{"id":30547,"date":"2015-08-13T13:48:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T20:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=30547"},"modified":"2015-08-13T13:48:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-13T20:48:03","slug":"wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Judge Upholds State Ban on Poker"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wisconsin
Judge Richard Niess ruled that poker is illegal under Wisconsin law thanks in large part to a 1964 state Supreme Court ruling. (Image: WQOW.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>Poker players were hoping that arguments pointing out the role of skill in poker could win over a Wisconsin judge, perhaps leading to the legalization of the game throughout the state.<\/p>\n

Instead, they learned that decades of precedent outweighed the mechanics of poker.<\/p>\n

The case in question had poker pro Mark Kroon and Steve Verrett, the state director of the Poker Players Alliance<\/a>, asking a state court to make a declaratory judgment about the legality of poker in the case.<\/p>\n

In particular, they wanted a ruling on whether the game was one of skill or luck, something they hoped would help define the game as legal if a judge came down on the side of skill.<\/p>\n

At the moment, poker is illegal under Wisconsin law, at least outside of tribal casinos.<\/p>\n

While the law isn\u2019t regularly enforced against home games, it does prevent larger poker gatherings, such as those that Kroon tried to organize at the Players Sports Bar in Madison, which he owns.<\/p>\n

Judge Speaks Highly of Poker, But Says Law is Binding<\/b><\/h2>\n

Wednesday saw a judge make the ruling that poker players had been waiting for.<\/p>\n

But with about 20 local poker players in attendance, a Dane County judge said that despite his interest in the game, the law was the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to say that poker is such a rich topic on so many levels,\u201d said Circuit Court Judge Richard Niess. \u201cIt\u2019s as much a part of the American fabric, I think, as baseball and apple pie. But having said that, I can\u2019t ignore the law here, and the law unfortunately, to use a poker analogy, is a stacked deck against the plaintiffs here.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Judge Niess had no complaints about the arguments made by the plaintiffs, saying that they (and many others) had likely shown beyond any doubt that poker was a game of skill in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no doubt poker involves, in the long run more skill than chance,\u201d Niess said.<\/p>\n

Ruling Hinged on 1964 Case<\/b><\/h2>\n

But Judge Niess ultimately relied on the 1964 case of State v. Morrissy, in which a criminal conviction was upheld by the state Supreme Court due to poker tournaments that were taking place in a tavern. In that case, Niess said, poker is specifically considered gambling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s binding in this court whether they\u2019ve considered your arguments [about the skill factor in poker]\u2026or not,\u201d Niess told the plaintiffs. \u201cIf doesn\u2019t appear they did, but the case is still nonetheless binding on me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Niess suggested that in order to get relief, the plaintiffs would likely need to take their arguments all the way to the state\u2019s Supreme Court (which he compared to drawing to an inside straight), or make an appeal to the state legislature to change Wisconsin<\/a> law.<\/p>\n

Stan Davis, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, disagreed with the judge\u2019s decision, saying that state gaming laws had changed significantly since 1964, which Judge Niess had failed to consider.<\/p>\n

He pointed to a 2014 ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 7th<\/sup> Circuit, which found that poker was not criminalized in the state.<\/p>\n

But having failed to sway the judge in this case, poker games will remain illegal in the state, even as countless players continue to participate in small home games on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sad part is that someone could get arrested over this because of a 50-year-old case,\u201d Verrett said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poker players were hoping that arguments pointing out the role of skill in poker could win over a Wisconsin judge, perhaps leading to the legalization of the game throughout the state. Instead, they learned that decades of precedent outweighed the mechanics of poker. The case in question had poker pro Mark Kroon and Steve Verrett, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":30548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWisconsin Judge Upholds State Ban on Poker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wisconsin poker players were disappointed by a ruling that found that poker was illegal under the laws of the state.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wisconsin Judge Upholds State Ban on Poker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wisconsin poker players were disappointed by a ruling that found that poker was illegal under the laws of the state.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-13T20:48:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/16964949_BG1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"208\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/\",\"name\":\"Wisconsin Judge Upholds State Ban on Poker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/16964949_BG1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-13T20:48:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-13T20:48:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Wisconsin poker players were disappointed by a ruling that found that poker was illegal under the laws of the state.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-judge-upholds-state-ban-on-poker\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/16964949_BG1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/16964949_BG1.jpg\",\"width\":368,\"height\":208,\"caption\":\"Judge Richard Niess ruled that poker is illegal under Wisconsin law thanks in large part to a 1964 state Supreme Court ruling. 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