Aussie Workers Love Poker Australian courts have determined that, by that country's legal definition of unlawful gambling, poker is exempt from the list of forbidden games. Australia's legal concept of what constitutes illegal gambling coincides with what is generally recognized in the United States.
That is the presence of three elements: betting or wagering something of value, or consideration; the awarding of a prize or jackpot; and the game being a game of randomness or chance. It is this third qualification which most players find poker to not meet.
After hearing expert testimony on the nature of poker, the South Australian Magistrates' Court decided that poker, while containing an element of luck, was over time a game won or lost by skill, and therefore not subject to laws concerning games of chance.
Poker players across the U.S., led by the Poker Players Alliance, have insisted that such was the case, only to be often met with either vitriolic attacks by clueless zealots, or a general indifference by those who agree but don't understand the importance of the distinction.
Yet, with enforcement of the dread UIGEA looming, the necessity of poker to distinguish itself from other casino games becomes urgent. Unless lawmakers either exempt poker, or repeal the UIGEA altogether, payments to and from the few remaining online poker sites will become next to impossible to process.
With a saturation of casino poker play on television and countless home games occurring around the country, legislators must be pressed to recognize the value their constituents place on their right to play poker. E-mail your Congressmen and let them know you want the UIGEA discarded, and any laws threatening online poker to be resoundingly defeated.
