Bad news for poker players in the Netherlands after a previous ruling about the skill in poker was overturned.

In 2010 Richard Blaas and Rene Kurver successfully argued poker was a game of skill, after being accused of running illegal poker games in their bar the Cafe de Viersprong Bussum in Amsterdam.

This week, however, the Dutch Advocate General was able to overturn this ruling and declare that poker was mostly a game of chance, though the prosecution did concede that some players were able to handle chance more skillfully. Ultimately, the fact that the cards are dealt at random was enough to win the appeal.

The defendants ran €10 games between 2005 and 2007 in their bar, which would host as many as 70 players on seven tables. The tournament format itself was also deemed more chance-based by the court, because of the increasing blind levels.

"Skillful players have most influence"

The Cafe de Viersprong Bussum

The defence unsuccessfully argued that "Poker is a complicated multiplayer game in which chance plays a role. In practice, however, the most skillful player has a significant influence on the course of the game."

Both the defendants were fined €1,250 and put under a probationary period of two years.

The Holland Casino, which is home to the Amsterdam Masters Classic of Poker, is currently the only legal place to play poker in the Netherlands.

Barry Carter Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2. Twitter

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