Va. Court Declines to Decide Status of Poker Under State’s Gambling Law

By: Ifrah Law

On February 28, 2013, the Virginia Supreme Court issued an opinion in which it declined to address the legality of playing poker in the state but left open the possibility for the issue to be decided in a future case. The full opinion in the case, Daniels v. Mobley, is available here.

Charles Daniels, a former poker hall operator who operated charitable bingo halls in Portsmouth, Virginia, for decades, filed suit in 2010 seeking a declaratory judgment that Texas Hold ‘em poker is legal under Virginia’s gambling statute.

Under Virginia law, “illegal gambling” is defined as:

“the making, placing or receipt of any bet or wager in the Commonwealth of money or other thing of value, made in exchange for a chance to win a prize, stake or other consideration or thing of value, dependent upon the result of any game, contest or any other event the outcome of which is uncertain or a matter of chance, whether such game, contest or event occurs or is to occur inside or outside the limits of the Commonwealth.”

The law also states that:

“Nothing in this article shall be construed to prevent any contest of speed or skill . . . where participants may receive prizes or different percentages of a purse, stake or premium dependent upon whether they win or lose or dependent upon their position or score at the end of such contest.”

Daniels argued that the outcome of Texas Hold ‘em poker is determined by skill and not luck and therefore the game does not violate the Virginia statute. In the circuit court Daniels presented testimony of two math experts and a world champion poker player to support the skill argument.

The lower court ruled that poker was a game of chance, stating that “all the evidence indicates that the outcome of any one hand is uncertain.” Daniels then appealed the case to the Virginia Supreme Court.

The state Supreme Court declined to address the legality of poker, holding that the court could not rule on the case because the request for a declaratory judgment on the status of Texas Hold ‘em poker “failed to present a justiciable controversy over which the circuit court could exercise jurisdiction.” Since there was no justiciable controversy, the Supreme Court held that the circuit court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the claim.

The court did not directly address the argument that poker is a game of skill and not chance, an argument that has been accepted by other courts. It thus left the door open for the argument to be made in the future.

Daniels also argued that the state’s anti-gambling statute is unconstitutionally vague. The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the circuit court that the statute is not unconstitutionally vague because it gives fair notice and an individual of ordinary intelligence can discern its meaning.

In our view, poker is a game of skill and not chance and thus should not be considered gambling under the Virginia statute. The Virginia Supreme Court’s decision to rule on other grounds left poker supporters with a lost opportunity, but there will be other opportunities to make the argument in this and other courts.