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The courts distinguish poker as being different from games like golf or bowling because poker players are not presented with an equal challenge, with each determining his own fortune by his own skill because poker presents players with different hands, making the players unequal.
I think the best argument against the position of the court here to convince the legislature to change the law is that poker has the distinction from all other games of allowing the player to fold the playing field he is dealt by chance, or later in the game if the playing field changes.
Looking at it from that stand point, no other game allows a player to control their fortune more than poker, a player can't elect to fold all the par 5's if he can't hit the driver.
The chance in poker is something that we should celebrate, a player is welcome to fold until he thinks the cards he is dealt give him a sufficient edge on his competition, if poker is illegal simply because the starting hands aren't equal, handicapped golf and bowling tournaments should be illegal for the same reason.
The forced bets could still be an issue, but the element of chance is not something for which we should apologize.
Last edited by tamiller866; 11-15-2011 at 12:14 PM.