Second petition to allow poker in Gujarat

The Indian Poker Association filed a second petition in the Gujarat High Court to deem poker as a game of skill.

India.- Two months after the Indian Poker Association introduced to the Gujarat State High Court a formal petition to consider poker a game of skill, Hotel Ramada from Ahmedabad filed a second petition to allow poker games in the state.

Maulin Pandya, Hotel Ramada and Indian Poker Association’s lawyer, said that poker is a game of skill and that it should not be considered an illegal activity since there are no judicial and legislative precedents in India and other countries that agree with the argument. Despite being heard by Judge CL Soni, who directed the complain to municipal authorities and state government, Pandya said that they’re still waiting for an answer. The judge established that they will revise the matter on a hearing on January 12, 2017.

Pandya quoted two judgements issued by the US court where they explain how poker involves an element of skill, therefore the game’s outcome is not purely dependent on luck and cannot be called gambling. During the first petition, the Indian Poker Association said: “Since poker is not gambling, it is not under the ambit of the Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act, 1987. The expression ‘Poker’ does not form part of ‘gaming or gambling.”

Poker is currently legal in Nagaland, Sikkim, West Bengal, Karnataka, and is allowed in its online version in Gujarat.