The decision was handed down today in a South Carolina courtroom that Texas Hold’em is, in fact, a game of skill. However, citing the wording of the 1802 law that includes “any game with cards or dice,” Municipal Court Judge J. Lawrence Duffy was forced to find the five defendants guilty of violating the law.

It was an anxiously-awaited decision, as the February 13th trial date ended with the judge remarking that poker was a game of skill, thus agreeing with the premise presented by the defense attorney in the case. When it all began in April of 2006 with a raid on a home poker game, five of the numerous defendants chose a court date rather than payment of fines, and the suspense had been building since. As it finally played out in front of Judge Duffy less than a week ago, with witnesses testifying that poker was a skill-based game and should be exempted from the “gambling” law, there was hope in the Mount Pleasant, South Carolina air.

The hands of the judge were tied in his ability to render a decision on the skill factor in poker, as the law which the defendants were accused of violating made no distinction between skill and chance. His final decision reflected the struggle in his written court order.

Judge Duffy noted that the defendants - Robert Chimento, Jeremy Bristel, Michael Williamson, Scott Richards, and John Willis - were found to have chips, money, and cards in front of them at the time of arrest, and they did advertise the poker game on the internet. “The Defendants do not challenge any of those facts,” he wrote. “Instead they challenge whether or not Texas Hold’em is a game of skill and therefore beyond or outside the scope of the Statute 16-19-40.”

He referred to the “uncontroverted” testimony of Mike Sexton and Professor Robert Hannum, Ph.D., as well as the defense attorney’s citation of a 1998 case wherein two justices indicated that the “dominant factor” test is appropriate in South Carolina with regard to games of skill. However, Judge Duffy was left to note, “There are no clear guidelines given to this Court to follow.”

However, he wrote, “This Court, based on the above stated facts, finds that Texas Hold’em is a game of skill. The evidence and studies are overwhelming that this is so.” And he noted that other courts, such as Pennsylvania, California, Missouri, and Nebraska do accept the “dominant factor” test in similar rulings, but he could not justify the use of that argument over the law that refers to “any house used as a place of gaming.”

Therefore, his final statement read: “In light of all of the matters set forth above, this Court will not set itself to definitely conclude that this State will or does follow the “Dominant Test” Theory and thus is compelled, since it has no clear guideline from the Legislature or from the majority of this Supreme Court to find the defendants guilty of violating Code Section 16-19-40, and therefore are required to pay the fines and assessments required by such a violation.”

The guilty verdict was met with mixed reactions from organizations like the Poker Players Alliance. While the PPA noted in a statement that it was disappointed in the conclusion of the court, executive director John Pappas said, “We are humbled by Judge Duffy’s thoughtful decision and applaud the effort put forth by the legal team defending these poker players. The positive language in this ruling comes on [the] heels of other key legal victories for the rights of poker players in Kentucky, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. It’s becoming quite clear the legal community agrees that this great American pastime is a game of predominant skill, not luck, and should not be considered gambling under the law.”

Defense attorney Jeff Phillips added, “While I am disappointed that the judge found my clients guilty by holding them to a standard that is not defined by the law, there are many positive elements that we can take from this opinion as we prepare for the appeal.”

Thus, it seems that there will be an appeal filed in this case.

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