Poker skill licensee guilty
A licensee has been found guilty of running unlicensed poker games after failing to persuade a jury that it is a game of skill not chance.
Derek Kelly, 46, licensee of the Gutshot Club in Clerkenwell Road, argued he did not need a licence under the 1968 Gaming Act, as the law requires it only for games of chance.
But the jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court disagreed and found him guilty.
The prosecution said Kelly took a cut from the prize pot in some games and charged players to play in others - both are against the law.
The financial analyst from, Co Wicklow, Ireland, was found guilty on both counts.
The law has always been clear, commercial gambling needs to be properly regulated to ensure that members of the public are protected from exploitationGambling Commission statement.
If he had been acquitted it could have opened the door for licensees up and down the country to make revenue from hosting Texas Hold 'Em poker events.
The judge, Justice Wilkinson, said he would sentence Kelly on February 16 but said a prison sentence was not appropriate.
The prosecution always contended poker was a game a chance because the cards are shuffled before it starts.
In a statement issued after the trial the Gambling Commission said:
"The law has always been clear, commercial gambling needs to be properly regulated to ensure that members of the public are protected from exploitation.
"The Gutshot was not regulated and was in serious breach of the Gaming Act 1968."
