The PPA, one of the leading grassroots advocacy movements leading the fight to legalize poker and online poker as a game of skill, has praised a new study that has shown that the majority of the time the outcomes of poker games, like many casino games are determined by players’ decisions rather than pure chance.
Alfonse D’Amato, chairman of the PPA, had this to say in response to the study and to opponents of the skill argument:
“As a poker player I can tell you that knowing when to hold or fold is not based solely on the cards that are dealt, but a series of decisions based on skill and the actions taken by the other players.” And this study, it provides the raw data to back up the arguments made by poker players both amateur and professional around the world that it’s skill and not pure luck that determines success on the felt.
And it is the PPA’s wish that this study will help aid them and others in the legal community in helping to bring poker a legal status that will protect it from gambling laws that regulate games of chance like craps, slots, and the myriad other games of pure chance.
With recent victories in courts in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and other potential victories in other states across the nation, the PPA has vowed to keep fighting and lobbying for the protections. “The question of…skill or chance is not about the online poker player’s ego, but the nature and legal protections of the game,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA.
For with legal protection and exemption from gambling law, many more people will be able to enjoy the activity they know and love without fear of repercussion from the law’s long arms.
