A better deal for Danish Poker

04/01/2009

The contentious area of Danish land poker, which has in the past seen police raids on tournaments, messy court decisions on the skill vs. chance issue, and even messier ruling reversals on appeal, could be about to see some legislative improvements, according to Danish media reports.

The government-tasked Danish Poker Committee has made non-binding recommendations that the state consider making land poker tournaments held outside of licensed state-monopolised casinos legal and the subject of licensing and regulation, due to the growing popularity of the game in the Scandinavian country.

Regrettably, Internet poker is specifically excluded from the suggested new dispensation, according to the following excerpt from the report:

“The Gambling Committee has not considered the issue of regulating online poker or other online games. This is because the Gambling Committee was not set up for the purpose of proposing amended legislation in the area covered by the Ministry of Taxation, under which online poker belongs. Thus, the Committee's proposal covers only public poker games for money where the participants are physically present in the same location.”

The ball is now in the politician's court, with the possibility of a public consultative process leading to the drafting and debate of legislative proposals for Parliament to debate.

Morten Ronde, a legal advisor to the Danish Gaming Board, opined that the process could be started within the next few weeks.