Poker News

Lisandro, Davis wins headline WSOP June 24

He grabbed $437,358 in first place prize money becoming the last senior standing from a record 2,707 entrants.

The final day began with 28 players and Davis did not take the chip lead until the first hand of heads-up play with Scott Buller.

After doubling up, he never looked back on the way to the biggest Seniors win in WSOP history.

Here's how the rest of the day played out at the World Series of Poker:

Event 44 - $2,500 Seven Card Razz

Jeffrey Lisandro took down the $2,500 Razz title, tying the record for most bracelets won in a single year at three.

Lisandro beat poker writer Michael Craig heads up and a final table that also included Kenna James and Allen Bari.

For more on Lisandro rewriting history, click here.

Event 45 - $10,000 World Championship Pot Limit Hold'em

John Kabbaj leads the $10k PLHo event with fourteen players still in the hunt.

Kabbaj busted Bryn Kenney with aces over kings to take down a monster pot midway through the evening and ended Day 2 with 2.026 million in chips, good for double that of runner up J.C. Alvarado.

2009 WSOP bracelet-winner Eric Baldwin, Isaac Haxton, Davidi Kitai and Eugene Todd are also still alive.

Action resumes at 1 p.m. Vegas time Thursday for the final push to crown a champion.

Event 46 - $2,500 Omaha 8

Twenty-three players remain in contention in the $2.5k O8 tournament after two days of play.

Mark Tenner is chipleader of a field that also includes Michael Keiner, Mike Matusow and James "Flushy" Dempsey.

Among those to cash in this event were Max Pescatori and Paul Darden.

Day 3 begins at 1 p.m. Thursday and will continue until a winner is established.

Event 47 - $2,500 Mixed Limit/No Limit Hold'em

The first day of the $2,500 Mixed Hold'em event drew 527 players Wednesday.

However, less than one-fifth of that number remained when play wrapped for the night.

Eli Elezra flirted with the chip lead for most of the day but was supplanted at the top of the overnight leaderboard by Barry Greenstein.

Daniel Negreanu, Gavin Griffin and Jeff Madsen all survived to see Day 2.

Play will resume on Day 2 at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Check out the PokerListings 2009 WSOP section for more coverage from Las Vegas.

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WPT, Slovak Poker Sport Federation Create WPT Slovakia

Continuing in its expansion and promotion of poker around the globe, it was announced yesterday that the World Poker Tour has joined forces with the Slovak Poker Sport Federation to create the WPT Slovakia, a tournament that will be held in August in the nation’s capital of Bratislava.

The first ever WPT tournament to be held in Central Europe, the WPT Slovakia will be a €4,000+€400 Deep Stack Main Event and will be played out from August 31st through September 4th at the Herna Golden VEGAS Casino in Bratislava. The tournament will be a part of the Central European Summer Poker Championship, which begins on August 26th and will play through the WPT Slovakia. Buy ins for the Central European Summer Poker Championship will range from €50 to €1500 and Steve Frezer – a well-known and respected Tournament Director from the United States – will bring his top notch team of dealers from around the world to provide a quality tournament staff.

“The Slovak Poker Sport Federation is delighted to be associated with a top brand like the World Poker Tour in the creation of this unique and attractive event in the territory of Central and Eastern Europe. With the creation of WPT Slovakia we intend to emphasize Bratislava’s attributes as a highly desirable destination for all poker players”, Dag Palovic, the President of the Slovak Poker Sport Federation, stated during the announcement. “The casino partner was also important to us, and Golden VEGAS is truly a location worthy of the players, the poker media and the WPT event.”

“WPT Slovakia is a unique and exciting addition to the World Poker Tour‘s expanding international tournament offering”, added Steve Lipscomb, the WPT Founder and CEO. “We have found a great partner in Slovak Poker Sport Federation, who are truly dedicated to growing the sport of poker in the Central and Eastern European territory.”

The Slovak Poker Sport Federation is an organization that supervises poker as a sport throughout the nation. The organization joins together the interests of poker players, poker clubs and poker fans in the Slovak Republic to promote the game in much the same way as other sports, such as soccer and chess, have organized federations. The Slovak Poker Sport Federation is also a founding member of the International Federation of Poker, which was formed on April 29th of this year as a global governing body for the sport and features noted poker writer Anthony Holden as its president.

The WPT has been very active in establishing national poker tournaments around the world. With the addition of the WPT Slovakia, five foreign locales now play host to tournaments under the WPT banner. The original tournament, the WPT Spain, was first played in 2008 and will once again feature a tournament on the International WPT schedule that starts tomorrow at the Casino Barcelona. Back in May, the WPT Venice played out at the Casino Di Venezia, with Sweden’s Ragnar Astrom taking the championship over a 397 player field. Other international events, along with the WPT Slovakia, include the WPT Cyprus (scheduled for play from September 6th through the 12th) at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino and the WPT Marrakech (October 12th through 19th) at the Casino De Marrakech.

Rounders Writers and DiCaprio Reportedly On For Poker Film

The details are being closely guarded, but what little is known is enough to make poker fans giddy with anticipation. The writers of Rounders, widely considered the best poker movie of all time, have written a new script that supposedly centers on the world of online poker, according to The Hollywood Reporter

Rounders Writers and DiCaprio Reportedly Sign On For Poker Film

The details are being closely guarded, but what little is known is enough to make poker fans giddy with anticipation. The writers of Rounders, widely considered the best poker movie of all time, have written a new script that supposedly centers on the world of online poker, according to The Hollywood Reporter

DiCaprio to star in new online poker movie

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount has picked up an as-yet-untitled film about the world of Costa Rica-based online casinos from writers Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the team who penned the now-infamous Matt Damon/Edward Norton vehicle Rounders.

The baby-faced DiCaprio has also reportedly signed on to star in the project, and given his seemingly unstoppable success, it could mean the film will move from pre-production purgatory into actual production rather quickly.

Koppelman and Levien most recently wrote  Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, and were responsible for the slick Las Vegas film Ocean's Thirteen - perhaps suggesting a taste for gunfire and heist scenes, which is sure to make the legions of poker fans around the world fist-pump the air with delight.

No release date has been set for the film. DiCaprio will next bless the screen in the new Martin Scorcese film, Shutter Island.

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PokerListings pwns WSOP donkaments

Two PokerListings writers remain in contention for the bracelet at dinner time on Day 2 of the $1,500 NLHE tournament (Event 24).

PokerListings.se blogger Olle Sundin is sitting on a 240k stack after starting the day with 19,000, while PokerListings.com writer Martin Derbyshire is climbing with 100k.

Only 103 players remain out of a starting field of 2,506. Each player is now guaranteed $3,352.

"I think it's a really good tournament," Sundin told PokerListings. "The structure is really good for smaller events.

"The WSOP is a very good place to play tournament poker. Usually there are one to two people per table who don't know what they're doing."

Sundin, who makes his living playing short-handed cash games online, credited his big stack to his relentless aggression.

"I think if you want to make it deep in these tournaments you have to raise a lot," he said. "I'm trying to steal as much as I can and I plan to keep picking on the weaker players."

The Swede's big hand saw him outflop a laggy opponent's pocket tens when his A-Q hit second pair.

"It felt pretty bad to me, but if you want to go far you have to gamble in these spots," he said.

Derbyshire won his seat in a PokerListings blogger SNG after PL's Matt Showell took down Event 2 of the Run Good Challenge.

"I'm just happy to be here," he said. "Yesterday I busted Chris Ferguson and it was one of the greatest moments of my poker life."

Derbyshire took 215th in a $1,500 event at the 2008 WSOP, cashing out for $2,970.

Check out the 2009 WSOP section for more World Series coverage.

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How Does He Know…?

Poker writers are forever telling you questions to ask. Typical ones are: • What are the pot odds? • Do I have the best hand? • If …

Inside Mike Matusow’s Head: The Writing of ‘Mike Matusow: Check-Raising the Devil’

PokerNews recently caught up with Tim Lavalli and Amy Calistri, the writers who helped Mike Matusow...

New York Times Analyzes Online Gaming Issue

When the tides of change swept Washington D. C. in November of 2008 with the presidential election, there were many areas that Americans believed would be altered. While not foremost on the minds of most elected officials, one of those policies considered for change is the legislation on online gaming and poker. An article in Monday’s New York Times offers that the time for discussions about legalizing and regulating the online gaming and poker industry could be now.

The article, entitled “A New Chance For Online Gambling In The U. S.” and written by New York Times writer Eric Pfanner in the Technology section of the paper, is an excellent recount of the history of the discussion on online gaming and how it has not only affected the United States but companies worldwide. Pfanner accurately points out how, when the Bush administration enacted the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006, several companies that were freely traded on many foreign stock exchanges and had accepted regulation of their industry were forced out of the U. S. market. This left it open to companies that, while solid members of the online gaming and poker markets, were located in areas of the world that lacked the regulation required by other nations.

Pfanner reports that one of the stalwarts of the regulation movement, Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, could be “days away” from proposing the key legislation that would overturn the UIGEA. Frank made the same efforts in 2007 but was quashed by the administration in power as well as major lobbying efforts from the National Football League and the Christian Coalition. This time around, Pfanner reports, there is a more open-minded administration under President Obama and the Democrats have a firm control on both houses of Congress, opening up the possibility of regulation.

As expected, there is a great deal of posturing on both sides of the debate. In Pfanner’s article, Clive Hawkswood, one of the chief executives of the trade group Remote Gambling Association in London, states, “I’d be amazed if it didn’t happen over the next two or three years. It’s just a question of what exactly the regulations will say.” Others, such as spokeswoman Michele Combs of the Christian Coalition, are mobilizing their forces to mount an anti-gaming campaign and maintain the status quo.

Perhaps the most surprising voice in the opposition to the legalization and regulation of online gaming and poker is none other than Las Vegas billionaire Steve Wynn. According to Pfanner’s article Wynn – who created the poker destinations of the Mirage, the Bellagio and the Wynn Hotel – stated that the online world would be impossible to regulate. He is quoted in the article as saying via e-mail, “Even though it would be a benefit to our company, we are strongly opposed.”

Also mentioned in Pfanner’s examination of the online gaming and poker world is how Europe handles the industry. He discusses how England has enacted gaming regulation successfully but also demonstrates that other nations, such as Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, aren’t as willing to enact regulation because it would affect their state-run gaming operations. While Europe and other nations have been active in trying to enforce free trade rights in the U. S. through the World Trade Organization, Pfanner surmises at the end of the article that these nations should figure out how they want to handle the issue between their own borders before attacking the United States.

While there has been a great deal of change in different legislative arenas of the U. S. - both good and bad - Pfanner’s work details out the difficulties and politics of the online gaming and poker question not only in America but also around the world. Regulation of the industry would generate a sizeable amount of revenue for the U. S., but whether online poker players are any closer to the freedom of playing the game without rebuke is still a burning question.

PKR Announces Pro Team

Joining the likes of the other major online poker rooms, next generation poker site PKR.com today announced the roster of its new “Team PKR Pro.” The six new members will represent PKR.com and act as brand ambassadors for the website.

“Team PKR Pro” will be exclusively sponsored by PKR and act as brand representatives at live events, as well as offering a variety of content for the PKR.com website and PKR TV. They will also be available to play on the PKR.com site in both cash games and specially organized bounty tournaments.

The inaugural members of the team include TV celebrity Ashley Hames (ashleyhames1), GUKPT winner Andrew Teng (PKR username “golfpro699”) and 2008 Irish Open finalist Kai Danilo Paulsen (kingkai84), along with PKR community members Raymond O’Mahoney (callmebabe), James Sudworth (James666) and PKR Live runner-up Henrik Eklund (pokey85).

“We’ve been following our initial ‘Team PKR Pro’ members for some time and are convinced that they all have the game and personality required to be genuinely world class poker players”, said PKR Marketing Director Simon Prodger. “They are also among the most recognized and respected players within the PKR community so are guaranteed to have over two and a half million people cheering them on every time they play.”

Here’s a closer look at each of the new members of “Team PKR Pro”:

Henrik “Pokey85” Eklund (Stockholm, Sweden) -- Eklund, 24, has been playing poker for four years. The Swede has been a regular at PKR’s nosebleed cash game tables since April 2007 and began to make a name for himself on the live tournament scene by taking second place at the inaugural PKR Live in November 2008 followed by a victory in the APT Manila Headhunter side event. Henrik’s ambition for 2009 (beyond winning the WSOP) is to make a final table of a major event.

Ashley “ashleyhames1” Hames (London, UK) -- Ashley Hames is a popular TV presenter and writer who is known for his series Sin Cities -- still Bravo’s highest rating show ever in the UK. Hames is also the PKR TV commentator. He began playing poker in 2008 and rates his poker highs as playing in the WSOP main event, reaching the final of Celebrity Poker Club and playing on the TV table at this year’s Irish Open.

Raymond “callmebabe” O’Mahoney (Dublin, Republic of Ireland) -- Like Eklund, O’Mahoney has been cutting his teeth at the highest cash games and tournaments since April 2007. His first major live cash came courtesy of the inaugural PKR Live $500 Main Event, where he finished fourth for $6,500. Ray’s goal is to win his home major, the Irish Open.

Kai “KingKai” Paulsen (Trondheim, Norway) -- The 25-year-old Norwegian has the finest live tournament record of any PKR regular with more than $322,000 in earnings. This includes two cashes at the WSOP (including an 18th place finish in Event #49 in 2007) and a fifth place finish at the 2008 Irish Open, where he earned $229,358. Kai’s aspirations include winning one of poker’s majors -- and preferably bring home a bracelet.

James “James666” Sudworth (Kent, UK) -- This 22 year old has been a familiar face at the PKR tables since November of 2006, playing some of the biggest cash games the site has to offer. Sudworth’s top poker accomplishment was a runner-up finish at the GUKPT in January 2009 for more than £40,000.

Andrew “golfpro699” Teng (London, UK) -- Teng has been a high-stakes pro across many online sites for the past two years. He made an impact on the live scene in 2008, first making a deep run in the WSOP Main Event (126th place) and then winning the Thanet leg of the GUKPT in October 2008 for £70,000.

PRK, founded in 2005, is an innovative online poker site that features real-time video game-like 3D graphics that has changed the way online poker is played.

New set of players in High Stakes Poker

It is suprising that Negreanu made a comeback to play in another table in this season of HSP, as his first appearance at the table didn’t go well at all. Well, i guess he felt like he could do better against this group of players or maybe he just felt like playing little bit more.

There were some familiar faces in the new group, but also few others who are not normally recognized as poker players. An actor, screenwriter and film director Nick Cassavetes and a producer and writer Sam Simon, who is best known as one of the original developers of The Simpons, made their debut in HSP.

A former world champion Joe Hachem also made his debut in High Stakes Poker. Other players in the table are players who have been at the HSP table before on the previous seasons, Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and afromentioned Negreanu.

One of the most memorable hand in the episode is played between Laak and Simon. Laak, who is a boyfriend of an actress Jennifer Tilly, raises with T-2 suited and Simon, who was married to Tilly from 1984 to 1991, re-raises Laak with T-4, because he don’t realise Laak has already raised!

If you haven’t seen the newest episode, check it out from cardplayertube.com in five pieces:

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

New set of players in High Stakes Poker

Legend lost: Slim breaks his silence Pt. 2

Part two focuses on the legal proceedings with regards to the indecency charges, Slim's strained relationships with his family and the poker community's reaction to the controversy. If you haven't read part one catch up here.

NOLAN DALLA: Let's talk about the legal case. You ended up pleading guilty to assault charges.

Editor's note: Despite Nolan and Slim referring to his plea as "guilty," Slim actually pled no contest.

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes, to get this over with. God damn, it's breaking up my family. It was the best thing to do. All I had to do was accept the charges and get probation. That wasn't anything.

There were no felonies. I could accept that. And the main reason was I didn't want to be in the courthouse as an enemy to my wife and family, and especially my grandbaby. I'm going to end up being the enemy, if we go to court. I can't stand for that.

NOLAN DALLA: But the bottom line remains that you pled guilty to assault charges. You stated in a court of law that you were guilty. Why would you ever plead guilty to something you did not do if you were truly an innocent man?

AMARILLO SLIM: When my lawyer told me there's an easy way to end all this, I asked him "How?" And he said to do a plea bargain. So, I said yeah - go ahead and do it.

So, he came out of court and said I got you probation and you pay a $4,000 fine. I was told it was just a misdemeanor for simple assault, whatever that means.

I asked him what he thought about the plea bargain, and he said - this will keep your family out of the courthouse and end it. See, I was trying to protect my family.

NOLAN DALLA: You decided to plead guilty to assault. Before that, did you fear a felony conviction and being sentenced to prison?

AMARILLO SLIM: No! The felony charges were already dismissed. I didn't even have a bond set. Don't you think that if I'd had felonies against me they would have arrested me and made me post bail?

NOLAN DALLA: Some have speculated as to the reasons for your guilty plea. They suggest it might be justifiable for a man in his late 70s, facing possible jail time, to accept any deal which would keep him out of a Texas prison.

AMARILLO SLIM: That's not it. I would not have had to fight the case in court much. It would have been very easy for me [to win]. But I didn't want my family dragged through a trial and being made my enemy in the court. I didn't want my 12-year-old granddaughter to have to take the stand.

NOLAN DALLA: You must have known the public would hear about this controversy and suspect you might be guilty of worse crimes. Weren't you afraid of the harm this might do to your reputation?

AMARILLO SLIM: No, I'm not even scared of a big old grizzly bear. I just did what was appropriate - or at least what I thought was appropriate.

NOLAN DALLA: Were you depressed?

AMARILLO SLIM: [Expletive] yes. Everything I loved was gone. It was taken away from me.

NOLAN DALLA: But now you say you have your family's support. At what point did they come back to you and want to move on?

AMARILLO SLIM: Yeah. They came to me when they realized they had it all wrong. I can't remember when exactly that was, but all of a sudden everybody was calling and visiting and everything.

We were all sitting in the same room, eating the same food, swimming in the same pool. Everybody did a complete 360.

NOLAN DALLA: I think you'd acknowledge that you have a reputation as a master manipulator and a hustler. You know how to get things done. You can fix things. In short, you are capable of just about anything. Did you buy these people off?

AMARILLO SLIM: No. People might think that, but they can think what they want. Just so they know I didn't molest a child or fondle a child or anything like that. I didn't.

NOLAN DALLA: Let's discuss the public's reaction to the controversy.

AMARILLO SLIM: The Associated Press found out about it but they didn't want to touch it. Why not, I don't know. Then, John L. Smith [a writer with the Las Vegas Review-Journal] wrote the most damaging article you ever saw in your life.

But I never talked to him and there is nothing factual in the entire thing. He said they now call me "Amarillo Slime." I haven't heard that. I might interview him with a baseball bat.

NOLAN DALLA: But Smith was basing his article, as are most writers, on court records and ...

AMARILLO SLIM: On the word of an assistant district attorney.

NOLAN DALLA: Yeah, but also the fact that you did plead guilty to three charges.

AMARILLO SLIM: I already told you how that was.

NOLAN DALLA: Yes, I can appreciate and even respect that. But you did plead guilty - yes?

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes, because I was advised to plead guilty. Because - we needed to end all that mess. It was also to assault, not to being a molester or doing something like that.

Then, everyone got a hold of it and the next thing I read was that I had pled guilty to whatever it was, being a child molester, and a pedophile. It just got worse and worse.

And it wasn't true. I can't even say the word pedophile. I resent it. I resent it with every bone in my body. I was 77 years old and all of a sudden I'm going to start molesting kids?

Huh? Not a lot of logic there, is it? There was a site [WickedChopsPoker] which called me a pedophile. I'm considering suing them if they don't publish a retraction because none of it is true.

Back when I could have sex, I don't have it anymore - I can't help that - I would have had it when I could. How come I waited until I was impotent to do something like this?

NOLAN DALLA: But can you see how a writer or journalist following this story might conclude that since you pled guilty in a court of law, then that opens you up to speculation about what really happened?

AMARILLO SLIM: I guess so. But saying I committed molestation? No. That's when I fight back. You want to know how many psychiatrists and child counselors I went and saw? Five. The D.A. set all these up while I was being investigated. To a person, every one of them said "There's nothing we can do for this man. He's no more a sex molester than I am."

NOLAN DALLA: If you could do this all over again, would you do things differently?

AMARILLO SLIM: I have tried to have an understanding with all of my family about what I was doing [during the court case]. Now, they know what I was doing. I know it, and they know it. I was trying to protect my family. Hell yes, I would do the same thing over again.

NOLAN DALLA: But when you walk into a poker room today, some of the people in that room who once respected you might think differently.

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes, and that bothered me. But I have never had anyone say anything negative to me. Whether I was playing, or not playing. I think there are a bunch of hypocrites in the poker world and a lot of them are obligated to me.

Not a one of them has showed up and stood beside me ... I don't hear from them anymore. Some of them could have said something and shown their support. But they didn't.

NOLAN DALLA: Care to name any names?

AMARILLO SLIM: They know who they are.

NOLAN DALLA: Did you get support from anyone in the poker community?

AMARILLO SLIM: No, I didn't seek any. But I sure should have had some. I will say that one person did speak up and say that what I was charged with couldn't have possibly happened.

He told everybody that we had traveled together for years and slept in the same room. He said it never could have happened what was said about me.

NOLAN DALLA: Was Doyle Brunson the player who spoke up?

AMARILLO SLIM: Yes.

NOLAN DALLA: No matter what, some people are still going to say, he's Amarillo Slim. He beat the rap. He beat the legal system. That's who he is, and he's guilty. What do you say to that?

AMARILLO SLIM: They don't know the truth. They are wrong to condemn someone without any substance whatsoever. There's not one single person who ever got up and testified I did something wrong.

The little girl never saw any counselors, because it never happened. The [felony] charges were dismissed against me. The grand jury never heard that I passed a lie detector test.

All of my family is on my side now, including my grandbaby. I don't know how I can make it more clear that all of this was wrong. And now, I am ready to do something about it and speak out.

Special thanks to Michael Hirschensohn for his efforts in setting up the interview.

Click through to read part one of this exclusive story.

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Study Reveals Poker is a Game of Skill

In a study released on Friday, it was revealed that Texas Hold'em, statistically at least, is a game of skill. The research in question investigated 103 million hands and found that three-quarters of them did not go to showdown. In essence, they were won due to betting by players.

A total of 75.7% of the hands examined as part of the study did not go to showdown. In these hands, the victor's skill of betting managed to win the pot for them, regardless of whether they held the best hand. In the remaining 24.3% of hands, the player who held the best five cards only won 50.3% of the time. In the other 49.7% of pots, the player with the best hand folded prior to showdown. Overall, the best hand actually scooped the pot just 12% of the time. Therefore, according to the study, Texas Hold'em can be seen as 88% skill and not predominated by chance.

Former three-term Senator from New York and current Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Chairman Alfonse D'Amato commented, “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 other players. This study provides the raw data to back up the compelling arguments made by poker players around the world that it’s skill, not pure luck, that determines the outcome of this game.”

The data in question has been used by the PPA to help prove that poker is a game of skill in several legal battles. Most recently, a judge in South Carolina overwhelmingly agreed that poker was a game of skill, but still found the defendants in the case guilty of illegal gambling due to a lack of direction by the state's legislature and courts. Other judges in Colorado and Pennsylvania concurred with the PPA's assessment that poker is a game of skill, a trait that might help the game receive special recognition on a national level.

The study was performed by Cigital using 103 million hands on PokerStars, the world's most popular online poker site. Heads-up and play money games were excluded, as were many micro-level games with less than $1 blinds. While PokerStars was busy gearing up for World Record Week last December, the hands were being logged. The festivities saw PokerStars set the record for the Largest Online Poker Tournament at 35,000 players and the Most Players to Simultaneously Play Poker Online at 250,500. PokerStars also upped the ante on its marquee Sunday Million, offering a prize pool of $2.5 million. PokerStars worked in conjunction with Cigital on the study.

Wall Street Journal writer Carl Bialik authored a blog on the study, outlining many of the doubts its opponents had. Among them were “players’ decisions are determined by the cards they draw, which is entirely a matter of luck.” In addition, the relationship between Cigital and PokerStars was questioned and individual players were not tracked to see if they experienced success over time. Finally, “the study doesn’t answer the question of how showdowns and best-hand wins would look in a game of pure skill, or of pure chance.”

Despite the pitfalls, PPA Executive Director John Pappas was elated at the public disbursement of the study's results. He commented in a press release on Friday, “The question of whether poker is a game of predominant skill or chance is not about the player’s ego, but the nature and legal protections of the game. In courtrooms across the country, judges and juries are finding that poker is a game of skill – not chance like lotteries or slot machines – and this study confirms that fact.”

Read the full study claiming that poker is a game of skill.