COLUMBIA, S.C. – Even after a judge from the South Carolina court ruled yesterday that Texas Holdem is in fact a game of skill, the players still cannot be sure, whether they can play their favorite game, or it is better to wait for official debates regarding this rather difficult question. You may know that South Carolina laws make any game that involve playing cards or dice illegal, so therefore it is not clearly understandable whether Larry Duffy’s decision will actually matter considering this all-prohibitive law.

However, local Texas Holdem players hope that it will at least begin discussions about changing certain laws that forbid people to enjoy their favorite games. Many say that they aren’t playing real money games at all, but in some cases they were arrested and fined for playing play money games, because they could conceal real money events. The overall situation with poker in general and Texas Holdem in particular is very interesting. In the United States, Texas Holdem poker is played by at least 1\5 of residents of all ages, but if you will count the actual quantity of people living in those states, where Texas Holdem is not prohibited, then you will be able to easily calculate that at least 30% of Texas Holdem players are living in states, where all card games are strictly prohibited, which includes South Carolina, Utah and some other states.

Of course many people are playing Texas Holdem online, from their homes, but how do you determine whether they’re guilty of something or not? For example, if card games, including Texas Holdem poker are played in Las Vegas, then you can go to one of Las Vegas casinos, regardless of your citizenship. But what if an online poker room is hosted in Silicon Valley (where card games do not violate poker laws) and you are playing from your home in South Carolina? Where do you play from the legal point of view? Hence, incompleteness of laws and partial understanding of basic principles of the game, forces judges and senators produce controversial laws and make doubtful decisions regarding Texas Holdem players in different states.

Some say that this situation cannot be solved, unless all the states will come to an equal agreement regarding gaming laws, but some say that things are better the way they are, since if all states had the same laws, then such cities as Las Vegas and Philadelphia will actually lose their businesses due to incompleteness of laws. Although judge Duffy said evidence was completely overwhelming that Texas Holdem in particular and all other poker games in general (except video poker) are actually games of skills, he said that he still needs more guidance and assistance from higher courts and state lawmakers to find out whether this sort of analysis makes any difference under older South Carolina laws that forbid any games involving either playing cards or dice. Therefore, South Carolina’s players are still afraid of arranging tournaments and other open games until they can be sure that their activities will not entail any fines and other unpleasant consequences.

As you may remember, more than twenty players were arrested and fined $1000 for arranging Saturday Texas Holdem games in Perth this spring. McMaster’s office called Duffy’s ruling insufficient to make Texas Holdem poker completely legal in South Carolina, but if the state’s Supreme Court will approve the appellation, then it is quite possible that Texas Holdem will be proclaimed a game of skill that can be legally played within borders of the state. Therefore, all South Carolina players are waiting for the forthcoming decision of the Supreme Court.

Also recommended:

1. A prove of being Texas Holdem a game of skill costs $1m
2. Online Texas Holdem Poker: Legal or Not?
3. Texas Holdem Rules