for the play of games like Chess, Bridge etc. on the international stage, adopted Poker as a game of skill, not unlike those I just mentioned. Prior to making that decision, the IMSA reviewed hundreds of pages of testimony and data. Some of that data came from Professor Hannum, the expert on statistics cited in Mr. Vong’s story. To qualify as a game of skill a game must not be governed by simple chance and the outcome must be able to be determined by the actions or inaction of an individual. Any accomplished Poker player knows this to be true of Poker.
Rather than being the end of the discussion, the decision, or more accurately, the determination not to make a decision, by the State Supreme Court, is simply the opening round of the discussion on Poker. Like California, Montana and many other states, Colorado will have to come into the 21st century when considering games of skill and allowing people to play such games without undue interference from the State. Just as the State should not involve itself in a game of golf, where one player wagers against another player on the outcome, the state should not involve itself in other such games where chance plays a part, but is not the predominant determiner of the outcome. Poker has been shown to be such a game. Sooner or later, the State of Colorado will have to realize that fact.