Earlier this month a Danish court set a landmark precedent for the international poker industry, ruling that Texas Hold 'em, perhaps the world's most popular poker variant, constitutes a game of skill under Danish law.
A municipal court in the district of Lyngby on July 13 ruled against a decision issued by the Justice Ministry's Legal Affairs Committee in 2006, which held that poker constituted illegal gambling, pursuant with Danish criminal code.
The ruling also saw Frederick Hostrup, President of the Danish Poker Association, acquitted of charges that he arranged illegal Texas Hold 'em tournaments.
Danish media reports said that the case against Hostrup was brought by the Danish Association of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Industry (HORESTA) on behalf of the nation's land-based casino industry.
Hostrup's case was argued by Henrik Hoffmann, an attorney with Danish law firm Danders & More.
"Poker has become a sport of the people," Hoffmann told Danish daily Politiken. "There are between 200,000 and 300,000 Danes who play poker at least once a week and more than half a million who now play regularly."
Under Danish criminal law, illegal gambling constitutes games or competitions where organizers attempt to achieve commercial or economic gains.
Hoffmann, however, successfully argued that Texas Hold 'em incorporated significant elements of skill, including card counting and, most especially, bluffing.
"You can win in poker based on being clever enough to hide your strategy, even though you might have a fairly poor hand," he said.
HORESTA reportedly expressed its disappointment with the ruling, and prosecutors will have two weeks to decide whether to appeal.
"Any time you play for money, the risk for becoming a gambling addict increases," said HORESTA spokesman Erik Jensen. "Research has shown that there are some 85,000 Danes who are potential addicts, which is why these precautionary measures are so important.
Elsewhere in the European Union, Belgium and the United Kingdom have, arguably, clarified their positions on poker this year.
In March, Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London ruled against club owner Derek Kelly for hosting illegal poker games, collecting winnings and establishing stakes without a license.
The prosecution, headed by QC Graham Trembath, successfully argued that shuffling the deck before a game introduced a significant element of chance.
The court found that Trembath had violated the 1968 Gaming Act, which, according the U.K. Gambling Commission, holds: "Whilst there are different levels of skill amongst poker players, the Gaming Act makes clear that even games of skill and chance combined are games of chance."
In Belgium, poker meets the criteria for games of chance, according to a document released recently by the Belgian Gaming Board.
However, as IGN reported this month, pursuant with Belgian criminal code, poker games can be organized and played outside of class I (casinos) and class II (gaming halls) facilities if stakes (per game) are kept below 0.22 euro cents and pots below 6.20 euros.
In Denmark, Hoffmann said that Danish Minister of Justice Lene Espersen is currently working to establish a committee to examine whether games with predominant elements of skill--backgammon, bridge and other poker games--should be legalized and regulated.
Hoffmann added that Denmark has yet to amend its sports-betting legislation in accordance with the reasoned opinion issued by the European Commission in March--the deadline is two-months past.
"It must be expected that a lawsuit before the European Court of Justice will be filed by the commission against Denmark some time within the next six to 12 months," he said.
More broadly, Hoffmann said that given his recent victory in court and the country's non-compliance (as yet) with the European Commission, "the political and legislative situation in the country is advantageous for initiating focused lobby work."