The courts ruled on the case of a woman who hosted Texas Hold Em games in her house. She had 13 players, and they were playing for money.
The court case revolved around the debate if this was considered gambling as the winning came from luck, or if there is skill involved.
The court ruled that the game is gambling and based on luck rather than skill. The higher court rejected the appeal. The hostess was convicted to 4 months jail time and a 5000nis fine.
source: Srugim
People all over the world play poker, and they usually play for money. I am surprised this would turn into a criminal case. I could understand it if she was not just hosting a local friendly game for some money but was running a quasi-casino in her house. Then it would mke sense, and perhaps that is the situation.
Either way, if you have a local poker game and you play for money, you might want to post someone on the street to keep an eye out...
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Granted it isn't clear in the article; but I am going with the supposition from what I did read that these were just 'friendly' games like a bunch of buddies might play every week or month. I'm pretty sure that the police and state prosecution aren't interested in those games. This does sound like a more organized effort. Someone hosting a game like that is usually making money on it somehow. I take it your last sentence was tongue-in-cheek.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess that means no more games of draidel... ;-)
ReplyDelete